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Study reveals new ways deadly squirrelpox is transmitted to red squirrels
Native red squirrels have declined throughout Britain and Ireland for the last century due to a combination of habitat loss and the introduction of the North American eastern grey squirrel. But more recently its few remaining populations have been devastated by an insidious pox virus passed to them by the alien invaders.
A study by the biodiversity and conservation research centre Quercus at Queen's University Belfast (QUB), and published in the journal PLOS ONE, found the situation may be worse than previously thought as the disease appears to have multiple modes of potential transmission. The project was part-funded by the Northern Ireland Environment Agency (NIEA) through the Natural Heritage Research Partnership (NHRP) with Quercus, Queen's University Belfast and part-funded by the People's Trust for Endangered Species (PTES).
Invading grey squirrels, which harbour the disease but typically do not suffer symptoms, may pass the virus in their urine. The research team conducted experiments to examine the survival of the virus outside the body in the wider environment, showing that it persists best in warm dry conditions. This raises the possibility that infected grey squirrels could pass on the disease by uninfected squirrels coming into contact with their dried urine during spring and summer.
The virus was also found in the parasites of pox positive squirrels including fleas, mites and ticks, which are capable of carrying the disease between individuals or between the species.
Honeybee trade is hotbed for carrying disease into wild
HONEYBEES have been busy – spreading diseases to insects that pollinate crops. It seems imported honeybees are an important reservoir for viruses that kill wild pollinators, which could lead to a meltdown in the planet's pollination services.
World trade in honeybee colonies contributes to honey production and also plays a vital role in agriculture – in some cases there would be no crop without the pollinators.
Honeybee colonies in Europe and North America have suffered recent mysterious declines. But now it seems the colonies could be just as much of a threat to wild pollinators such as bumblebees and the many species of "solitary" bees.
Matthias Fürst of Royal Holloway, University of London tracked the geographical prevalence in the UK of a non-native parasite called deformed wing virus (DWV) that is often found in both honeybees and bumblebees. The virus is spread by a mite and typically kills bees within 48 hours. The pattern of spread showed that imported honeybees are the major source of infection for the wild pollinators, and that emerging diseases spread by those colonies could be a major cause of mortality in the wild
Coral off WA suffers shocking damage from marine heatwaves, scientists say
Study reveals that remote reef with coral hundreds of years old has undergone severe bleaching and ‘decimation’
Marine heatwaves have wreaked “almost unprecedented” damage to ancient coral off Western Australia’s Pilbara coast, scientists say.
Preliminary results from a five-year year study of the coastline revealed that a remote section of reef south of Barrow Island has suffered severe “bleaching and decimation”, according to the CSIRO, which is running the study with the University of Western Australia.
An extreme “bleaching event” in 2011 was known to have caused significant damage to the reef. But the study found another marine heatwave, in the summer of 2012-13, also caused trauma to the reef, including to its massive, 400-year old porites corals.
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- Dozens of blackbirds die of poisoning at Tahoe [California, USA]
- Contaminated water kills Akaroa eels [New Zealand]
- Dead dolphin washed ashore near Keezhakarai [India]
- Mule deer in southwest N.D. tests positive for chronic wasting disease [Subscription required to view entire article]North Dakota, USA]
- Will County Forest Preserve Takes Action on Chronic Wasting Disease [Illinois, USA]
- W.Va. monitoring deer for chronic wasting disease [West Virginia, USA]
- Virginia expects to expand deer disease containment area
- Health Security Effort to Boost Global Disease Response
- Ticks May Help Detect Lyme-Disease Bacteria in People
- Rabies alert for Hamilton County [Florida, USA]
- First case of rabies in Martin County in 2014 found in South Stuart
- New hope for under threat koalas
- A Landmark International Agreement to Halt Wildlife Trafficking Is Just the Beginning
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