December 18, 2008

TOP STORIES

Endangered Lemurs Survived Ancient AIDS Epidemic
Wired Science - blog.wired.com/wiredscience
16 Dec 2008
B Keim
Area: Madagascar

In the genome of the endangered gray mouse lemur, scientists have found DNA fossils from an ancient version of HIV. Its exact origins are a mystery, but the clues could help solve a more modern and pressing unknown: how humans can beat AIDS. Remnants of the ancient retrovirus were found by virologists studying the squirrel-sized primate on its island home of Madagascar. The DNA was deposited when viruses managed to infect sperm or egg cells, writing permanent and heritable copies of themselves into the genetic code.




Tassie devil at risk as experiment fails
The Age - www.theage.com.au
18 Dec 2008
A Darby
Area: Tasmania, Australia

HOPES of saving the Tasmanian devil from extinction are being pinned increasingly on zoos building up numbers following a setback to genetic research. A young male devil that initially showed signs of genetic resistance to the fatal facial tumour disease has almost certainly developed it, scientists say. An insurance program of "clean" animals is seen as the only sure way of saving the species. But the program's organisers said yesterday they still needed to secure hundreds more devils, many in mainland zoos, to guard against loss of the animal in the wild.




Climate change raises the disease threat
Science Alert - www.sciencealert.com.au
18 Dec 2008
Photo credit: Luke Halling, Australian Quarantine and
Inspection Service
M Beilharz

Despite major medical advances over the last hundred years humans are still at the mercy of new infectious diseases. Australia has seen more than its fair share of emerging disease issues. Most incidents have been quickly controlled or have had limited impact, but some have been more critical. Recently, equine influenza was introduced with visiting racehorses, the Hendra virus killed three people in three distinct outbreaks after moving from bats into horses and humans, and the introduced chytrid fungus has also hit our frog populations hard.




One-third of Boulder’s deer infected
Colorado Daily - www.coloradodaily.com
16 Dec 2008
R Morgan
Area: Boulder, Colorado, United States

A new study shows one out of three mule deer in south Boulder suffers from chronic wasting disease — and those results mean the traditional approach of killing infected animals to fight the disease probably won’t work, researchers say. “Everything that’s been tried to control chronic wasting disease really fails in the face of that kind of infection rate,” said Heather Swanson, a wildlife ecologist for Boulder’s Open Space and Mountain Parks Department. In a memo to city leaders, Boulder’s open space officials said they no longer favor killing to deal with chronic wasting disease. The Boulder City Council, which can also set land-management policies for the city’s open space properties, hasn’t yet weighed in on the matter.




First Portable System Enabling In Situ Detection Of Cetacean Hearing Loss Developed
ScienceDaily - www.sciencedaily.com (Source: BBVA Foundation)
17 Dec 2008

A research project led by Michel André, director of the Laboratory of Applied Bioacoustics at the UPC (Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya) has developed the world’s first portable system for measuring cetacean hearing sensitivity. This audiogram measurement system facilitates in situ diagnosis of cetacean hearing loss, allowing assessments to be run on the survival chances of stranded animals without having to transport them to a laboratory. Researchers in Spain, the United Kingdom, France, the Netherlands and the United States have taken part in this BBVA Foundation project. Cetaceans rank among the world’s most imperiled species, due, among other reasons, to the noise produced by artificial sound sources.




Khutse pride diagnosed with rabies
Daily News - www.mcst.gov.bw/dailynews
18 Dec 2008
M Soloko
Area: Khutse Game Reserve, Kweneng District, Botswana - Map It

A pride of lions at Khutse Game Reserve has been diagnosed with rabies. Two lions from the pride are reported to have died from the disease. Assistant Director of Research in the Department of Wildlife and National Parks, Mr Cyrial Taolo said the disease has been diagnosed in two lions located in the reserve adding that tests are currently underway to establish whether a third lion which also died, was infected with the same disease or not. “To date we can only confirm the death of the three lions.




OTHER WILDLIFE HEALTH RELATED NEWS
Photo credit: Chad Olson NPS




WILDLIFE HEALTH RELATED PUBLICATIONS

Spatial and Temporal Analysis of Contact Rates in Female White-Tailed Deer
Journal of Wildlife Management. 2008 Nov; 72(8): 1819-1825
LJ Kjaer et al.

Association Between Number of Wild Birds Sampled for Indentification of H5N1 Avian Influenza Virus and Incidence of the Disease in the European Union
Transboundary and Emerging Diseases. 2008 Dec; 55 (9-10): 393-403
M Martinez et al.

Immunological Mechanisms Mediating Hantavirus Persistence in Rodent Reservoirs.
PLoS Pathog 4(11): e1000172.
JD Easterbrook and SL Klein

Resistance of Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE) Prions to Inactivation.
PLoS Pathog. 2008; 4(11): e1000206
K Giles et al

Using nested RT-PCR analyses to determine the prevalence of avian influenza viruses in passerines in western Slovakia, during summer 2007
Scandinavian Journal of Infectious Diseases. 2008; 40 (11 & 12): 954 - 957
Paulina Gronesova, Peter Kabat, Alfred Trnka, Tatiana Betakova

at Thursday, December 18, 2008

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