Wildlife Disease News Digest

TOP STORIES
Pneumonia confirmed in East Fork bighorn herd
Ravalli Republic - www.ravallirepublic.com
25 Nov 2009
P Backus

Location: Ravalli County, Montana, USA - Map It

State wildlife officials have confirmed that bighorn sheep from the East Fork Bitterroot herd south of Darby recently died of pneumonia.

"It's really bad news," said Craig Jourdonnais, Bitterroot-based biologist for Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks. "There's been a history of herds losing 60 to 70 percent of their numbers in a very short period of time when something like this hits."

The nearly always fatal respiratory disease was first suspected after hunters reported seeing coughing bighorn sheep near the East Fork last Sunday.

>>> FULL ARTICLE

Tests proposed for cattle disease thought eradicated
The Vancouver Sun - www.vancouversun.com
22 Nov 2009
C Fortems

A ministry of environment wildlife veterinarian is proposing a lethal sampling program to determine if anaplasmosis — a disease once thought eradicated in Canada — is resident in Nicola Valley deer.

Dr. Helen Schwantje cautioned the plan is in its preliminary stages and nothing has been approved by government. But she is proposing ministry staff shoot between 20 and 50 deer from Nicola Valley ranches so testing for anaplasmosis can be conducted at a ministry of agriculture laboratory.

. . . Still, the concern that the disease has spread to the local deer population persists. While deer rarely exhibit symptoms, they could pass it on to more vulnerable species, such as the California big horn sheep in the Interior.

>>> FULL ARTICLE

Reported Wildlife Mortality Events to the USGS National Wildlife Health Center Updated
USGS National Wildlife Health Center
24 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 24, 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

OTHER WILDLIFE HEALTH RELATED NEWS

Deer News

Huh, That's Interesting!