Wildlife Disease News Digest

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Severe pneumonia outbreak kills bighorn sheep

Wildlife officials say an outbreak of bacterial pneumonia killing bighorn sheep herds in five Western states is without precedent.

Every year, a small number of bighorn sheep succumb to pneumonia, but this winter Montana, Washington, Utah, Wyoming, and Nevada all have reported unusually high incidences of sickness and death among their wild sheep populations.

The outbreak's toll is difficult to determine, since bighorn sheep roam remote locations, but officials estimate 1,000 sheep in nine wild herds had died as of early April.

JAVMA News - www.avma.org/onlnews
20 Apr 2010
RS Nolen
Photo credit: G Hurley
Location: USA - Montana - Map it

; Nevada - Map It

; Utah - Map It

; Washington - Map It

; Wyoming - Map It

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New bat disease found in northeast Mo. cave

Dozens of Missouri's bat caves will be closed as a result of the recent discovery of white nose syndrome, a fungus responsible for killing more than a million bats in the eastern United States.

Officials with the Missouri Department of Conservation confirmed Monday that the disease was detected in a little brown bat in a cave in Pike County in the northeastern part of the state.

The deadly disease was first discovered in New York in 2006 and has been rapidly spreading west. With the Pike County discovery, Missouri becomes the 12th state with a confirmed case of white nose syndrome, state conservation officials said.

R&D Magazine - www.rdmag.com [Source: Associated Press]
20 Apr 2010
K McGuire
Photo credit: Missouri Department of Conservation
Location: Pike County, Missouri, USA - Map It

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More Bat News
>>> Deadly Bat Fungus Appears To Be Spreading
>>> Outlook for Connecticut’s bats is bleak
>>> Tiny bat found in Britain for first time

Field Museum and University of Chicago launch Emerging Pathogens Project

The Field Museum and the University of Chicago today announced the establishment of the Emerging Pathogens Project, a unique research program to study the evolution of species-switching parasites or pathogens that result in diseases such as bird flu, malaria, and AIDS. Many diseases have a long infection history in animals. The project's goal is to provide in-depth, baseline information on pathogens that appear in animals, eventually leading to important clues for how humans can combat emerging epidemics.

EurekAlert! - www.eurekalert.org
20 Apr 2010

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