Wildlife Disease News Digest

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Bacterially Produced Antifungal on Skin of Amphibians May Protect Against Lethal Fungus
Science Daily - www.sciencedaily.com
20 Nov 2009
Photo Credit: M Murphy/Smithsonian's National Zoo

Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis is a fungal pathogen that can cause a lethal skin disease in amphibians, however, some species remain relatively symptom free during infection.

Innate immune factors, antimicrobial peptides, skin-associated microbial species, and behavior are all believed to attribute to the survival of some species over others.

Researchers have found antifungal microbes to be of particular interest because their presence suggests they are mutualistic associates of amphibian species, meaning that there is a mutually beneficial relationship between the two organisms.

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Journal Article Cited

The Bacterially Produced Metabolite Violacein Is Associated with Survival of Amphibians Infected with a Lethal Fungus. Applied and Environmental Microbiology, 2009; 75 (21): 6635

U.S. makes big push to prevent global pandemic

JAVMA News - www.avma.org/onlnews
01 Dec 2009
M Larkin
Photo courtesy of JAVMA News

Recognizing the threat to animal and human health, the federal government has launched a multimillion-dollar initiative in the hopes of preventing the next global pandemic.

The U.S. Agency for International Development announced Oct. 22 the start of its Emerging Pandemic Threats program, a five-pronged approach to preparing the world for emerging infectious diseases. It builds on the agency's long-standing programs in disease surveillance, training, and outbreak response.

. . . The focus of the EPT program is to pre-empt or combat, at their source, newly emerging diseases of animal origin that could threaten human health.

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Reported Wildlife Mortality Events to the USGS National Wildlife Health Center Updated
USGS National Wildlife Health Center
17 Nov 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 November 17, 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