February 4, 2009

TOP STORIES

White-nose kills hundreds of bats in Lackawanna County [Press Release]
Pennsylvania Game Commission - www.pgc.state.pa.us
03 Feb 2009
J Kosak
Photo credit: Kevin Wenner/PGC Photo
Area: Lackawanna County, Pennsylvania, USA - Map It

Several hundred little brown bats are dead from White-Nose Syndrome (WNS) in Lackawanna County, and the Pennsylvania Game Commission is looking to residents for help uncovering other sites where this deadly disorder may have surfaced. Game Commission biologists had been uncovering signs of what appeared to be an impending WNS outbreak in Pennsylvania since last spring. Over the past two years, the disorder has killed more than 90 percent of some wintering bat colonies where it first surfaced in New York and spread through New England.




Hong Kong expert warns of "terrible" China bird-flu outbreak
The Nation - www.nationmultimedia.com
04 Feb 2009
Area: Lantau Island, Hong Kong - Map It

Hong Kong - Experts in Hong Kong were carrying out tests Tuesday on dead birds washed up on beaches amid fears of a large unreported avian-flu outbreak in neighbouring mainland China.

The discovery of the dead birds brought a warning from one of the territory's top bird-flu experts that "something very terrible" could be happening in China. Three of 12 birds found on the Hong Kong island of Lantau in the past five days have so far tested positive for H5N1, the bird-flu strain that can be deadly in humans. Islanders said dead birds have been washing ashore in recent days and they believe they come from China's Pearl River Delta, which flows out into the South China Sea surrounding Hong Kong. On Monday alone, the carcasses of one goose, five chickens, a duck and two other birds were found, bringing to 12 the number of dead birds found on Lantau since Thursday.

>>>FULL ARTICLE

Related News
>>>Avian influenza – situation in China - update 4
>>>Vietnam bans birds on bikes
>>>Three countries report more H5N1 outbreaks
>>>Nine farms added to avian flu quarantine in Fraser Valley [Canada]



Herring gulls face trans-fat troubles
Globe and Mail - www.theglobeandmail.com
03 Feb 2009
M Mittelstaedt
Photo credit: Getty Images/AFP

A limited supply of small prey fish is forcing birds to supplement their diets with artery-clogging fare

Here's another reason for taking trans fats out of junk food: Scientists studying herring gull eggs collected from around the Great Lakes have found they are becoming more contaminated with the artery-clogging fat. The concentrations in the eggs have risen rapidly, doubling or tripling over the past 25 years depending on location. For birds, the health impact of having trans fats in their eggs is unknown. But the finding, made by Environment Canada and U.S. Geological Survey scientists, highlights the sometimes strange serendipity that occurs when humans mess with Mother Nature.





Acid oceans 'need urgent action'
BBC News - news.bbc.co.uk
30 Jan 2009
Photo credit: Riccardo Rodolfo - Metalpa

The world's marine ecosystems risk being severely damaged by ocean acidification unless there are dramatic cuts in CO2 emissions, warn scientists.

More than 150 top marine researchers have voiced their concerns through the "Monaco Declaration", which warns that changes in acidity are accelerating. The declaration, supported by Prince Albert II of Monaco, builds on findings from an earlier international summit. It says pH levels are changing 100 times faster than natural variability. Based on the research priorities identified at The Ocean in a High CO2 World symposium, held in October 2008, the declaration states: "We scientists who met in Monaco to review what is known about ocean acidification declare that we are deeply concerned by recent, rapid changes in ocean chemistry and their potential, within decades, to severely affect marine organisms, food webs, biodiversity and fisheries."




Two deer test positive for CWD
Hot Springs Star - www.hotspringsstar.com
03 Feb 2009
C Nettinga
Area: Hot Springs, Fall River County, South Dakota, USA - Map It

Two of the 50 deer killed in the first phase of Hot Springs’ deer thinning effort have tested positive for Chronic Wasting Disease, according to a Game, Fish and Parks official. “I can confirm that two of the deer harvested in Hot Springs did test positive (for CWD),” said Steve Griffins, a Disease Specialist for the South Dakota Department of Game, Fish and Parks in Rapid City. “Two adult female mule deer tested positive.” Art Smith, a Wildlife Damage Management Program Administrator with the GF&P in Pierre, confirmed that the city had also applied for and been granted a permit extension to kill additional deer.




Reported Wildlife Mortality Events to the USGS National Wildlife Health Center Updated
USGS National Wildlife Health Center
03 Feb 2009
Area: United States

USGS and a network of partners across the country work on documenting wildlife mortality events in order to provide timely and accurate information on locations, species and causes of death. This information was updated on Jan 30, 2009 on the USGS National Wildlife Health Center web page, New and Ongoing Wildlife Mortality Events Nationwide. Quarterly Mortality Reports are also available from this page. These reports go back to 1995.




OTHER WILDLIFE HEALTH RELATED NEWS
Photo credit: Guardian - The week in wildlife


WILDLIFE HEALTH RELATED PUBLICATIONS

Prion stability and infectivity in the environment
Neurochem Res. 2009 Jan;34(1):158-68. Epub 2008 May 16.
Wiggins RC.

Emerging Infectious Diseases Journal - Ahead of print
  • Detection of Novel SARS-like and Other Coronaviruses in Bats from Kenya, S. Tong et al
  • European Bat Lyssavirus Transmission among Cats, Europe, L. Dacheux et al

Life history tradeoffs influence mortality associated with the amphibian pathogen Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis
Oikos. 2009; [ahead of print][on line abstract only]
WJ Trenton et al.

at Wednesday, February 04, 2009

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