Wildlife Disease News Digest

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INTERNATIONAL SYMPOSIUM EXAMINES EFFECTS OF PLAGUE ON WILDLIFE [Press Release]
Colorado State University News and Information - newsinfo.csu.edu
31 Oct 2008

The deadly effects of plague on wildlife and efforts to understand and control it will be discussed by international experts at a symposium, Nov. 4-6 at the Hilton Hotel in Fort Collins. Sylvatic plague is a fleaborne disease that can spread rapidly across a landscape, decimating wildlife and threatening human health. The Symposium on the Ecology of Plague and its Effects on Wildlife, hosted by the USGS, Colorado State University, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and Centers for Disease Control, will bring together over 140 international scientists and wildlife managers. Sessions will cover how plague behaves in the wild; the influence of climate and other environmental factors on the occurrence, spread and persistence of plague; the role of rodents and other species in plague transmission; management, control, and surveillance of plague; and impacts of plague on wildlife populations.

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Amphibians Hit Two Ways by Farm Chemicals
ScienceNOW Daily News - sciencenow.sciencemag.org
29 October 2008
Erik Stokstad
Photo courtesy of ScienceNOW

The search for what's causing widespread deformities in amphibians has drummed up several suspects, including agricultural chemicals and parasitic flatworms. Now a study that combines field surveys and aquarium experiments bolsters the idea that a widely used herbicide conspires with the parasites to harm frogs. According to the new study, the herbicide atrazine not only weakens the frogs' immune system, but it also provides a nutritional boost to the ecosystem that leads to more parasites.

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Hunters join brucellosis battle
Great Falls Tribune - www.greatfallstribune.com
30 Oct 2008
M Babcock
Photo courtesy of Great Falls Tribune

Elk hunters heading to southwest Montana — specifically the areas around Yellowstone National Park and Dillon — are the targets of renewed efforts by Fish, Wildlife & Parks to test any elk they kill for brucellosis. FWP has prepared 8,000 testing kits and has mailed them to all elk hunters who have permits to hunt in certain areas and the agency is handing them out to hunters who attend education meetings about brucellosis. "We are going to stockmen's meetings and we are trying to scour landowners and outfitters. We have them at kiosks at major trailheads and we have them at check stations. The wardens have them in their trucks," said Mel Frost, the FWP information officer at Region 3 Headquarters in Bozeman. "We are trying to get them into as many hands as possible."

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Budget cuts axe Cape rabies program
Cape Cod Times - www.capecodonline.com
30 Oct 2008
S Milton
Cape Cod Times/Steve Heaslip
A program that has controlled a potentially fatal disease on the Cape for 14 years may itself expire soon. The oral rabies vaccine project on Cape Cod, run by Tufts University's Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine for $150,000 a year, lost its state funding in emergency budget cuts announced recently by Gov. Deval Patrick. Tom Lyons, spokesman at the state Department of Public Health, confirmed the loss of funding yesterday.

>>>FULL ARTICLE

OTHER WILDLIFE HEALTH RELATED NEWS