TOP STORIES
Desert reserve searches for cause of tortoise flu
Salt Lake Tribune - www.sltrib.com
25 Nov 2009
M Havnes
Photo credit: C Rognan
Location: St. George, Washington County, Utah, USA- Map It 
Even desert tortoises get the flu.
A growing number of the animals in the Red Cliffs Desert Reserve in St. George have contracted what is believed to be a bacteria that produces symptoms similar to the malady as it appears in humans, including runny noses.
In an effort to learn more about what biologists suspect is an upper respiratory tract disease, reserve officials got funding from the Washington County Commission to pay a veterinary pathologist to conduct necropsies (animal autopsies) on up to six sick tortoises. The illness isn't transferable to humans.
Gull Deaths on Gooseberry Island Linked to Virus
Northland Press - www.northlandpress.com
01 Dec 2009
P Boblett
Location: Gooseberry Island, Crow Wing County, Minnesota, USA - Map It
The 2,200 plus birds that were found dead on and near Gooseberry Island on Pelican Lake in August died of circovirus, according to State Wildlife Veterinarian Erica Butler.
. . . Butler said during a phone interview last week that circovirus is a disease that decreases the immune system, which raises the possibility for secondary infections.
“We found salmonella, and there were different bacterial and fungal infections,” said Butler. “It took a long time to get results and the trouble was there wasn’t much in common, until we figured out the underlying cause. The birds technically died from other infections but the main cause was the circovirus.”
Bighorn sheep die-off worsens
Ravalli Republic - www.ravallirepublic.com
01 Dec 2009
P Backus
Location: Ravalli County, Montana, USA - Map It
An outbreak of pneumonia in bighorn sheep from the East Fork Bitterroot herd worsened over the past week.
State wildlife biologists collected almost 30 infected bighorn sheep from the area south of Darby. Some of the infected animals were shot in an effort to slow the spread of the disease. Others were found already dead.
“Any hope for a moderate infection rate is waning,” said Craig Jourdonnais, the Bitterroot-based biologist for Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks. “I think we are in full blown die-off mode.”
OTHER WILDLIFE HEALTH RELATED NEWS
- N.L. and P.E.I. may be refuges for bats from mysterious fatal disease
- China urges intensified supervision on A/H1N1 flu in animals
- Group Fights to Save Cutthroat Trout
- Vultures should be allowed to return as 'nature's waste managers' in Spain
- Association of Zoos and Aquariums Announces Conservation Endowment Fund Grants
- Wildlife warning system on Highway 95 near Moscow
Animal Tracking
- IDFG to begin collaring mule deer
- They want to learn how arctic wolves fare in winter [related interview, audio]
- DNA Testing To Help Sharks Keep Fins [includes audio, 1:13; related video, 2:12]
Great Lakes News
Photo credit: N Michaels/Illinois River Biological Station
- Managing a Great Lake is no small task
- Griffin: We must keep Asian carp out of the Great Lakes [related story with video, 0:53]
Huh, That's Interesting!
- Nat'l parks seek to share of profitable science
- Spider Builds Body Double to Catch Prey
- Hammerhead Sharks Have "Human" Vision
- Cells Defend Themselves from Viruses, Bacteria With Armor of Protein Errors
WILDLIFE HEALTH RELATED PUBLICATIONS
Browse complete Digest publication library here.
Emerging Infectious Diseases - December 2009
Volume 15, Number 12
Growth and development of tadpoles (Xenopus laevis) exposed to selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors, fluoxetine and sertraline, throughout metamorphosis
Environ Toxicol Chem. 2009 Dec;28(12):2671-6. Epub 2009 Jul 2.
DE Conners et al.
Zero Prevalence of Influenza A Virus in Two Raptor Species by Standard Screening
Vector Borne Zoonotic Dis. 2009 Oct 30. [Epub ahead of print]
G Gunnarsson et al.
Who infects whom? Social networks and tuberculosis transmission in wild meerkats
Proc Biol Sci. 2009 Nov 4. [Epub ahead of print]
JA Drewe
Puma predation on radiocollared and uncollared bighorn sheep
BMC Research Notes. 2009; 2:230
SM Clemenza et al.
