Wildlife Disease News Digest

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Baby Fish in Polluted San Francisco Estuary Waters Are Stunted and Deformed
UC Davis - www.news.ucdavis.edu
08 Dec 2008
Photo credit: David Ostrach/UC Davis
Area: San Francisco, California, USA

Striped bass in the San Francisco Estuary are contaminated before birth with a toxic mix of pesticides, industrial chemicals and flame retardants that their mothers acquire from estuary waters and food sources and pass on to their eggs, say UC Davis researchers. Using new analytical techniques, the researchers found that offspring of estuary fish had underdeveloped brains, inadequate energy supplies and dysfunctional livers. They grew slower and were smaller than offspring of hatchery fish raised in clean water. "This is one of the first studies examining the effects of real-world contaminant mixtures on growth and development in wildlife," said study lead author David Ostrach, a research scientist at the UC Davis Center for Watershed Sciences.

>>>FULL ARTICLE

Cited Journal Article
>>>Maternal transfer of xenobiotics and effects on larval striped bass in the San Francisco Estuary. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA. 2008 Nov 24: 105: 19354-19359.

National HPAI Early Detection Data System (HEDDS) Update
NBII Wildlife Disease Information Node
09 Dec 2008
Area: United States

Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza Early Detection Data System (HEDDS) is an avian influenza data sharing repository. NBII and a network of partners across the nation have created HEDDS to hold data from different surveillance strategies and to provide a comprehensive view of national sampling efforts.

Recent HEDDS Activity

Dec 08, 2008: 577 samples and tests were added to HEDDS for 2008. Total is now 64,759.
Nov 26, 2008: The LPAI H5N1 results table has been updated with information on samples collected on Oct 26, 2008 from a Northern Northern pintail in Saint Clair county, MI.
Nov 26, 2008: The LPAI H5N1 results table has been updated with information on samples collected on Nov 12, 2008 from a Northern Shoveler in Clark county, WA.

>>>HEDDS' LPAI H5N1 Results Table
>>>For more about HEDDS

Acoustic Phenomena Explain Why Boats and Animals Collide
Newswise - www.newswise.com (Source: Florida Atlantic University)
09 Dec 2008
Area: Florida, United States

Researchers at Florida Atlantic University have laid the groundwork for a sensory explanation for why manatees and other animals are hit repeatedly by boats. Last year, 73 manatees were killed by boats in Florida’s bays and inland waterways. Marine authorities have responded to deaths from boat collisions by imposing low speed limits on boats. In spite of manatee protection policies that have been in effect for nearly two decades to slow down boats passing through manatee-protection habitats, the number of injuries and deaths associated with collisions has increased and reached record highs.

>>>FULL ARTICLE

Related News
>>>Tuesday: Ships to Slow Down for Endangered Whales

OTHER WILDLIFE HEALTH RELATED NEWS
Photo credit: nature.com - blogs.nature.com