January 14, 2008

High Degree Of Antibiotic Resistance Found In Wild Arctic Birds
Uppsala University (Posted by sciencedaily.com)
Photo courtesy of Jonas Bonnedahl
11 Jan 2008

Swedish researchers report that birds captured in the hyperboreal tundra, in connection with the tundra expedition "Beringia 2005," were carriers of antibiotics-resistant bacteria. These findings indicate that resistance to antibiotics has spread into nature, which is an alarming prospect for future health care. The scientists took samples from 97 birds in northeastern Siberia, northern Alaska, and northern Greenland. These samples were cultivated directly in special laboratories that the researchers had installed onboard the icebreaker Oden and were further analyzed at the microbiological laboratory at the Central Hospital in Växjö, Sweden.

"We were extremely surprised," says Björn Olsen, professor of infectious diseases at Uppsala University and at the Laboratory for Zoonosis Research at the University of Kalmar. "We took samples from birds living far out on the tundra and had no contact with people. This further confirms that resistance to antibiotics has become a global phenomenon and that virtually no region of the earth, with the possible exception of the Antarctic, is unaffected." The researchers' hypothesis is that immigrating birds have passed through regions in Southeast Asia, for example, where there is a great deal of antibiotics pressure and carried with them the resistant bacteria to the tundra.





Bird flu swans ‘flew in from Europe’
The Times - www.timesonline.co.uk
12 Jan 2008
V Elliot
Area: England United Kingdom

The strain of deadly flu found in three mute swans at Abbotsbury, Devon, is a close match to the one that infected wild birds in the Czech Republic last summer. Urgent testing is going on at the Veterinary Laboratories Agency to find out the exact match of the virus and to see how far it has spread in the country. Experts believe that, because one of the dead birds was discovered as long ago as December 27, the likelihood is that an infected bird arrived during the cold snap on the Continent just before Christmas. Among the species that flee to Britain in such weather are mallard, teal, widgeon, pochard and gulls.





Scientists tracking avian reovirus in NY crows
Newsday - www.newsday.com
14 Jan 2008
D Ricks
Area: New York United States

Birds have long sounded an alarm about the movement of microbes in nature. Scientists, for example, are tracking avian influenza as it circumvents the globe, moving mostly through flocks of wild birds. Wildlife investigators in New York are trying to find out what a viral outbreak among crows means to birds statewide as well as to flocks in neighboring states. Detected two weeks ago when an alarming wintertime infection worked its way through crows' roosts, a pathogen identified as an avian reovirus appears to have done more damage than initially suspected.

State wildlife pathologist Ward Stone, who has been leading a scientific investigation of the die-off, said the number of dead crows has reached into the "low thousands." At the beginning of his probe, he estimated that several hundred crows had succumbed to the infection. When warmer temperatures melted snow in many upstate communities last week, even more dead birds were found. "There were more dead birds out there and more are being sent in," he said, referring to citizens who are finding dead crows in their yards and sending them to Stone's laboratory for study.





NOAA proposes federal regulations to protect black abalone
NOAA (Posted by www.biologynews.net)
12 Jan 2008
Area: California United States

NOAA Fisheries Service published with the Federal Register today a proposed rule to list black abalone, a marine mollusk coveted by fishermen and gourmets alike, as endangered under the Endangered Species Act (ESA). . . . Since the 1980s, black abalone abundance has plummeted primarily from a bacterial disease known as withering syndrome. Other causes of the rapid population decline are likely due to historical overfishing, poaching and natural predation. NMFS has considered recent preliminary evidence which suggests a small disease resistant population may exist at San Nicolas Island. Even with this possibility, the likelihood that black abalone populations will continue to decline towards extinction (within the next 30 years) is very high.





Infections gets nosis put out of joint
Labnews - www.labnews.co.uk
14 Jan 2008

The UK’s National Centre for Zoonosis Research, dedicated to the study of animal-borne human diseases, has been opened at the University of Liverpool.

Funded by the Northwest Regional Development Agency (NWDA) the Zoonosis Centre is a collaboration between the University of Lancaster, the Health Protection Agency (HPA) and the Veterinary Laboratories Agency (VLA). Zoonoses - diseases that originate in animals but can jump species and infect humans - have received much media attention in recent times due to the emergence of bird flu. However, there are many types of diseases that the centre will study. Professor Malcolm Bennett, Veterinary Pathologist and Co-Director of the centre, said: “Diseases such as SARS and avian flu are examples of new and emerging zoonotic diseases that hit the headlines, but around two thirds of all human infections are transmitted from animals, and some of these can be very serious.

Rabies, for example, still kills more than 50,000 people every year, mainly in developing countries, while closer to home, most cases of food poisoning are also caused by zoonoses.” While many people associate zoonoses with wild or farm animals, pets can also be sources of important human infections, sometimes even with fatal consequences. Equally, however, human beings can sometimes be the source of animal infections. Dr Chris Parry, Medical Microbiologist and Co-Director of the centre said: “Antibiotic resistance is a problem in many zoonotic bacteria, and this complicates the treatment of patients.





OTHER WILDLIFE DISEASE RELATED NEWS



WILDLIFE DISEASE RELATED PUBLICATIONS

Comparison of retropharyngeal lymph node and obex region of the brainstem in detection of chronic wasting disease in white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) [online abstract only]
J Vet Diagn Invest. 2008 Jan;20(1):58-60.
DP Keane et al.

Spinal Arthropathy Associated with Ochrobactrum anthropi in Free-ranging Cane Toads (Chaunus [Bufo] marinus) in Australia [online abstract only]
Vet Pathol. 2008;45:85-94
CM Shilton et al.

Prevalence and Genetic Diversities of Hantaviruses in Rodents in Beijing, China [online abstract only]
Am. J. Trop. Med. Hyg.2008;78(1):98-105
JF Jiang et al.

at Monday, January 14, 2008 0 comments

January 11, 2008

More Dead Swans Found Along Fleet
Daily Echo: Dorest Echo - www.thisisdorset.net
11 Jan 2008
L Morris
Area: Abbotsbury, Dorset, England
Photo courtesy of Daily Echo/Samantha Cook

Two more dead swans have been found along the Fleet after the bird flu outbreak. But staff at Abbotsbury Swannery say there is no cause for alarm.

. . . Three mute swans found dead at the Abbotsbury swannery near Weymouth were on Thursday (January 10) confirmed to have had the deadly H5N1 strain of bird flu. In the monitoring area there will be restrictions on the movement of poultry, captive birds and hatching eggs except under licence and increased biosecurity measures for premises, people and vehicles.

. . . Defra is working closely with wildlife experts to consider whether further measures may need to be taken. The local wild bird population is being monitored, but culling has been ruled out because it could disperse birds further away.


Related News
>>> Protection zone set up as deadly bird flu found at swan reserve

>>> Study probes how bird flu virus jumps to humans




At start of pollination season, beekeepers worry about colonies
The Mercury News - www.mercurynews.com
10 Jan 2008
J Barbassa

When beekeeper Dave Ellingson shook his head in frustration over the mystifying disorder that's struck his hives, he got sympathetic nods from a tightly packed audience of fellow keepers concerned about the health of their working insects.

"Hive after hive after hive—and what did I do wrong?" he said Thursday at the American Beekeeping Federation's National Beekeeping Conference. "It's springtime in Texas, the best time for gathering pollen, and those bees went right down the tube."

It's something all keepers dread, especially at this time of the year when beekeepers sign contracts with farmers: opening up a previously healthy hive and finding it empty, the brood and queen mysteriously abandoned by the worker bees.

But the phenomenon, a condition called colony collapse disorder, is striking hives nationwide and still stumping scientists, researchers and farmers.


Related Links




Humans Blamed in Coral Reef Disappearance
DiscoveryNews - dsc.discovery.com/news
09 Jan 2008
Area: Caribbean
Photo courtesy of Discovery News

The world's coral reefs are in alarming decline, but what -- or who -- is most to blame?

A groundbreaking study published Wednesday singles out human settlement, especially coastal development and agriculture, as the main culprit, even more so than warming sea waters and acidification linked to global warming.

The study focuses on the Caribbean, where declining reefs are endangering species of wildlife as well as tourism and fishing that are vital for the local economy, says lead author, Camilo Mora, of Dalhousie University in Halifax, Canada.

"The continuing degradation of coral reefs may be soon beyond repair if threats are not identified and rapidly controlled," he said.


Related News
Related Journal Article


Widespread geese deaths at Saylorville investigated
DesMoinesRegister.com - www.desmoinesregister.com
09 Jan 2008
Area: Saylorville Lake, Polk, Iowa, USA

State wildlife biologists expect to learn later this week what killed dozens of geese in the past week south of the Saylorville Lake dam.

Lake workers have collected 80 dead Canada geese and found another 20 that show signs of serious illness, officials said.

Guy Zenner, a wildlife biologist with the Iowa Department of Natural Resources, said the cause could be lead poisoning, a bacterial disorder called fowl cholera, or illness caused by fungi on corn the geese ate.

The die-off at Saylorville is considered a relatively minor case, Zenner said. "We haven't had a major waterfowl disease event in Iowa since the 1990s," he added.



OTHER WILDLIFE DISEASE RELATED NEWS

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January 10, 2008

Biologists Monitor Emerging Waterfowl, Raptor Disease
Lakefront Hartwell - www.lakefronthartwell.com
10 Jan 2008
Area: United States

Wildlife biologists and park rangers are continuing to monitor area reservoirs and lakes for signs of avian vacuolar myelinopathy (AVM), a disease that primarily affects waterfowl and raptors. Biologists are concerned with the emergence of AVM in S.C., but note an 8.5% increase in eagle nesting per year since surveys were first initiated 30 years ago. S.C. Department of Natural Resources (DNR), Georgia Department of Natural Resources, Southeastern Cooperative Wildlife Disease Study and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers have been collaborating to monitor reservoirs that may support potentially toxic blue green algae, the suspect agent of AVM, which has been implicated as a cause in American coot and eagle mortalities.

AVM is an often-fatal disorder that affects the central nervous system of waterfowl and raptors that consume the suspect toxic algae growing on submerged aquatic vegetation in some Southeastern reservoirs. Research supports the working hypothesis that waterfowl such as American coots feeding on freshwater aquatic plants are susceptible to toxins found in algae growing on the leaves and stems. Once ingested, toxins cause cell and tissue damage primarily to the central nervous system and affected birds become uncoordinated and lose the ability to fly. This makes them vulnerable to raptors, such as eagles, that easily target affected birds.





PetSmart halts bird sales after outbreak
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette - www.post-gazette.com
05 Jan 2008
LW Fuoco
Area: United States

PetSmart has suspended bird sales in 775 stores in 44 states, including nine stores in the Pittsburgh area, because a number of cockatiels have tested positive for psittacosis, also known as parrot fever. Psittacosis is an infection caused by bacteria. Birds can transmit the disease to other birds and to people. There were no confirmed cases of psittacosis locally in 2007, according to a spokesman for the Allegheny County Health Department.

But Dave Zazac yesterday said he could find no indication that PetSmart, headquartered in Phoenix, had notified health officials about company concerns. Sales were suspended Dec. 19 when birds in PetSmart stores, including those in Allegheny County, were put into quarantine in the stores. They are being treated with antibiotics, said a spokesman at the company's 24-hour media hot line. "We suspended sales as a precaution," the PetSmart spokesman said. "Employees wear gloves and gowns" when they feed and care for the birds, and there have been no reports of employees or customers contracting psittacosis.





Frog population declining fast
San Gabriel Valley Tribune - www.sgvtribune.com
09 Jan 2008
E Kleeman
Area: California United States

High in the San Gabriel Mountains above Azusa, a tiny population of mountain yellow-legged frogs cling to existence. Less than 3.5 inches long with speckled olive brown backs and buttercup yellow undersides, they are one of about eight small groups of the frogs scattered in isolated mountain streams throughout Southern California. Biologists estimate fewer than 100 of these endangered amphibians exist in the wild. "In the case of a population of animals like the frog, the interest is in protecting the individual animals one by one.

If even one is threatened, that's a problem," said John Capell, district ranger for the Santa Clara/Mojave Rivers District of the Angeles National Forest. But for this group of frogs, protecting them is easier said than done. Their home stream is crossed by the Pacific Crest hiking trail and abuts Williamson Rock - a once wildly popular rock-climbing destination. For now, though, Williamson Rock stands quiet, and that stretch of the Pacific Crest Trail is empty.





Toxins and Disease Kill Millions of Seabirds
Current Results - www.currentresults.com
10 Jan 2008
L Osborn
Area: United States

Biotoxin poisoning is the leading cause of mortality among seabirds in the United States, killing tens of thousands every year. An assessment of 630,000 dead birds finds that over half succumbed after acquiring botulism from ingesting lethal Clostridium botulinum bacteria. The toxin mainly affected birds that live near coastlines or that frequent both marine and freshwater habitat. Diseases, both viral and bacterial, are the second most prevalent cause of death, accounting for 20% of the mortality among birds that died between 1971 and 2005.

Infected birds were most often diagnosed with avian cholera, paramyxovirus, West Nile virus and salmonellosis. Both biotoxin poisoning and infectious diseases became more prevalent among seabirds over the 34-year period. According to the authors of this study, their results indicate that botulinum toxin and infectious diseases in three decades have killed over five million aquatic birds in the US. In contrast, all but a few birds inhabiting the open ocean stay free of biotoxin and disease. Instead, three-quarters of their deaths are attributed to starvation.





Mystery epidemic puts gharial on the brink
CNN-IBN - www.ibnlive.com
10 Jan 2008
B Dutt
Area: India

The banks of the river Chambal resemble a mortuary. Already on the critically endangered list, the Indian gharial is fighting a mystery disease. Over 100 gharials have died in the last six weeks. Well-known wildlife film-maker Naresh Bedi, among the first to reach the spot, was shocked at what he saw. “Their reflexes were not working. They were trying to keep their head up above the water. Their eyes were closed. So, I don't know what they were suffering from,” he said. Post-mortem results show presence of lead in the dead bodies.

But if the gharials died from lead poisoning why did it not affect other wildlife in the Chambal like the crocodile or migratory birds? The Chambal, in fact, has the largest breeding population of the gharials. “Anything that affects the gharial even in a small way, in this case, it's not small because over 50 animals have died and they are all either sub-adults or adults. It is very serious,” says reptile expert Romulus Whitaker. A CNN-IBN Investigation a year ago showed how the Chambal habitat was being destroyed by sand-mining.





Bird flu discovered in mute swans
BBC News - news.bbc.co.uk
10 Jan 2008
Area: England United Kingdom

Three mute swans in Dorset have been found dead with the virulent H5N1 strain of bird flu. Efforts have begun to test other birds at Abbotsbury Swannery, a sanctuary located nine miles from Weymouth. Acting Chief Veterinary Officer Fred Landeg said: "Our message to all bird keepers, particularly those in the area, is that they must be vigilant." BBC environment correspondent Sarah Mukherjee said officials would now try to establish how the virus spread.

The swans' carcasses were found following routine surveillance, a statement from Defra said. A Defra spokeswoman said government vets had been testing them for avian flu for the last two days. The statement added that a Wild Bird Control Area and Monitoring Area has been set up around the Swannery, covering Chesil Beach and Portland Bill. Bird owners must isolate their flocks from wild birds within the zone.


OTHER WILDLIFE DISEASE RELATED NEWS
Photo courtesy of N Borrow/999Today




WILDLIFE DISEASE RELATED PUBLICATIONS

Health assessment of Black-crowned Night-herons (Nycticorax nycticorax) of the New York Harbor estuary [online abstract only]
Comp Biochem Physiol B Biochem Mol Biol. 2007 Dec;148(4):363-74. Epub 2007 Jul 14.
SH Newman and et al.

Age at infection affects the pathogenicity of Asian highly pathogenic avian influenza H5NI viruses in ducks [online abstract only]
Virus Research. 2007 Dec; 130 (1-2): 151-161
MJ Pantin-Jackwood et al.

at Thursday, January 10, 2008 0 comments

January 9, 2008

Wildlife officials comb Arctic for 3,200 missing reindeer: Lost herd may present health risk to N.W.T. caribou
National Post - www.nationalpost.com
8 Jan 2008
M Leong
Area: Northwest Territories, Canada
Photo Courtesy of Mike Thomas/Yukon News

Mr. Binder, a 56-year-old Inuvik resident, arrived on Richards Island near Tuktoyaktuk where the animals live in the summer, to find them gone. The semi-domesticated herd had crossed the ice into the mainland east of Mackenzie River and scattered.The lost animals, the only reindeer herd in the Northwest Territories, have caused concern among some wildlife officials that the reindeer will mix with and potentially threaten the caribou population.

...Mr. Binder worries that the longer the reindeer mingle with the caribou, the wilder they will be. Tony Grabowski, a veteran of Yukon's conservation service, said the reindeer could spread disease to wild caribou, recalling an incident two years ago when 51 domesticated reindeers in a pen near Whitehorse had to be culled because the herd had tested positive for Johne's disease, a bacterial infection of the lower intestine.




Crow virus could enter Vt., Mass.
Bennington Banner - www.benningtonbanner.com
9 Jan 2008
A McKeever
Area: New York, USA

A reovirus is killing hundreds of crows in the Albany area, and the New York Department of Environmental Conservation expects the same disease to be found in Vermont, Connecticut and Massachusetts. The virus attacks the lining of the crow's intestines and is passed through fecal matter, according to DEC Wildlife Pathologist Ward Stone. The weather led to the outbreak. During the winter, crows roost in large numbers, allowing the virus to spread quickly, he said.

"It was first found a few years ago and then it kind of died out. Now, it's here with vengeance," said Stone. "I would imagine it's (in Vermont). I don't think it will stop in New York." The Vermont Department of Fish and Wildlife sent information to employees about the virus but has seen no evidence of it reaching Vermont, said biologist William Crenshaw of the department. "It's possible that it could come here, crows are migratory birds," said Crenshaw. "If we see dead crows, we'll know what to expect."




Widespread geese deaths at Saylorville investigated
DesMoines Register - www.desmoinesregister.com
9 Jan 2007
P Beeman
Area: Iowa, USA

State wildlife biologists expect to learn later this week what killed dozens of geese in the past week south of the Saylorville Lake dam. Lake workers have collected 80 dead Canada geese and found another 20 that show signs of serious illness, officials said. Guy Zenner, a wildlife biologist with the Iowa Department of Natural Resources, said the cause could be lead poisoning, a bacterial disorder called fowl cholera, or illness caused by fungi on corn the geese ate.

The die-off at Saylorville is considered a relatively minor case, Zenner said. "We haven't had a major waterfowl disease event in Iowa since the 1990s," he added. The National Wildlife Health Laboratory in Madison, Wis., is running tests on some of the geese carcasses to determine the cause of death. The lab results are expected to be available later this week.




Exotic and illegal food: Markets in China may be breeding ground for deadly viruses
The Star Online - thestar.com
9 Jan 2007
J Chaney

...But exotic wildlife and squalor have returned to the Qingping market, making health officials worried that another killer virus could emerge. “We face similar threats from other viruses and such epidemics can happen because we continue to have very crowded markets in China,” said Lo Wing-lok, an infectious disease expert in Hong Kong. “Even though official measures are in place, they are not faithfully followed. We are not talking about just civet cats, but all animals,” he added.

... Health inspectors found 14 frozen and one live civet cat, and 22kg of civet cat meat from 18 animals in a sweep of restaurants across the province, the People’s Daily newspaper reported earlier this year. “You can’t say something else won’t come up,” said Li Jib-heng, general specialist at the Department of Health in Taiwan.
The odds of another human catching SARS from a sick civet cat were next to none, Li said, but added a new disease could emerge from close contact with sick wild animals.
Keeping clear of wild animals could prove difficult for some locals, who are known for their eclectic palettes. Among Qingping’s cats and chickens were tiger paws, turtles, insects of myriad varieties, and bundled strips of shredded toads – some food, others medicine.




OTHER WILDLIFE DISEASE NEWS
Image courtesy of the FWS Digital Library




WILDLIFE DISEASE RELATED PUBLICATIONS

Molecular detection of betanodavirus in wild marine fish populations in
Korea
J Vet Diagn Invest 2008;20 38-44
DK Gomez et al.

Host Susceptibility Hypothesis for Shell Disease in American Lobsters [free
full-text available]
Journal of Aquatic Animal Health. 2007;19:215–225 [Ahead of print]
MF Tlusty et al.

at Wednesday, January 09, 2008 0 comments

January 8, 2008

Lee again tops dubious manatee mortality list
The News-Press - www.news-press.com
08 Jan 2008
K Lollar
Area: Florida United States

Lee County easily won the 2007 manatee mortality race — if you can call it winning. Traditionally, Lee and Brevard counties finish first and second for the most manatee deaths — from 1997 through 2006, Brevard was No. 1 seven times, while Lee County was No. 2 three times. During that decade, 556 manatees died in Brevard County, compared to 549 in Lee County. Last year, however, Lee County blew everyone away with 91 manatee deaths; Brevard County was second with 57.

"It's always interesting to take note of certain spikes from year to year," said Justin McBride, a county senior environmental specialist. "But any time you're dealing with a population, you don't look at individual years. You look at trends. As far as I'm concerned, these numbers are not alarming." Last year's 91 deaths were Lee County's second-highest total on record; 145 manatees died in the county in 1996, many of them during a five-week period when 149 manatees died from red tide poisoning in Southwest Florida. In 2006, Lee had 82 manatee deaths.





City litterbugs take toll of wildlife
Edmonton Sun - www.edmontonsun.com
08 Jan 2008
Area: Alberta Canada

Litter kills wild animals. That's the city's message to deter litterbugs from tossing trash like cigarette butts, food packaging, gum and plastic bags out their car windows, all of which can poison and suffocate wildlife. Especially vulnerable are birds, like the great grey owl released at the Strathcona Wilderness Centre yesterday. Officials with Edmonton's Capital City Clean Up program say it's a particularly notable symbol of their program to clean up city streets, as the bird of prey was recently nursed back to health at the centre.





Experts probe death of monkeys
The New Vision - www.newvision.co.ug
07 Jan 2008
C Businge and J Omoding
Area: Bundibugyo Uganda

The Ministry of Health has dispatched a team of experts to investigate reports of dead monkeys in Rwenzori National Park, Bundibugyo district. The discovery of eight monkey remains has raised concern at a time when the recent outbreak of the deadly Ebola fever was receding in the area. The disease is said to have spread from residents who ate dead monkeys carrying the Ebola virus. The team is headed by Dr. Kaboyo, the ministry’s assistant commissioner for veterinary public health and zoonoses control.




Canyon bighorns lose most of their lambs
Jackson Hole Star Tribune - www.jacksonholestartrib.com
08 Jan 2008
Photo courtesy of the US Forest Service
Area: Oregon United States

Disease killed about 80 percent of the lambs born last spring to the bighorn sheep in Hells Canyon, and biologists call it the worst die-off since the breed was reintroduced there in the early 1970s. Researchers believe the deaths were triggered by one bacterium that inhibits the bighorns' ability to fight off another bacterium that leads to bronchopneumonia. Lambs appear to be most vulnerable because of undeveloped immune systems, said Vic Coggins, an Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife biologist. "This was the worst year I've ever seen for lambs," said Neil Thagart, spokesman for the Foundation for North American Wild Sheep in Cody, Wyo.

The canyon of the Snake River is home to about 900 Rocky Mountain bighorns. Thagart has visited it after lambing season for about 10 years. The river separates Idaho from Oregon and Washington. The die-off appears to have spared a big share of the wild adult rams and ewes, Coggins said. In an average year, 35 percent to 40 percent of lambs survive and up to 60 percent occasionally make it through their first year, he said. But big die-offs are not uncommon. In Hells Canyon, 71 percent of bighorn lambs died in 2006, Coggins said. In 2004 and 2005, 74 percent died.





Pesticides killing frogs in Australia, scientists say
Earth News - www.earthportal.org
07 Jan 2008
Area: Australia

Pesticides are killing frogs in Australia and may be responsible for the collapse of eight Queensland frog species since the 1970s, Brisbane-based environmental consultant Glen Ingram said last week. Previously, scientists thought frog species extinctions in Australia were linked to a combination of climate change and a deadly fungus called the chytrid fungus, which infects the skin of amphibians, impairing their breathing and nervous systems. The fungus can be harmless to frogs, and some experts claim it has become deadly because increases in cloud cover linked to climate change are causing temperature or ultraviolet radiation to spread the fungus. But several recent studies in California — which has experienced collapses in frog populations that are similar to Australia’s — implicated chemicals in frog population declines.





Devil scientists using skin grafts to solve disease mystery
ABC News - www.abc.net.au
07 Jan 2008
Area: Australia

A team of scientists is hoping to use skin grafts to find tasmanian devils that are resistant to the deadly facial tumour disease. The team from the Menzies Research Institute last year found one devil that was resistant to the disease. They have now received public donations worth more than $23,000 from the Save the Tasmanian Devil Appeal to find how wide-spread the resistance is. Associate Professor Greg Woods says the money will be used for skin graft testing to find potentially disease-resistant animals.





OTHER WILDLIFE DISEASE RELATED NEWS
Image courtesy of National Geographic




WILDLIFE DISEASE RELATED PUBLICATIONS

Climate Change Effects on Plague and Tularemia in the United States [online abstract only]
Vector-Borne and Zoonotic Diseases Dec 2007, Vol. 7, No. 4: 529-540
Y Nakazawa

The impact of sarcoptic mange Sarcoptes scabiei on the British fox Vulpes vulpes population [online abstract only]
Mammal Review. 2007 Oct; 37 (4): 278-296
CD Soulsbury et al.

at Tuesday, January 08, 2008 0 comments

January 7, 2008

More deaths of rare Indian crocs
BBC News - news.bbc.co.uk
04 Jan 2008
Photo courtesy of Ajit Patnaik
Area: Madhya India

The number of endangered crocodiles that have died this month in the central Indian state of Madhya Pradesh has risen to 67, officials say. The crocodiles, known as gharials, have been found dead of an unknown disease in the Chambal River sanctuary. One or two are washing up every day on the river banks, causing concern among wildlife officials and organisations. They are appealing for help and a team of international veterinarians is expected in the country soon.

Forest officials have collected water samples and conducted post-mortems on some of the reptiles. The results have shown that the deaths are the result of disease which is still to be identified. Last month one official said cirrhosis of the liver was the cause of the deaths. Tests were then carried out on the water for the presence of any liver-damaging toxins.





Uganda: Ebola Scare As Dead Monkeys Found in Bundibugyo
The Monitor (Posted by allafrica.com)
06 Jan 2008
S Ainganiza
Area: Bundibugyo Uganda

The discovery of eight dead monkeys in the Rwenzori National Park in Bundibugyo District has again caused more fears and tension among locals who are just coming to terms with the Ebola outbreak that ravaged the area and is said to have been brought to the area by infected monkeys. District leaders and the health workers are suspecting that the monkeys may have been suffering from another virus but are all the same carrying out investigations. In a meeting of medical experts with the district leaders held on Thursday at the district headquarters that was aimed at assessing and fighting the Ebola epidemic who epicenter has been here, it was noted that the monkeys and chimpanzees have certain blood viruses similar to those detected in human blood samples.

The investigations, however, will take congnisance of the fact that illegal hunting and killing of monkeys in the Mt Rwenzori ranges is going on uninterrupted. It was resolved that the district authorities of Bundibugyo with immediate effect and alert the Uganda Wildlife Authority to intervene since a good number of families living in the mountains are feeding monkey meat and putting their lives at risk. Meanwhile, on January 4 the Director General of Health Services, Dr Sam Zaramba issued a statement saying that the cumulative total of Ebola patients stands at 149 with 37 deaths.





Magnesium chloride eyed in duck deaths
CW2 Colorado - cw2.trb.com
05 Jan 2008
L Cipriano
Area: Colorado United States

Denver's ducks dying at an alarming rate again; Officials say road anti-ice formula could be the cause

More dead ducks have been found near Denver metro area wastewater plants. The die-off started last year and the Division of Wildlife has not been able to determine the cause, but there are some theories. There could be a link to the recent freezing temperatures. Last year, nearly 1,000 ducks died near wastewater treatment plants all along the front range. "We ruled all pathogenic disease forms out last year--botulism, avian influenza, all the normal pathological diseases that we see with large die offs," said Gary Mowad, Deputy Regional Director for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

Just last month, the ducks started dying again. It just happened to coincide with the first two snowfalls of the year, giving some credence to one of the working theories of what could be the cause. "We have looked at in the past and will continue to look at the possibility that magnesium chloride used to prevent ice on the roads, could be the causal agent," said Mowad. But there is no proof of that, as the root cause is still under investigation. "We don't want to be too quick to jump to judgment on mag chloride, but on the flipside, we can't rule it out," said Mowad. "We have to look at it."





Undiagnosed deaths, avian - USA: (NY) poison - Archive Number 20080106.0066
ProMED-mail - www.promedmail.org
04 Jan 2008
Area: New York United States

A total of 3 birds collected near a condominium complex on Staten Island were submitted to the New York State Animal Health Diagnostic Center and Anatomic Pathology. The birds were identified as grackles(_Quiscalus quiscula_). Generally, they were in good body condition with minimal lesions noted grossly. A small amount of corn and other material was detected within the ventriculus of each bird.





Officials dart elk: Project tests chronic wasting disease, new fertility drug
The Coloradoan - www.coloradoan.com
07 Jan 2008
M Blumhardt
Photo courtesy of M Blumhardt
Area: Colorado United States

Margaret Wild crouched behind a boulder, squinted down the rifle sight, then squeezed off a perfect shot in the hip that made the cow elk flinch before running off into the meadow. Several minutes later, the elk's legs were as wobbly as a drunk's until finally the animal crumpled to the ground and lay motionless on the edge of Moraine Park. "You never know how the elk will react,'' Wild said of the dart she just fired. "Sometimes it stings them and they run a ways; and other times they hardly feel a thing. "But most times they don't go more than 100 yards.''

Wild isn't one of the sharpshooters that, under the park's recently announced Elk and Vegetation Management Plan, will take aim at reducing the burgeoning elk herd by 100 to 200 animals annually over the next 20 years to reduce the damage on aspen and willow. Instead, she is a National Park Service veterinarian from Fort Collins who is helping lead a groundbreaking two-pronged study. One part of the project is to conduct, for the first time in free-ranging elk, live tests for chronic wasting disease, a fatal brain disease. Also, for the first time in free-ranging elk, the project will study the effectiveness of a multiyear fertility drug.





OTHER WILDLIFE DISEASE RELATED NEWS
Image courtesy of the FWS Digital Library


WILDLIFE DISEASE RELATED PUBLICATIONS

National CWD Update - Jan. 4, 2008 [free full-text available - includes map and reference citations]

Emerging Infectious Diseases Journal - Jan 2008
Vol 14, Issue 1

Dogs as Sources and Sentinels of Parasites in Humans and Wildlife, Northern Canada [free full-text available]
Emerging Infectious Diseases. 2008 Jan; 14(1): 60 - 63
A.L. Salb et al.

Types and quantities of leftover drugs entering the environment via disposal to sewage--revealed by coroner records [online abstract only]
Sci Total Environ. 2007 Dec 15; 388(1-3): 137-48. Epub 2007 Sep 20
IS Ruhoya and CG Daughton

Detection of Toxoplasma gondii-like oocysts in cat feces and estimates of the environmental oocyst burden [online abstract only]
J Am Vet Med Assoc. 2007 Dec 1; 231(11): 1676-84
HA Dabritz et al.

at Monday, January 07, 2008 0 comments

January 4, 2008

Down to the last croak
The Australian - www.theaustralian.news.com.au
05 Jan 2008
G Roberts
Photo courtesy of The Australian

RHEOBATRACHUS silus was one of the world's truly remarkable animals. The so-called platypus frog was one of a kind. The only species of land vertebrate animal - amphibian, reptile, mammal or bird - to rear its young inside its stomach.

That makes the small black frogs as special as kangaroos or koalas. They were found nowhere but in the rainforests of two mountain ranges in southern Queensland.

Zoologist and environmental consultant Glen Ingram was studying them in 1977 in the Conondale Range, in the Sunshine Coast hinterland. "There were plenty of frogs in the streams at that time," Ingram recalls now. A year later, he could find just two. In 1979, there were none, and none have been found since, anywhere, despite exhaustive searches. "Like the Tasmanian tiger, it is one of the great wildlife tragedies that this astonishing animal is extinct," Ingram says.



Disease felling fowl at lake: Outbreaks of avian cholera hit birds, but don't affect humans
The Salt Lake Tribune - www.sltrib.com
04 Jan 2008
P Henetz
Area: Great Salt Lake, Salt Lake, Utah, USA

Avian cholera is killing eared grebes, and likely ducks and gulls, on the Great Salt Lake in what is becoming a familiar event on the important migratory bird flyway. Prevailing northwesterly winds have blown about 1,500 bird carcasses into windrows along a half-mile stretch of the lake's southern shoreline near Saltair, Tom Aldrich, migratory game bird expert for the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources, said Wednesday. . . .

Avian cholera has been confirmed in the eared grebes. Gull and duck carcasses have been sent to the U.S. Geological Survey National Wildlife Health Center in Madison, Wis., for analysis. "If I was a betting man, I would bet it was cholera," Aldrich said. Introduced from domestic fowl during the 1940s, avian cholera has become the most common infectious disease among wild North American waterfowl but didn't appear in Utah until the late 1990s. In 2004, avian cholera killed about 30,000 eared grebes on the Great Salt Lake.

How avian cholera came to Utah remains a mystery. "For a long time people thought it was snow geese that carried this around, sort of like Typhoid Mary," Aldrich said. "But we don't get snow geese here."

Death of more ducks worries officials
The Denver Post – www.denverpost.com
04 Jan 2008
K Human
Area: Front Range, Clear Creek, Colorado, USA
Photo courtesy of The Denver Post

Ducks are dying again in the warm ponds of Front Range wastewater treatment plants, frustrating wildlife officials who are still struggling to understand what killed 850 ducks in wastewater ponds last year.

"We have about 35 total at three sites — not nearly as many as last year," said Jennifer Churchill, spokeswoman for the Colorado Division of Wildlife. Last year, the ducks — mostly northern shovelers — died in wastewater ponds in Denver, Boulder, Northglenn and Englewood, and also in south Denver's Sunfish Lake.

The recent deaths have also been mostly shovelers, Churchill said. A few have turned up in Denver and Westminster, but most in the Littleton/Englewood wastewater treatment plant.




Chronic wasting found in Hall County deer
The Grand Island Independent – www.theindependent.com
04 Jan 2008
M Coddington
Area: Hall County, Nebraska, USA

A deer in Hall County tested positive for chronic wasting disease this fall, the first documented case in the county since 2004.

The deer was one of 18 in the state found with the disease this year, out of 3,310 tested, said Bruce Trindle, the Nebraska Game and Parks Commission's big game research leader. Just as in every year since the disease was first found in the state in 2000, most of the positive tests were in deer found in the Panhandle, Trindle said.

But this year's results included a few scattered occurrences outside that area, including one near Ogallala in Keith County, one south of McCook in Red Willow County and one south of Alda, almost 200 miles from the disease's "endemic" area.

Trindle said Game and Parks officials aren't sure how the diseased deer ended up in Hall County, but they'll be conducting more tests on the area's deer to see if more have the disease.



Related News


New York crow die-off linked to avian virus
newsday.com - www.newsday.com
04 Jan 2008
D Ricks
Area: New York, USA

A mysterious die-off of hundreds of crows throughout New York has been linked to the avian reovirus, a pathogen that has threatened the poultry industry in the past, relentlessly sweeping through flocks, state wildlife officials said Thursday.

The virus is a bird pathogen and is not likely to jump the species barrier to cause infections in humans. However, state health officials are taking no chances and scientists at Wadsworth Laboratory, a division of the State Health Department, are studying the virus.

State wildlife pathologist Ward Stone, who was instrumental nearly a decade ago in identifying the pathogen that turned out to be the West Nile virus, said the sudden sweep of death among crows has caught scientists by surprise.



Related News


Drug-resistant E. coli found in Arctic birds
newsday.com - www.newsday.com
D Ricks
02 Jan 2008
Area: Siberia and Point Barrow, Alaska, USA and Greenland

Resistance to antibiotics is so pervasive that scientists now report having found evidence of drug-repelling E.coli in Arctic birds, the bacteria having been passed by migratory fowl that circumnavigate the globe along centuries-old flyways.

Reporting in the journal Emerging Infectious Diseases, scientists in Sweden traveled to vast regions of the frigid polar ice cap in search of species they hoped had been spared exposure to drug-resistant strains. They were surprised when they discovered widespread antibiotic-resistant E.coli in Arctic-dwelling birds never exposed to the drugs.

Maria Sjolund of Central Hospital in Vaxjo, Sweden, went on a series of Arctic expeditions, collecting mostly fecal samples from 97 birds in three geographic regions: northeastern Siberia; Point Barrow, Alaska; and northern Greenland. Although the locations are thousands of miles apart, they are intimately linked through looping migratory flyways.


Related Journal Article

OTHER WILDLIFE DISEASE RELATED NEWS
Photo courtesy of Wikipedia

at Friday, January 04, 2008 0 comments

January 3, 2008

Altamont Pass turbines still killing birds, despite yearlong effort
Earth News - www.earthportal.org
02 Jan 2007
Area: California United States

Turbines in California’s Altamont Pass Wind Resource Area are killing thousands of birds, despite an agreement made nearly a year ago that promised to reduce deaths of four species by 50 percent in three years. Five scientists, known officially as the Scientific Review Committee, said last month that the settlement and accompanying effort to reduce bird deaths are not on track to meet the 50 percent goal, and they recently surveyed the Altamont to determine which additional turbines should be removed or relocated to spots less likely to kill birds. The scientists issued a list of 309 targeted turbines, plus 102 more if the wind companies refuse to continue a current, temporary shutdown of all their windmills into February. The wind operators previously agreed to a two-month shutdown in November and December.

No one knows for sure how many birds are killed by the Altamont turbines, but data shows the bird deaths have not decreased since the agreement, a legal settlement to a lawsuit filed by the Audubon Society. Located in California’s San Joaquin Valley, the resource area is home of the world’s largest collection on wind turbines. Altamont contains many old, small turbines. Replacing the many old turbines with fewer, more powerful ones, a process known as “repowering,” is official county policy and would be “a big part of the solution,” said Elizabeth Murdock, executive director of the Golden Gate Audubon Society.





Alaskan sea drilling plans criticized
The Associated Press (Posted by news.yahoo.com)
03 Jan 2007
D Joling
Area: Alaska United States

The federal government will open up nearly 46,000 square miles off Alaska's northwest coast to petroleum leases next month, a decision condemned by enviromental groups that contend the industrial activity will harm northern marine mammals. The Minerals Management Agency planned the sale in the Chukchi Sea without taking into account changes in the Arctic brought on by global warming and proposed insufficient protections for polar bears, walrus, whales and other species that could be harmed by drilling rigs or spills, according to the groups. The lease sale in an area slightly smaller than the state of Pennsylvania was planned without information as basic as the polar bear and walrus populations, said Pamela A. Miller, Arctic coordinator with Northern Alaska Environmental Center. The lease sale is among the largest acreage offered in the Alaska region.

"The Minerals Management Service is required to have preleasing baseline data sufficient to determine the post-leasing impacts of the oil and gas activities that will occur," Miller said. "They simply do not have that." The MMS announced it would hold a lease sale Feb. 6 in Anchorage for the ocean floor on the outer continental shelf of the Chukchi Sea, the body of water that begins north of the Bering Strait and stretches between northwest Alaska and the northern coast of the Russian Far East. The MMS is a branch of the Interior Department.





Reported Wildlife Mortality Events to the USGS National Wildlife Health Center Updated
USGS National Wildlife Health Center
03 Jan 2008
Area: United States

USGS and a network of partners across the country work on documenting wildlife mortality events in order to provide timely and accurate information on locations, species and causes of death. This information was updated on Dec 27, 2007 on the USGS National Wildlife Health Center web page, New and Ongoing Wildlife Mortality Events Nationwide. Quarterly Mortality Reports are also available from this page. These reports go back to 1995.





8 bighorn sheep die in Colorado
The Associated Press (Posted by www.mercurynews.com)
02 Jan 2008
Area: Colorado United States

Eight Rocky Mountain bighorn sheep died in southwest Colorado last month, and all showed signs of pneumonia, state wildlife officers said Wednesday. The Division of Wildlife said seven bighorns were found dead and the eighth was so sick it had to be euthanized. Five were rams and three were ewes. The bighorns were part of the small Fossil Ridge herd near Gunnison, about 130 miles southwest of Denver. Because the herd had only about 50 bighorns before the deaths, the loss of eight animals is significant, officials said.

Field examinations suggested pneumonia was the likely cause of death for at least some of them. Tests at the Division of Wildlife laboratory in Fort Collins found evidence of the disease in all eight. Further tests are planned, with results expected by mid-January, division spokesman Joe Lewandowski said. J Wenum, the division's Gunnison area manager, said wildlife officers are monitoring the survivors and evaluating treatment options, but they are limited. "It's not like cattle where you can run them into a pen and make sure they get the proper dose," he said.





Tight Lines: Utah fights to limit whirling disease
The Salt Lake Tribune - www.sltrib.com
02 Jan 2008
B Prettyman
Area: Utah United States

It has been 10 months since state wildlife biologists announced the presence of whirling disease at the confluence of the West and North forks of the Duchesne River in Duchesne County. At the time, they promised to do everything they could to prevent the spread of the trout malady to two popular fishing reservoirs. Currant Creek and Strawberry reservoirs are not naturally linked to the Duchesne River, but a Central Utah Water Project pipeline on the West Fork of the Duchesne dumps into Currant Creek, and another pipe moves water from Currant Creek to Strawberry. Division of Wildlife Resources officials moved as quickly as any state government branch could when it comes to dealing with federal land agencies such as the Forest Service and things like National Environmental Policy Act requirements.

Biologists proposed a fish barrier on the West Fork below a diversion dam where the pipeline takes in water. The idea was to prevent infected fish from getting into the pipe. Officials hoped the diversion dam would serve as a barrier to the upper reaches of the West Fork, where a precious pure strain Colorado cutthroat population is found. The Habitat Council funded $30,000 for construction of the barrier in April.





OTHER WILDLIFE DISEASE RELATED NEWS
Related Journal Article
Biological Mercury Hotspots in the Northeastern United States and Southeastern Canada
 BioScience. 2007 Jan. Vol. 57 No. 1 [free full-text article]


WILDLIFE DISEASE RELATED PUBLICATIONS

Species barriers for chronic wasting disease by in vitro conversion of prion protein [online abstract only]
Biochemical and biophysical research communications.2007 Dec 28;364(4):796-800. Epub 2007 Oct 25.
L Li et al.

Jointly-determined ecological thresholds and economic trade-offs in wildlife disease management [online abstract only]
Natural Resource Modeling. 2007; 20(4): 511-547
EP Fenichel and RD Horan

Infectious diseases in wildlife: the community ecology context [online abstract only]
Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment. 2007 Dec; 5(10): 533-539
LK Belden and RN Harris

at Thursday, January 03, 2008 0 comments

January 2, 2008

As amphibians leap toward extinction, alliance pushes "The Year of the Frog"
Mongabay.com - news.mongabay.com
31 Dec 2007
RA Butler
Photo courtesy of RA Butler

With amphibians experiencing dramatic die-offs in pristine habitats worldwide, an alliance of zoos, botanical gardens and aquariums has launched a desperate public appeal to raise funds for emergency conservation measures. Scientists say that without quick action, one-third to one-half the world's frogs, toads, salamanders, newts and caecilians could disappear. The coalition, dubbed "Amphibian Ark", is calling 2008 "The Year of the Frog" in an effort to raise awareness on the plight of dying amphibians, at least 165 types of which are believed to have gone extinct since 1980. Amphibian Ark is seeking to raise $50-60 million as part of a 5-year $400 million Amphibian Conservation Action Plan to establish captive breeding programs for the 500 most threatened species.

While scientists have yet to identify a smoking gun, climate change, pollution, and the emergence of Chytridiomycosis, a deadly and infectious fungal disease which has been linked to global warming and is blamed for one-third of amphibian extinctions since 1980, are the leading suspects for the observed decline. Although researchers don't yet know the origin of the parasitic chytrid fungus known as Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis, the disease is highly transmissible and spreading fast: the fungus is now found on at least four continents and was recently reported for the first time in Japan. Worryingly scientists are also finding declines in chytridiomycosis-free environments. In fact, some researchers suggest the outbreak of chytridiomycosis is merely a symptom of a much broader problem for amphibians, one that may be linked to climate change, increased UV radiation, or pesticide use.





Poison Island
On Line Opinion - www.onlineopinion.com.au
02 Jan 2008
D Obendorf
Area: Tasmania Australia

Tasmania continues its use of 1080 poison baits to “eradicate” foxes. On the State Government’s own data, in the last five years, more than 140,000 of these poison baits have been laid across various lands where the authorities believe foxes might exist. Three Tasmanians have each offered $1,000 fox rewards (Tasmanian Times: “$1,000 fox reward”). All remain unclaimed despite farmers, landowners and professional shooters all knowing about them. And yet the government “guessimate” claims there are up to 400 foxes living in Tasmania … somewhere. Animals known to dig up and take these poison meat baits include Tasmanian devils, quolls and feral cats. Just recently the Tasmanian devil has been upgraded from “vulnerable” to “endangered” as the infectious cancer causes this species to continue to decline.

The next largest carnivorous marsupial - the spotted-tail quoll - is also listed as a threatened species in Tasmania and in every mainland Australian state and Territory where it is known to exist (Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria and the ACT). In my opinion Tasmania’s use of 1080 poison over the last five decades - to kill browsing and grazing native herbivores - has had a significant effect on the over-population followed by the facial tumour disease-crash in devil numbers and in the widespread establishment of feral cats across the island. Ironically the state government has now ceased the use of 1080-laced carrot/apple baits on public lands to kill grazing wildlife but now uses tens of thousands of meat baits in public forests where they claim they are targeting those cryptic foxes. Spotted-tail quolls in mainland forests are showing signs of decline.





Fish die off in Lake Shipp in Orlando area
Orlando Sentinel - www.orlandosentinel.com
01 Jan 2008
K Kelly
Area: Florida United States

Tens of thousands of fish have suffocated in one of Central Florida's most popular recreational lakes, and officials say the die-off could continue indefinitely or happen in other area lakes. The weekend fish kill on Lake Shipp in Winter Haven was caused by low levels of oxygen. The lake is popular with boaters, personal-watercraft riders and anglers. "This is one that we would more commonly see in summer, but weather conditions are just right for it," said Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission regional fisheries biologist Paul Thomas. "If the lake were a stew pot, it's been set on low for a very long time."

Low water levels, warm weather and gray skies all have contributed to algae in the lake using oxygen faster than it's being produced, officials said. Plants create oxygen during the photosynthesis process, which requires sunlight, and use up oxygen during their "respiration" process, typically at dark or during overcast conditions. When commission officials measured the lake oxygen level, it was about half of normal levels at one of the canal entrances, said commission spokesman Gary Morse. Area residents noticed that fish began dying Friday and continued en masse Saturday. On Monday, the fish were creating a rancid smell in some areas.





Red alert over release of 250 grey squirrels
The Scotsman - news.scotsman.com
02 Jan 2008
I Johnston
Area: England United Kingdom

Government is encouraging the spread of grey squirrels in England, say worried campaigners. In Scotland, they are treated as an invading enemy – hunted down and killed to save our native red squirrels from extinction. But, to the horror of campaigners for the reds, the government has licensed the release of more than 250 grey squirrels, which are originally from north America, back into the wild in England. Now the European Squirrel Initiative (ESI), which obtained the figures, is warning the red "will soon become extinct in Britain" if its fate is left in the hands of government and calling for a volunteer army of "grey squirrel control groups" to be set up by country people.

However animal rights groups said if it was acceptable to release grey squirrels in England, the authorities should look at transporting – rather than killing – those caught in Scotland in order to "save the pointless killing of a perfectly healthy wild animal". According to the Wildlife and Countryside Act, non-native, invasive species should not be released into the wild but this can be done if a licence is issued by the relevant authority, which is Natural England south of the Border. Andrew Kendall, of the European Squirrel Initiative, said: "We've got a government agency whose job it is to protect the biodiversity of our countryside and what are they doing? "What they are doing is seemingly making a political judgment, not a scientific judgement."





Prevention is the only defense for VHS, the latest disease attacking fish
The Daily Sentinel - www.gjsentinel.com
01 Jan 2008
D Buchanan

So it’s Happy New Year and by the way, did you know VHS can kill at least 40 species of fish and 20 of those species live in Colorado? VHS, or viral hemorrhagic septicemia in its long form, is, as its name implies, a virus that attacks freshwater and saltwater fish with apparent impunity. Common in trout hatcheries in Europe and suspected to cause die-offs of Pacific salmon in the Northwest, the disease appeared in 2006 in the Great Lakes in a form not before seen. It hasn’t been found in Colorado nor any of the adjacent states, but if it’s anything like zebra snails, which recently were found in Pueblo Reservoir, the disease likely can travel faster than prevention can stop it.

And being a virus, the only treatment is prevention, said state fisheries manager Greg Gerlich in a presentation last month to the Colorado Wildlife Commission. It’s on the radar, he said, meaning the state and Colorado’s private aquaculture industry is doing everything possible to prevent the disease from entering the state. Google viral hemorrhagic septicemia and you’ll get more than 42,000 hits, a sure sign that someone somewhere is interested in the disease’s progression. According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, an apparently new strain of VHS in the Great Lakes region has caused reported die-offs in muskellunge, smallmouth bass, northern pike, freshwater drum, gizzard shad, yellow perch, black crappie, blue-gill, rock bass, white bass, redhorse sucker, bluntnose sucker, round goby and walleye.





OTHER WILDLIFE DISEASE RELATED NEWS



WILDLIFE DISEASE RELATED PUBLICATIONS

Detection of PrP**CWD in retinal tissues in white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) and Rocky Mountain elk (Cervus elaphus nelsoni) with CWD [online abstract only]
USDA Agricultural Research Service
T Spraker et al.

A species barrier limits transmission of chronic wasting disease to mink (Mustela vison) [online abstract only]
USDA Agricultural Research Service
R Harrington et al.

Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza H5N1 - Poland [pdf]
APHIS CEI Impact Worksheet - 28 Dec 2007

at Wednesday, January 02, 2008 0 comments
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