March 30, 2010

TOP STORIES

Death of coral reefs could devastate nations
Coral reefs are dying, and scientists and governments around the world are contemplating what will happen if they disappear altogether.

The idea positively scares them.

Coral reefs are part of the foundation of the ocean food chain. Nearly half the fish the world eats make their homes around them.

Google News - www.google/hostednews.com (Source: Associated Press) 26 Mar 2010 B Skoloff
Photo credit:
AP Photo/U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, HO


>>>FULL ARTICLE

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Evidence for a new species of Cryptosporidium infecting tortoises: Cryptosporidium ducismarci

Cryptosporidiosis affects the gastrointestinal and respiratory tract of humans as well as of a wide range of companion, farm, laboratory and wild animals. In the past few years, three independent studies have provided strong evidence for the existence of a distinct Cryptosporidium species affecting tortoises and likely circulating in other reptile species as well.

A new Cryptosporidium genotype was firstly detected and genetically characterized in a marginated tortoise in Italy in 2007 and named Cryptosporidium sp. ex Testudo marginata CrIT-20.

7th Space Interactive - 7thspace.com
25 March 2010





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

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 March 25, 2010 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.

USGS National Wildlife Health Center
29 Mar 2010
Area: United States


>>> Updated Wildlife Mortality Event Table


Homeland security department renews animal disease centers in Texas, Kansas

Efforts to protect the nation from potentially catastrophic animal diseases – some of which are transmissible to humans – will continue with a $21 million package from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security to Texas A&M University and Kansas State University.

The monies will support the homeland security department’s Center of Excellence for Foreign Animal and Zoonotic Disease Defense at the universities through 2016.

Based at Texas A&M, the National Center for Foreign Animal and Zoonotic Disease Defense, or FAZD Center, has led a consortium of universities and institutions in efforts aimed at protecting American agriculture and public health since 2004.

AgriLife News - agnews.tamu.edu 26 Mar 2010 K Phillips

>>>FULL ARTICLE




WILDLIFE HEALTH RELATED PUBLICATIONS
Browse complete Digest publication library here.

Avian Diseases - March 2010
Volume 54, Number 1

Emerging Infectious Diseases - April 2010
Volume 16, Number 4

White-Nose Syndrome: New Locations in Canada, Maryland and Tennessee Confirmed

USGS National Wildlife Health Center - Wildlife Health Bulletin [pdf]

A new isolate of beak and feather disease virus from endemic wild red-fronted parakeets (Cyanoramphus novaezelandiae) in New Zealand
Arch Virol. 2010 Feb 24. [Epub ahead of print]
L Ortiz-Catedral et al.

Identification of SARS-like coronaviruses in horseshoe bats (Rhinolophus hipposideros) in Slovenia
Arch Virol. 2010 Mar 10. [Epub ahead of print]
D Rihtarič et al.

Avian influenza virus isolates from wild birds replicate and cause disease in a mouse model of infection
Virology. 2010 Apr 10; 399(2): 280-289
EA Driskell et al.