TOP STORIES
North Queensland groper deaths blamed on marine bacteria
A DEADLY bacteria is believed to be at least partly behind the puzzling demise of more than 50 groper fish between Mackay and the Daintree River in north Queensland between 2007 and last year.
It is the first time Streptococcus agalactiae has been recorded in Australia. It also has been found in mullet, javelin grunter and stingrays.
Most groper deaths occurred near highly urbanised areas such as Cairns and Port Douglas, raising fears of a link between human environmental disturbance and emerging infectious diseases in wildlife populations.
Bats given anti-fungal treatments for white-nose
Researchers trying to slow the spread of a scourge that has killed more than a million bats are testing anti-fungal solutions in a hard-hit hibernation cave.
New York Department of Environmental Conservation researchers hope that topical anti-fungal agents applied to about 250 bats in an old iron mine on the edge of the Adirondacks will combat white-nose syndrome.
Daily Record - www.dailyrecord.com (source: Associated Press)
10 Feb 2010
10 Feb 2010
More Bat News
>>> To keep Oregon bats healthy, avoid their homes [WNS]
>>> Humans hard on bats in cave [Boulder Cave, Washington, USA]
>>> To keep Oregon bats healthy, avoid their homes [WNS]
>>> Humans hard on bats in cave [Boulder Cave, Washington, USA]
Unearthing Anthrax's Dirty Secret: Its Mysterious Survival Skills May Rely on Help from Viruses--and EarthwormsUsing a pipette as a makeshift rolling pin, Raymond Schuch spent some of his lab time last summer pressing the guts out of earthworms that he had collected, fresh from Manhattan soil.
For his efforts, The Rockefeller University microbiologist extracted what looked like just a small pile of dirt, but was actually a microcosm teeming with phages—viruses that infect bacteria. Schuch was on the hunt for phages that could kill anthrax and become anti-anthrax therapies, but what he discovered were viruses that enable this deadly bacteria to grow and survive when the going gets tough.
Scientific American - www.scientificamerican.com
09 Feb 2010
C Storrs
Photo courtesy of Scientific American
09 Feb 2010
C Storrs
Photo courtesy of Scientific American
OTHER WILDLIFE HEALTH RELATED NEWS
- Earlier springs could destroy delicate balance of UK wildlife, study shows [includes audio; cited journal article here]
- Invasive species from buildup worry experts
- Annual Audubon bird count shows decline
- Biological Risks of Eating Reptiles
- Prion Protein in Cell Culture
- Badger culls 'not cost-effective'
- Record wildlife deaths from cold snap [Florida, USA]
- 82 Corals, Threatened With Extinction Due to Climate Change and Ocean Acidification, Advance Toward Endangered Species Act Protection
- Clouded leopard: First film of new Asia big cat species [video 1 min 02 sec]
WILDLIFE HEALTH RELATED PUBLICATIONS
Browse complete Digest publication library here.
Bovine tuberculosis in Canadian wildlife: an updated historyCan Vet J. 2009 Nov;50(11):1169-76.
G Wobeser
The Potential Distance of Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza Virus Dispersal by Mallard, Common Teal and Eurasian Pochard
EcoHealth. 2010; [Epub ahead of print]
A-L Brochet et al.
Pathologic Findings and Liver Elements in
Hibernating Bats With White-Nose Syndrome
Vet Pathol. 2010 Jan 28; [Epub ahead of print]
F Courtin et al.
Acute and chronic toxicity of ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate to the endangered Topeka shiner (Notropis topeka) and fathead minnows (Pimephales promelas)
Environ Toxicol Chem. 2009 Oct;28(10):2216-23.
IR Adelman et al.
Factors driving pathogenicity vs. prevalence of amphibian panzootic chytridiomycosis in Iberia
Ecology Letters. 2010; [Epub ahead of print]
SF Walker et al.
Ecology and pathology of amphibian ranaviruses
Dis Aquat Organ. 2009 Dec 3;87(3):243-66.
MJ Gray et al.
