TOP STORIES
Plea for more research cash as two billion bees die from rampant disease
Telegraph - www.telegraph.co.uk
01 Nov 2008
P Sawer
Image courtesy of Getty
Area: United Kingdom
They accused the Government of failing to invest in the research needed to stem diseases and parasites which are now thought to have destroyed one in three bee colonies over the past year. The British Beekeepers' Association (BBKA) has calculated that up to two billion bees succumbed to sickness between November 2007 and April 2008, with a similar number expected to be wiped out by the end of this winter. It wants ministers to increase the £200,000 currently spent on the research of bee health to £8 million over the next five years. The BBKA warns that unless the money is spent a cure will never be found - leading to the ultimate extinction of Britain's honeybees.
Fears of bird disease
Star News Group - www.starnewsgroup.com.au
04 Nov 2008
T Martin
Area: Monbulk, Australia - Map It
A MONBULK doctor has warned residents against getting too friendly with parrots following a recent case of a bird-related flu. Dr John Gruner said the flu, known as psittacosis, is a common ailment in the hills. But he said, not many people know about it. Dr Gruner said psittacosis was a form of pneumonia, which can be passed to people through wild birds’ dried droppings, feathers and secretions.
Uncertainty over Cosco Busan's lasting impactSan Francisco Chronicle - www.sfgate.com
02 Nov 2008
Image courtesy of Michael Macor/The Chronicle
Area: San Francisco, California, USA
. . . Scientists are struggling to understand the extent of the environmental injury to bird and fish populations, eelgrass beds and the hidden aquatic life of the bay. It's not just the loss of numbers but also the subtle effects on reproduction rates and resiliency of the ecosystem, they say. Researchers have to dig deep to find minuscule changes in photosynthesis rates in wetland vegetation or chemical levels in native oyster beds on Angel Island. One concern is that the spilled oil was bunker fuel, the dregs of refining and more toxic than crude oil.
West Nile's North American Spread Described
ScienceDaily - www.sciencedaily.com (Source: American Institute of Biological Sciences)
03 Nov 2008
The rapid spread of West Nile virus in North America over the past decade is likely to have long-lasting ecological consequences throughout the continent, according to an article in the November issue of BioScience. The mosquito-borne virus, which was little known before its emergence in New York in 1999, has since been found in all 48 contiguous states. West Nile virus has killed hundreds of millions of birds and more than 1000 people in North America, and new outbreaks occur each year. Horses are also commonly infected.
>>>FULL ARTICLE
Related News
>>>Bye bird, hello virus [Calcutta, India]
>>>DNA-based Vaccine Against West Nile Virus Effective Even After Onset Of Disease
>>>Vaccinating insects could stop disease
Related News
>>>Bye bird, hello virus [Calcutta, India]
>>>DNA-based Vaccine Against West Nile Virus Effective Even After Onset Of Disease
>>>Vaccinating insects could stop disease
Project to save endangered Tasmanian devilScience Centric - www.sciencecentric.com
03 Nov 2008
Image courtesy of University of Adelaide
Area: Tasmania, Australia
University of Adelaide zoologist Dr Jeremy Austin will lead a national project to help save the endangered Tasmanian devil from extinction. Dr Austin and colleagues from SA Zoos and the Tasmanian Government will spend the next three years establishing a conservation program and working to suppress the infectious cancer, devil facial tumour disease, which is ravaging Australia's largest living marsupial carnivore. The Tasmanian devil is not only a key tourism icon for Australia's most southern State, but also ecologically critical to Tasmania's native ecosystem. 'Extinction of the species is a possibility within the next two decades unless disease spread can be stopped,' says Dr Austin.
OTHER WILDLIFE HEALTH RELATED NEWS
Image courtesy of Uwe Wilkens/EPA - Guardian: The week in wildlife
How dangerous is drum making? [anthrax in London, UK]- Virus claims Malti [elephant herpesvirus, Calgary Zoo] - Map It
- Elephant seal hit and killed on Silicon Valley road - Newark, Alameda County, California, USA - Map It
- Parasites And Global Change: Past Patterns, Future Projections
- Great Barrier Reef could adapt to climate change, scientists say
- Public warned of fish disease [EUS] - New South Wales, Australia - Map It
No comments:
Post a Comment