TOP STORIES
Smuggled birds pose threat to public health: CDC
The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) warned the public Tuesday of the health risks associated with poultry smuggling, after customs officials found 32 larks in the hand luggage of a man returning from mainland China where H5N1 avian influenza is prevalent.
Citing World Health Organization (WHO) statistics, the CDC said there have been 532 reported cases of H5N1 avian influenza worldwide since 2003, and that the fatality rate was as high as 60 percent.
"The importation of untested poultry from countries where the H5N1 virus is prevalent not only poses a threat to local birds, but also puts the Taiwan public at a risk of infection, " said Lin Ting, the CDC's deputy director general.
FocusTaiwan – focustaiwan.tw
29 Mar 2011
N Liu
29 Mar 2011
N Liu
White-nose syndrome spreads to New Brunswick bats
A lethal and little-understood disease called white-nose syndrome is devastating the little brown bat population of New Brunswick.
...Donald McAlpine and Karen Vanderwolf, researchers at the New Brunswick Museum in Saint John, have discovered white-nose syndrome in the province’s most important over-wintering cave for bats, located in Albert County.
“It’s a mixture of little browns and long-eared bats,” McAlpine said of the roughly 6,000 bats that hibernate in the cave.
“There were over 1,200 dead on the floor and there were large numbers of bats that were visibly infected with white nose and many that were also actually dead, hanging on the walls. The ones that are infected, we don’t expect them to survive.”
Bangor Daily News - new.bangordaily.news (Source: Telegraph Journal)
29 Mar 2011
Location: Saint John, New Brunswick, Canada - Map It
29 Mar 2011
Location: Saint John, New Brunswick, Canada - Map It
Other White-nose Syndrome News
>>> White Nose Syndrome Confirmed In Hibernating Bats From Washington County Mines [Hagerstown, Washington County, Maryland, USA - Map It ]
>>> Townsend cave bats get checkups
]>>> Townsend cave bats get checkups
Worm infests area Moose: Parasite can blind, maim, kill animals; prevalence is estimated at 50 percent
A moose famous for carrying chronic wasting disease to western Wyoming has triggered another worry about a parasite that could exacerbate the decline of the population in the region.
As many as 50 percent of moose in western Wyoming could carry the carotid artery worm — Elaeophora schneideri, formally — a species of nematode that is transmitted among animals like elk, moose, sheep and deer by horseflies, according to an ongoing study. Infected moose can become blind, have malformed antlers or cropped ears and noses.
... The prevalence in western Wyoming is thought to be about 50 percent, while the percentage of infected moose in the Snowy Range topped out at 83 percent. In the Bighorns, only about 5 percent of moose were found to be infected.
“There is definitely regional variation in prevalence,” Henningsen said.
Jackson Hole News & Guide - www.jhnewsandguide.com
30 Mar 2011
C Hatch
Location: Wyoming, USA
>>> FULL ARTICLE
30 Mar 2011
C Hatch
Location: Wyoming, USA
>>> FULL ARTICLE
OTHER WILDLIFE HEALTH RELATED STORIES
- U.S. Census Bureau to Begin Collection of Information on Wildlife Recreation
- Report finds air pollution harms Pennsylvania wildlife
- Quake Question #4: What Is the Impact on Wildlife?
- 716 adult deer killed, all negative for CWD [Pine Island, Minnesota, USA]
- Hunters fear importing deer for commercial farms would raise risk of spreading disease [Tennessee, USA]
