TOP STORIESBird flu makes mallards thin, study finds
Reuters Canada - ca.reuters.com
02 Dec 2008
Avian flu viruses make mallard ducks thinner than other ducks, a finding that implies they do not spread the germs over long distances, researchers reported Tuesday. Their tests of thousands of ducks migrating through Sweden showed the viruses do affect the birds, contrary to conventional wisdom that the pathogens have no effect on them. And, to their surprise, they found the birds only "shed," or release, virus for a few days, the researchers reported in the Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences. "Mallard ducks are a main reservoir for low-pathogenic avian influenza virus in nature, yet surprisingly little is known about how infection affects these birds," Jonas Waldenstrom of Sweden's Kalmar University, Albert Osterhaus of Erasmus Medical Center in Rotterdam and colleagues wrote.
New National Program to Study Seasonal Changes in Wildlife Begins
USGS Newsroom - www.usgs.gov
02 Dec 2008
Area: United States
A new Wildlife Phenology Program will enlist professional and citizen scientists across the country to monitor and record seasonal wildlife events to help managers understand and respond to climatic and other environmental changes. The Wildlife Society (TWS) and the USA National Phenology Network (USA-NPN) announced the program today as the second phase in the USA-NPN's monitoring efforts; the Plant Phenology Program started in 2007. The program will be housed at the National Coordinating Office of the USA-NPN, at The University of Arizona in Tucson. Phenology is the study of the seasonal timing of plant and animal life-cycle events such as bird, fish and mammal migration; emergence from hibernation; and the leafing, blooming and fruiting of plants.
Wind Cave dusts to prevent the spread of plagueHot Springs Star - www.hotspringsstar.com
02 Dec 2008
Area: Wind Cave National Park, South Dakota, USA
In an effort to prevent a potential public health threat, and to preserve the dynamics of a mixed-grass prairie ecosystem, staff at Wind Cave National Park recently completed dusting 1,100 acres of prairie dog burrows in an attempt to prevent the introduction of sylvatic plague into the park. “Crews on ATVs applied Deltamethrin into every prairie dog burrow in the Bison Flats and Norbeck prairie dog towns to kill fleas which could transmit this disease,” said park superintendent Vidal Davila. “We were only able to complete this 10-week project with the help of the National Forest Service, U.S. Geological Survey, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and staff from surrounding National Park Service units and support offices who provided people and equipment necessary for this undertaking.” Plague has been found within 25 miles of the park’s boundary. Once an area is infected, outbreaks can occur anytime and require people entering a plague-infected area to take precautions such as using insect repellent and staying away from dead animals.
Stanford Scientists' Discovery of Virus in Lemur Could Shed Light on AIDS
MarketWatch - www.marketwatch.com
01 Dec 2008
Area: United States
The genome of a squirrel-sized, saucer-eyed lemur from Madagascar may help scientists understand how HIV-like viruses coevolved with primates, according to new research from the Stanford University School of Medicine. The discovery, to be published online on Dec. 1 in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, could provide insight into why non-human primates don't get AIDS and lead to treatments for humans. Scientists have long believed that lentiviruses--the family of viruses that includes HIV--started infecting primates within the past million years. In fact, said Rob Gifford, PhD, former postdoctoral researcher in infectious diseases and geographical medicine and lead author of the new study, lentiviruses may have been present in ancestral primates as long as 85 million years ago.
Exposure To Organochlorate Pollutants And Lead Weakens Animals Bones, According To Study
ScienceDaily - www.sciencedaily.com (Source: Universidad de Granada)
27 Nov 2008
Area: Granada, Spain
A new methodology developed by a researcher at the University of Granada in Spain will permit to determine the toxicological effects caused in animals which have been exposed to organochlorate pollutants and lead analysing their bones. This work has studied the effects of lead toxicity in the long term in wild birds populations, determining how this heavy metal causes bone weakening and fracture, provoking therefore a fall in the individual survival of the affected species. . . . According to Álvarez Lloret, in the light of his work, we can conclude that animals’ bones are an ideal record to elucidate the toxicological effects in the long term produced in populations exposed to lead, as part of the lead absorbed by the organism accumulates in bones. The researcher has also worked with polychloro-biphenyl (PCB) and TCDD, two organochlorate pollutants used in industrial manufacture processes of plastic and insecticides.
Cited Journal Article
>>>Effect of In Ovo Exposure to PCBs and Hg on Clapper Rail Bone Mineral Chemistry from a Contaminated Salt Marsh in Coastal Georgia. Environ Sci Technol. 2006 Aug 15;40(16):4936-42.
>>>Effect of In Ovo Exposure to PCBs and Hg on Clapper Rail Bone Mineral Chemistry from a Contaminated Salt Marsh in Coastal Georgia. Environ Sci Technol. 2006 Aug 15;40(16):4936-42.
OTHER WILDLIFE HEALTH RELATED NEWS
Photo credit: Herald Sun - www.news.com.au/heraldsun
Global warming takes first victim, a native white possum in the Daintree [Queensland, Australia]- Harbour seals' decline 'alarming' [United Kingdom]
- Rare Gorilla Twins Born in Uganda
- 3/4 of Big Antarctic Penguin Colonies to Disappear?
- Mobile phones eavesdrop on Aussie koalas [St. Bees Island, Australia]
- Adopt a devil, save a species [Tasmania, Australia]
- Canada's growing list of wildlife at risk
- Mange, distemper affecting local foxes, raccoons and coyotes - Newburyport, Essex County, Massachusetts, USA - Map It
- Governments and Wildlife Groups Take Soundings on Noise Pollution and Ship Strike Threats to Whales and Dolphins
- Risk Assessments May Help Control Spread of Whirling Disease [United States]
- Update: Tuberculosis in Columbia County Captive Deer - Columbia County, New York, USA - Map It
- State drops bovine TB potential high-risk area designations [TB, Michigan]
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