April 13, 2010

TOP STORIES



Harnessing the Web and supercomputers to track pathogens as they evolve

Pathogens can now be easily tracked in time and space as they evolve, an advance that could revolutionize both public health and inform national security in the fight against infectious diseases.

Developed by researchers that include scientists at the American Museum of Natural History, Supramap (supramap.osu.edu) is a new, powerful, web-based application that maps genetic mutations like those among the different strains of avian influenza onto the globe.

The new application is published in the early online edition of Cladistics.

EurekAlert - www.eurekalert.org
12 Apr 2010


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Cited Journal Article



Invasive Fish and Mussels Team Up to Transfer Toxic Substances Into Great Lakes Walleyes

Two notorious Great Lakes invaders -- the zebra mussel and the round goby -- now play a central role in transferring toxic chemicals called PCBs up the food chain and into Saginaw Bay walleyes, one of that region's most popular sport fish.

The links between zebra mussels, round gobies and contaminated Saginaw Bay walleyes is a disturbing example of unanticipated problems that can occur when non-native species get loose in the Great Lakes, said University of Michigan fishery biologist David Jude, lead author of a paper on the topic published online April 9 in the Journal of Great Lakes Research.




Moving frogspawn can spread diseases

Frog and tadpole populations are being put under threat by the spread of a deadly fungal disease caused by residents dumping frogspawn into Black Country nature reserves.

People are being asked not to take frogspawn from their own garden ponds and dump it into streams and ponds to prevent the spread of a fungal disease called chytrid fungus in frogs.

Park wardens at The Leasowes park in Halesowen have spotted several cases of people throwing frogspawn into pools at the beauty spot.

Express & Star - www.expressandstar.com
10 Apr 2010


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OTHER WILDLIFE HEALTH RELATED NEWS
Photo credit: BBC News
Whale Strandings
Invasive Species
Huh, That's Interesting!

WILDLIFE HEALTH RELATED PUBLICATIONS
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Multiple Introduction of Asian H5N1 Avian Influenza Virus in Croatia by Wild Birds During 2005–2006 and Isolation of the Virus from Apparently Healthy Black-Headed Gulls (Larus ridibundus)
Vector-Borne and Zoonotic Diseases. 2010; Epub ahead of print
V Savić et al.

Field-Based Estimates of Avian Mortality from West Nile Virus Infection
Vector-Borne and Zoonotic Diseases. 2010; Epub ahead of print.
MP Ward et al.

Transient virulence of emerging pathogens

J R Soc Interface. 2010 May 6;7(46):811-22. Epub 2009 Oct 28.
BM Bolker et al.

Ecology and Society - Special Issue in Progress
Risk mapping for avian influenza: a social-ecological problem

Detection and quantification of infectious avian influenza A (H5N1) virus in environmental water by using real-time reverse transcription-PCR
Appl Environ Microbiol. 2010 Apr;76(7):2165-74. Epub 2010 Jan 29.
CI Dovas et al.