Wildlife Disease News Digest

TOP STORIES

Species on climate change hit list named
International Union for Conservation of Nature - iucn.org
14 December 2009
Photo credit: Örvar Atli Þorgeirsson/Flickr

The Arctic Fox, Leatherback Turtle and Koala are among the species destined to be hardest hit by climate change, according to a new IUCN review.

The report, Species and Climate Change, focuses on 10 species, including the Beluga Whale, Clownfish, Emperor Penguin, Quiver Tree, Ringed Seal, salmon and staghorn corals, which all highlight the way climate change is adversely affecting marine, terrestrial and freshwater habitats.

. . . “This report should act as a wake-up call to governments to make real commitments to cut CO2 emissions if we are to avoid a drastically changed natural world. We simply don’t have the time for drawn-out political wrangling."

>>> FULL ARTICLE [includes image gallery and video, 2:25]

Related News
>>> Full IUCN Report [14 December 2009]

Even at Sublethal Levels, Pesticides May Slow the Recovery of Wild Salmon Populations
Science Daily - www.sciencedaily.com
17 December 2009

Biologists determined that short-term, seasonal exposure to pesticides in rivers and basins may limit the growth and size of wild salmon populations.

In addition to the widespread deterioration of salmon habitats, these findings suggest that exposure to commonly used pesticides may further inhibit the recovery of threatened or endangered populations.

The researchers studied the impact of pesticides, such as diazinon and malathion, on individual salmon using pre-existing data, and then devised a model to calculate the productivity and growth rate of the population.

>>> FULL ARTICLE

Journal Article Cited

>>> A fish of many scales: extrapolating sublethal pesticide exposures to the productivity of wild salmon populations. Ecological Applications, 2009; 19 (8): 2004-2015.

USGS Fact Sheet 2009-3051: Lead Poisoning in Wild Birds

USGS National Wildlife Health Center - www.nwhc.usgs.gov
September 2009
Photo courtesy of USGS National Wildlife Health Center

. . . By the mid 1990s, lead had been removed from many products in the United States, such as paint and fuel, but it is still commonly used in ammunition for hunting upland game birds, small mammals, and large game animals, as well as in fishing tackle.

Wild birds, such as mourning doves, bald eagles, California condors, and loons, can die from the ingestion of one lead shot, bullet fragment, or sinker.

According to a recent study on loon mortality, nearly half of adult loons found sick or dead during the breeding season in New England were diagnosed with confirmed or suspected lead poisoning
from ingestion of lead fishing weights.

>>> FULL FACT SHEET

>>> ALL USGS FACT SHEETS

A 'one health' approach to addressing emerging zoonoses: The HALI project in Tanzania
EurekAlert! - www.eurekalert.org
14 December 2009

In this week's PLoS Medicine, Jonna Mazet (University of California, Davis) and colleagues describe their work in the Tanzania-based HALI Project, which adopts the "One Health" approach to address emerging zoonoses, recognizing the interconnectedness of human, animal, and environmental health.

There is a strong need for integrated health approaches, the authors argue, because explosive human population growth and environmental changes have resulted in increased numbers of people living in close contact with wild and domestic animals.

>>> FULL ARTICLE

Journal Article Cited

>>> A ''One Health''Approach to Address Emerging Zoonoses: The HALI Project in Tanzania. PLoS Medicine, 2009; 6(12): e1000190.

Reported Wildlife Mortality Events to the USGS National Wildlife Health Center Updated
USGS National Wildlife Health Center
15 December 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 December 15, 200n 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