TOP STORIES
Wildlife Health Bulletin: Avian Influenza A(H7N9) in China
This bulletin provides information on the current situation regarding the avian influenza A(H7N9) outbreak in China and preparations at the USGS National Wildlife Health Center. At this time, the People’s Republic of China has reported over 120 cases of avian influenza A(H7N9) infection in people, with an approximate case fatality rate of 20 percent.
Presently, there is no evidence of sustained humanto-human transmission. The source of human infection is still under investigation, but the avian influenza A(H7N9) virus has been isolated from healthy ducks, pigeons, chickens, and quail in live bird markets in Shanghai and neighboring provinces. Concern exists within China and among other countries about the potential spread of virus.
USGS National Wildlife Health Center
03 May 2013
News on Environmental Toxins: Mercury exposure linked to dramatic decline in Arctic foxes
On one Russian island where the population of foxes has crashed, the researchers believe the toxin has played a key role in the decline. They say the findings could have important implications for conservation. The data is published in the Journal, PLOS ONE.
Mercury levels in the world's oceans have doubled over the past 100 years, according to the UN, with more mercury deposited in the Arctic than on any other part of the planet. The Arctic Council says there has been a ten-fold increase in the levels of mercury found in top predators in the region over the past 150 years.
... Now a team of researchers says it has found significant levels of mercury in different populations of Arctic foxes in different environments.
BBC News
06 May 2013
M McGrath
Cited Journal Article
N Bocharova et al. (2013) Correlates between Feeding Ecology and Mercury Levels in Historical and Modern Arctic Foxes (Vulpes lagopus). PLoS ONE 8(5): e60879. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0060879
Climate changes could bring malaria to the UK
Health experts warn of growing threat from 'exotic' diseases
Leading health experts are urging the government to take action against the growing threat that mosquito-borne diseases, including potentially fatal malaria, could soon arrive in the UK.
The disturbing recommendation to "act now before it is too late" is being made as a growing body of evidence indicates that what were once thought of as tropical diseases are being found ever closer to the UK.
...In the UK, previously rare diseases are being diagnosed with increasing frequency. In 2001, there were 200 confirmed cases of Lyme disease, which is caused by infected ticks carried on animals. By 2011, this had risen to 959 confirmed cases, according to HPA statistics. The true figure could be considerably higher, experts believe, as Lyme disease requires a clinical diagnosis and its symptoms, such as rashes and flu, can mimic other illnesses and be misdiagnosed. At its most serious, the disease can result in blindness and paralysis.
The Guardian
04 May 2013
J Doward
Health defects found in fish exposed to Deepwater Horizon oil spill
Gulf killifish embryos affected
Three years after the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, crude oil toxicity continues to sicken a sentinel Gulf Coast fish species, according to new findings from a research team that includes a University of California, Davis, scientist.
With researchers from Louisiana and South Carolina, the scientists found that Gulf killifish embryos exposed to sediments from oiled locations show developmental abnormalities, including heart defects, delayed hatching and reduced hatching success. The killifish is an environmental indicator species, or a "canary in the coal mine," used to predict broader exposures and health risks.
The findings, posted online in advance of publication in the journal Environmental Science and Technology, are part of an ongoing collaborative effort to track the impacts of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill on Gulf killifish populations in areas of Louisiana that received heavy amounts of oil.
Other species that share similar habitats with the Gulf killifish, such as redfish, speckled trout, flounder, blue crabs, shrimp and oysters — may be at risk of similar effects.
EurekAlert!
01 May 2013
OTHER WILDLIFE HEALTH RELATED NEWS
- Will Lead Bullets Finally Kill Off the California Condor?
- Nearly 3,000 birds die from chemical spill in English Channel [United Kingdom]
- Scientists wrap up coral study: Report describes outbreak as ‘phenomenon’[Kauai, Hawaii, USA]
- Two New Publications on Mountain Lions [CDFW Wildlife Investigations Lab blog]
- Correction: Rabid Wolves story [Alaska, USA]
- Voyageurs moose population holding steady [Minnesota, USA]
- ProMED: Dolphin morbilivirus fatal - comment [South Australia, Australia]
- Amphibians living close to farm fields are more resistant to common insecticides
- Scientists map global routes of ship-borne invasive species [See map to right]
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| Scientists mapped the global routes taken by cargo ships over a two-year period |
- Cold War bunkers offer bats refuge from killer disease [Maine, USA]
- Deadly fungus threatens state's endangered bat population [Wisconsin, USA]
- Blood and Spore: How a Bat-Killing Fungus Is Threatening U.S. Agriculture
- Georgia Bat Population Is Under Threat [Georgia, USA]
- Bat-killing disease migrating south [USA]
- Anne Arundel rabies cases on the rise: One year after vaccination program ends, spring cases almost double [Maryland, USA]
- NC health officials reminding citizens of rabies risk in wildlife [Navajo Co., Arizona, USA - Map It
]
- France battles new disease linked to SARS
- Humans vs. Superbugs: Who Will Win? [HealthMap's The Disease Daily]
- ProMED: Psittacosis - illegally sold birds [Argentina]
- The Great Herd of Migrating Viruses [Acelaphine herpesvirus 1][East Africa]
- Ticks, mosquitoes spawn emerging diseases in TN: Health officials hope to avoid repeat of 2012
- New bird flu arose as birds mingled, analysis shows
- The risks of H7N9 infection mapped
- CDC: Current China Bird Flu Strain Can't Cause Pandemic
- Why we are sitting ducks for China's bird flu [New Scientist]
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