Wildlife Disease News Digest

TOP STORIES

Scientists seek help studying bird virus
ABC News - www.abc.net.au
09 Nov 2009

The public is being invited to help Charles Sturt University researchers with a new study into a virus that kills birds' feathers, leaving them unable to fly.

The veterinary scientists have received a grant to look at how the virus gets into parrots and cockatoo species and threatens endangered species here and overseas.

Associate Professor in Veterinary Pathobiology, Shane Raidal, wants to hear from anyone who has seen birds in the wild with abnormal feathers.

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South African disease outbreak affects its mammal population
The Good 5 Cent Cigar - media.www.ramcigar.com
06 Nov 2009
B Cohen

One of the major issues facing South Africa's mammal population is the prevalence of diseases, according to Professor Wouter van Hoven, who spoke yesterday afternoon in the University of Rhode Island's Center for Biological Life Sciences.

The director of the University of Pretoria's Center for Wildlife Management, van Hoven, presented a lecture addressing various diseases that have infected the wildlife of South Africa.

With a background in wildlife nutrition, van Hoven oversees graduate students working with various wild animals in South Africa's Kruger National Park.

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Malaria’s deadly leap from chimps to humans
Boston Globe - www.boston.com
09 Nov 2009
C Nickerson

The terrible transfer took only an instant.

One mosquito; one hot-blooded human target; one quick puncture of skin. Most likely, our distant ancestor reacted with no more than a scratch and a shrug.

Thus did malaria leap across the “species divide’’ between chimpanzees and humans, according to new research led by a University of Massachusetts at Amherst scientist.

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Avian influenza (57): Russia (Moscow) wild birds, OIE - Archive Number 20091107.3850
ProMED-mail - www.promedmail.org
05 Nov 2009
Area: Moskovskaya Oblast, Russia - Map It

Information received on (and dated) 05 Nov 2009 from Dr Nicolay Vlasov, CVO, Veterinary services, Ministry of Agriculture and Food, Moscow, Russia

Summary
Report type: immediate notification
Start date: 26 Oct 2009
Date of first confirmation of the event: 28 Oct 2009
Date submitted to OIE: 5 Nov 2009
Reason for notification: reoccurrence of a listed disease
Date of previous occurrence: Jun 2009
Manifestation of disease: clinical disease
Causal agent: highly pathogenic avian influenza virus
Serotype: H5N1
Nature of diagnosis: clinical, laboratory (advanced), necropsy
This event pertains to a defined zone within the country

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Rabies, human, vampire bats - Peru (LO), susp - Archive Number 20091106.3839
ProMED-mail - www.promedmail.org
05 Nov 2009

The Ministry of Health (MINSA), through the Regional Health Authority (Diresa) Loreto, sent crews with specialized personnel to the Morona District of Loreto, [to investigate a] possible outbreak of rabies transmitted by the bite of bats that have caused the deaths of 5 people from the Huambisa ethnic group.

In this regard, the coordinator of the MINSA Zoonosis Health MINSA, Dr Ana Maria Navarro, said that after learning of the events there was immediate coordination with the Department of Epidemiology of the Diresa to form an intervention brigade in the area.

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OTHER WILDLIFE HEALTH RELATED NEWS
Photo credit: Taronga Zoo Photo: Tamara Dean