TOP STORIES
Disease spreading in reef fish
A bacteria that's been killing groper in Queensland waters has started spreading to other fish species.
Researchers say the bacteria have killed at least 93 groper since 2007.
Rachel Bowater, a veterinary officer from Biosecurity Queensland, says it will be difficult to stop the spread of the bacteria.
"This same bacteria has caused wide-scale death of stingrays. We have had several sick javelin grunter, which are an edible fish species, washing up dead," she said.
"I think it's very unlikely we can contain it, because this disease is occurring in wild fish populations. There's very little we can actually do about it."
Deadly by nature
As the toll from the latest outbreak of Hendra virus grows, awareness mounts of the dangers of infectious diseases transmitted to humans from wildlife.Hendra--a virulent virus whose host is the fruit bat but, if transmitted to other animals, is capable of killing horses and people--was discovered in Queensland in 1994 and identified by the CSIRO as a previously unknown virus.
It joins other notable diseases such as SARS, the virus that causes severe acute respiratory syndrome, which also emerged from bats and affected civet cats before infecting more than 8400 people in 2003, killing 750. Then there are HIV/AIDS, Ebola and the avian and swine influenza viruses.
"Emerging infectious diseases are responsible for more than 70 per cent of all the new human diseases that have arisen over the past century," says Professor Marcel Klaassen. "These diseases have the potential to have catastrophic effects on human health and economic prosperity, including significant threats to the livestock industry."
Whereas diseases that have never affected humans before often originate from wildlife, Professor Klaassen says there is also a reciprocal risk to wildlife.
Getting the lead out: Loon deaths spur wildlife experts, lawmaker to pursue a ban on certain fishing gear
The recent lead-related death of a loon on Nubanusit Lake in Hancock illustrates the problem, said John H. Cooley, a senior biologist for the Loon Preservation Committee in Moultonborough. The dead bird was taken to Tufts University in Medford, Mass., where a necropsy turned up lead fishing tackle in its body.
The Loon Preservation Committee has worked with Tufts since the late 1980s to address lead-related deaths in the birds, Cooley said.
In 2000, those efforts led to laws banning the use of lead sinkers weighing 1 ounce or less and lead jigs measuring less than 1 inch on New Hampshire’s freshwater lakes and ponds. It was the first legislation of its kind in the country.
In 2005, the law was extended to include rivers and streams.
But loon experts say the law doesn’t go far enough, as evidenced by a rise in the number of New Hampshire loons dying as a result of ingesting lead fishing tackle.
“Before last year, we averaged about five lead deaths (of loons) a year,” Cooley said. “Last year we collected 12 lead-poisoned loons.”
OTHER WILDLIFE HEALTH-RELATED NEWS
Science and policy collaboration: The bird flu case- Rabies worries increase in the valleys [Location: Virginia, USA]
- White-nose syndrome precautions debated by cavers
- Catching the West Nile virus in action [Cited journal article]
- KDHE issues new blue-green algae alerts [Location: Kansas, USA]
- Warning over Daventry reservoir algae outbreak
- Report calls for better ecological data management by US agencies [Additional article]
