Wildlife Disease News Digest

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WNS Identified at Six Sites in Pennsylvania
PRNewswire - news.prnewswire.com (Source: Pennsylvania Game Commission)
02 Mar 2009
Photo Credit: Pennsylvania Game Commission
Area: Pennsylvania - Map It

As Pennsylvania Game Commission wildlife biologists continue to monitor bat hibernacula, the number of sites where bats have been confirmed infected or dying from White Nose Syndrome (WNS) has risen to six. The sites are two abandoned mines near Carbondale, Lackawanna County; an abandoned mine near Shickshinny, Luzerne County; and the abandoned Shindle Iron Mine, Aitkin Cave and Seawra Cave in Mifflin County. "We continue to receive information from local residents, as well as landowners with caves and old mine entrances on their properties," said Carl G. Roe, Game Commission executive director. "We're asking people who encounter five or more dead or dying bats in an area to contact us, as we'd really like to know about these types of incidents.

>>>FULL ARTICLE

Related Articles
>>>Bat-Killing Disease Marches South

A dire shortage of vets in government — animal doctors, that is
Oh My Gov - ohmygov.com
2 Mar 2009

Currently, four federal agencies that employ veterinarians have identified existing or potential shortages of individuals to fill veterinary positions. These aren't you ordinary pet vets, but instead are doctors who care for animals raised for food, often serve in rural communities, and have training in public health. According to the American Veterinary Medical Association, the vet shortage has placed the nation's food supply at risk and could hinder efforts to protect humans from zoonotic diseases (diseases spread between animals and humans).

>>>FULL ARTICLE

Warm oceans slow coral growth
Science Alert - www.sciencealert.com.au (Source: Australian Institute of Marine Science)
25 Feb 2009
Photo credit: iStockphoto
Area: Great Barrier Reef, Australia

It’s official: the biggest and most robust corals on the Great Barrier Reef (GBR) have slowed their growth by more than 14 per cent since the "tipping point" year of 1990. Evidence is strong that the decline has been caused by a synergistic combination of rising sea surface temperatures and ocean acidification. A paper published in the prestigious international journal Science and written by AIMS scientists Dr Glenn De’ath, Dr Janice Lough and Dr Katharina Fabricius is the most comprehensive study to date on calcification rates of GBR corals.

>>>FULL ARTICLE

Cited Journal Article
>>>Declining Coral Calcification on the Great Barrier Reef. Science. 2009 Jan 2;323(5910):116-9.

‘Ark’ races to rescue jungle frogs
Christian Science Monitor - features.csmonitor.com
27 Feb 2009
J Hearn
Photo credit: J Hearn
Area: Rio Jordanal, Panama

. . . Conservationists predict that in 10 years, every highland stream in Panama will resemble this one, all but devoid of frogs. For now, they see little that can be done about it. Scientists say that a deadly fungus is moving through mountain streams here and elsewhere, killing as many as 8 out of 10 frogs and extinguishing some species entirely. The enemy is a fungus known as chytrid (KIH-trid) or by its scientific name, Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis. Mr. Griffith and others are trying to stay ahead of the plague by plucking animals from the wild and placing them in captive breeding centers. This effort and similar ones around the world have been dubbed the Amphibian Ark.

>>>FULL ARTICLE

Reported Wildlife Mortality Events to the USGS National Wildlife Health Center Updated
USGS National Wildlife Health Center
19 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 Feb 19, 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.

>>> Updated Wildlife Mortality Event Table

National HPAI Early Detection Data System (HEDDS) Update
NBII Wildlife Disease Information Node
02 Mar 2009
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

Feb 26, 2009: 133 samples and tests were added to HEDDS for 2008. Total is now 77,193.
Feb 12, 2009: 16 samples and tests were added to HEDDS for 2008. Total is now 77,060.
Feb 12, 2009: 162 samples and tests were added to HEDDS for 2008. Total is now 77,044.

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

OTHER WILDLIFE HEALTH RELATED NEWS
Photo credit: Telegraph - www.telegraph.co.uk