February 2, 2012

Today's Wildlife Disease News Stories

TOP STORIES

Peregrine falcon and black-headed gull test positive for H5 virus

Preliminary testing of a dead peregrine falcon in Tung Chung and a dead black-headed gull in Yuen Long have tested positive for the H5 avian influenza virus, a spokesman for the Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department (AFCD) said today (February 1), adding that further confirmatory tests are being conducted.

On January 30, the dead peregrine falcon and black-headed gull were found and collected in the park of Seaview Crescent, Man Tung Road, Tung Chung and Chun Yin Square Playground, Yuen Long respectively.

... The department will continue its wild bird monitoring and surveillance.

7th Space - 7thspace.com
01 Feb 2012
Location: Tung Chung - Map It and Yuen Long - Map It, Hong Kong


More Avian Influenza News
>>> Swan carcasses found in Westboro, a few infected with avian flu [Low-pathogenic][Westborough, Massachusetts, USA - Map It ]


Bat-killing fungus detected at Liberty Park

Biologists have confirmed the presence of white-nose syndrome in bats living in the caves and ledges of Liberty Park in Twinsburg, OH.

The number of infected bats in this northern Summit County park is unknown, but the fungus responsible for white-nose syndrome (WNS) has killed more than 5 million bats in eastern North America since it was first detected during the winter of 2006-07. The first documented case in Ohio was in 2011.

Park staff made the local discovery following a weekly survey of the area in mid-January. Biologists found a dead little brown bat outside one of the park’s off-trail caves and collected it for testing, and WNS was confirmed in the specimen by researchers at the Southeastern Cooperative Wildlife Disease Study in Athens, Georgia.

In the days since, park biologists have witnessed bats congregating near the mouth of the cave – and bats should still be hibernating.

US Fish and Wildlife Service, White-Nose Syndrome - www.fws.gov/WhiteNoseSyndrome [Source: Metro Parks]
01 Feb 2012
Location: Twinsburg, Summit Cty, Ohio, USA - Map It

>>> FULL PRESS RELEASE

Lots More WNS News
>>>Deadly Bat Fungus Spreading in the Maritimes
[New Brunswick, Canada - Map It ]
>>> Research on deadly bat fungus receives $4M funding boost
>>> Cavers question scope of white nose bat deaths [USA]
>>> White-Nose Syndrome Devastates Pennsylvania Bat Population [USA]
>>> USFWS Blog: White-nose Syndrome in Bats [Guest blogger: Carol Meteyer from the USGS National Wildlife Health Center on WNS in European Bats]
>>> RESEARCHERS MONITORING COLORADO BAT POPULATIONS [USA]
>>> NW agencies try to head off bat fungus [Northwestern States in USA]


A Wildlife Vet, a Pigeon, a Groundbreaking Discovery

....Last April I was examining a wild male adult Rock Pigeon that couldn’t fly. The person who found the pigeon suspected a broken wing. On the initial physical exam, I didn’t find any broken bones but the bird was exhibiting odd neurologic behaviors, including ataxia (lack of coordination) and torticollis (head tilt).

...Since Paramyxovirus, a highly contagious viral disease in pigeons that manifests as neurological symptoms, including ataxia and torticollis, was high on my list of possible diagnoses, I sent this bird to the University of Minnesota (UMN) Diagnostic Lab (D-Lab) where they would do a necropsy and test for the virus.

...Well, the bird tested negative for Paramyxovirus. However, what the D-Lab did find was shocking. A parasite, named Sarcocystis calchasi, was found in cysts in the bird’s skeletal muscles. The really neat thing? This parasite had never been identified in the United States! It actually hadn’t been identified anywhere outside of Germany (where it was identified in 2009)!

Scientific American - blogs.scientificamerican.com
31 Jan 2012
L Reed




OTHER WILDLIFE HEALTH RELATED NEWS
Alga Bloom News

Huh? T
hat's Interesting!

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