December 14, 2007

Fish Farms Drive Wild Salmon Populations Toward Extinction
Science Daily - www.sciencedaily.com
13 Dec 2007

Parasitic sea lice infestations caused by salmon farms are driving nearby populations of wild salmon toward extinction. The results show that the affected pink salmon populations have been rapidly declining for four years. The scientists expect a 99% collapse in another four years, or two salmon generations, if the infestations continue.

"The impact is so severe that the viability of the wild salmon populations is threatened," says lead author of a new article in Science (December 14) Martin Krkosek, a fisheries ecologist from the University of Alberta. Krkosek and his co-authors calculate that sea lice have killed more than 80% of the annual pink salmon returns to British Columbia's Broughton Archipelago. "If nothing changes, we are going to lose these fish."


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Global Warming Is Destroying Coral Reefs, Major Study Warns
Science Daily - www.sciencedaily.com
14 Dec 2007

The largest living structures on Earth and the millions of livelihoods which depend upon them are at risk, the most definitive review yet of the impact of rising carbon emissions on coral reefs has concluded.

If world leaders do not immediately engage in a race against time to save the Earth's coral reefs, these vital ecosystems will not survive the global warming and acidification predicted for later this century. That is the conclusion of a group of marine scientists from around the world in a major new study published in the journal Science on Dec. 13.


Related Journal Articles and Podcasts

>>> Reef in Trouble - Science News Focus [4 articles - only summaries available]

>>>Coral Reefs Under Rapid Climate Change and Ocean Acidification – Science journal article [abstract only]

Hundreds of dead turtles litter Orissa beach
Earthtimes.org – www.earthtimes.org
13 Dec 2007
Area: Gahirmatha beach, Orissa, India
Image courtesy of Wikipedia

Hundreds of endangered Olive Ridley turtles were found dead over the past one and half month in Orissa's Gahiramatha beach, a non-governmental organisation here said Thursday.

'We have been conducting survey of turtles on the 35 km shoreline from Hukitola to Nasi Island of Gahirmatha, nearly 174 km from the state capital Bhubaneswar, since Nov 1,' said Bijay Kabi, director of the NGO Action for Protection of Wild Animal (APOWA).
'We found carcasses of at least 400 turtles on the beach,' he said, adding, 'Many of them might have been killed by fishing trawlers that are operating illegally in the vicinity'.


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Dorset marine wildlife threatened by millions of plastic pellets
Wildlife Extra.com - www.wildlifeextra.com
2007 Dec
Area: Kimmeridge, Dorset, England

December 2007. Volunteers for Dorset Wildlife Trust’s beach clean at Kimmeridge last Sunday were horrified to find a white beach. On closer inspection this turned out not to be snow or Caribbean sand, but millions of tiny plastic pellets called nurdles. Too small to pick up and too numerous to count, these pellets will remain on the beach with potentially lethal consequences. They were almost certainly lost from the Napoli, grounded in Lyme Bay last January.

Nurdles are the basic material from which plastic products are made. Transported in massive containers to factories, they are turned into CDs, drainpipes, food containers and virtually anything plastic. They often end up in the sea, washed down factory drains or, as in this case, lost from container ships. As they float on the surface of all the world’s oceans they attract toxins from the water and are swept onto beaches with each tide.


Habitat at risk for Jackass Flats bighorn herd
The Hub - www.ouraynews.com
14 Dec 2007
K Griffiths

Scientists, wildlife agencies and advocates along with many Ouray County residents and property owners remain alert to the conditions afforded for Ovis canadensis, commonly known as Rocky Mountain bighorn sheep. This is particularly true concerning a 41-acre parcel called Jackass Flats used as a wintering area by the sheep north of Ouray near Lake Lenore and the Bachelor-Syracuse mine.

. . . Studies show that Rocky Mountain bighorn sheep have a low tolerance level for handling stress, expressly stress caused by close proximity to humans and dogs. Human development and recreational use of land around the remaining fragments of bighorn sheep wintering ground such as Jackass Flats pose the risk of alarming the sheep thereby raising their stress level leading to weakened physical conditions, pneumonia and other complications like aborted lambs.



Indian alligators found dead in Chambal River
The Cheers magazine – www.thecheers.org
13 Dec 2007
Area: Chambal River, Uttar Pradesh, India

In a shocking incident, several Indian alligators (Gharials) have been found dead in the Chambal River in Etawah's Chakar Nagar sub-division of Uttar Pradesh. The main habitat for crocodiles and alligators in India are the Rivers Chambal, Girwa, Rapti and Narayani in the orbit of central and northern India.

. . . "The forest department has conducted a post-mortem on two to three Gharials. The Gharials were recently brought from Lucknow's Kukrail Gharial Rehabilitation Centre, and they might have become victims of some contagious disease or the target of some hunters," claimed Rajeev Chauhan, the Secretary of the Society for the Conservation of Nature.




OTHER RELATED WILDLIFE DISEASE NEWS
Photo of Red Tide courtesy of Wikipedia

WILDLIFE DISEASE RELATED PUBLCIATIONS

Avian Diseases - December 2007
Volume 51, Number 4
Table of Contents

Science. 2007 Dec 14 [subscription required]

at Friday, December 14, 2007 0 comments

December 13, 2007

Bird-brained system killing wildlife
The Daily Telegraph - www.news.com.au
14 Dec 2007
Area: Sydney Australia

A Botched State Transit pest control plan has killed dozens of native birds - and is now threatening a rare owl.

The government-owned agency employed a poison expert to kill pest Indian mynah birds at their bus depot in Ryde but local residents watched in horror as kookaburras, galahs, magpies and rosellas started falling out of the sky. Already struggling to keep buses on Sydney roads after a massive recall to fix a steering fault, State Transit is now at the centre of a bird death investigation. Dead native birds, including kookaburras and lorikeets, litter the gutters near the bus depot. Experts from the Department of Environment and Climate Change are investigating the deaths and an autopsy has been performed on a lorikeet.

Scientists at a Lidcombe laboratory are carrying out further tests to determine if seed it had eaten contained a pesticide. And there are growing fears a rare owl that frequents the area may be the next poisoning victim. The bus depot in Buffalo Rd is about 50m from a wildlife refuge in the Field of Mars reserve, which houses the vulnerable powerful owl. Only a handful of the birds live in the area. Local wildlife experts fear the owl will feast on the dead or sick birds, as the kookaburras appear to have done, and fall victim to the poison.





Researcher Doubts U.S. Program to Track Avian Flu in Wild Birds
University of Kansas (Posted by www.newswise.com)
12 Dec 2007
Area: Kansas United States

A University of Kansas investigator closely following the spread of the avian influenza known as H5N1 said that U.S. government monitoring efforts easily could miss the entry of the virus into North America. A. Townsend Peterson, University Distinguished Professor of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology and senior curator in the Natural History Museum and Biodiversity Research Center, directs teams of scientists who travel from Kansas to far-flung corners of the globe to map the spread of avian flu and other pathogens. Peterson said the governmental scheme to detect the arrival of H5N1 in North America — the Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza Early Detection System — overemphasizes testing of wild water birds in Alaska while neglecting other possible “entry pathways” from Eurasia.

“If you take a careful look at bird migration in North America, you probably wouldn’t want to, excuse the pun, ‘put all your eggs in one basket’,” said Peterson. The KU researcher said that the Alaskan focus of the program is sensible for monitoring a set of wild Asian birds that spend winter in Asia and sometimes summer in Alaska. But other birds possibly carrying the avian influenza could be overlooked. “There’s another component of birds which spend the winter in America,” Peterson said. “They migrate north in the summer and basically consider western Siberia to be eastern Alaska. That component of birds migrates deep into the Americas, doesn’t really stop in Alaska at all, and would be missed by the current monitoring plan.”





Corals Weakened By Warming, Disease
MSNBC - www.nbc6.net
13 Dec 2007
M Llanos

John Bruno isn't attending the U.N. climate talks being held in Bali, Indonesia, but he does have some advice for any delegates looking to take in the resort's famed reefs: enjoy it now, because if sea temperatures continue to rise, expect to see more - and more severe - disease outbreaks that wipe out corals. Bruno has the credentials to back up his advice. A marine biologist at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, he co-authored two 2007 studies on rapid coral decline and on a link between coral disease and global warming. One study found that coral coverage in the Indo-Pacific - an area stretching from Indonesia's Sumatra island to French Polynesia - dropped 20 percent in the past two decades.

That rate is much higher than Bruno's team had expected. Moreover, 600 square miles of reefs disappeared since the 1960s, the study found, and the losses were just as bad in Australia's well-protected Great Barrier Reef as they were in marine reserves in the Philippines, where funding protection is problematic. Bruno suspected warming ocean temperatures were playing a big role and the second study - which focused on the Great Barrier Reef - provided a strong connection. That study compared new sea temperature data to six years of reef health surveys. The team found a strong correlation between white syndrome, a potentially fatal disease, and warmer waters.






Chronic Wasting Disease measures noticeable with hunting
Journal-Pilot - www.journalpilot.com
12 Dec 2007
B Hendricks
Area: Illinois United States

Firearms deer season in my northern Illinois Chronic Wasting Disease county was hardly a normal season. Deer were as scarce as hen's teeth. It has been the most disappointing season to date for this old hunter. In the CWD counties of northern Illinois there are liberal seasons as well as herd management by the DNR going in periodically during the winter and shooting deer to trim the herd in the hopes of stopping the spread of CWD. This has been a five-year program.

In defense of the DNR this program is an effort to keep CWD from reaching any further down state. While it is beneficial for those further downstate it has created a very hard atmosphere for deer hunting in the north. The golden years of ample deer opportunities, at least from where I hunt, are no more. I and a buddy hunted hard in all kinds of adverse weather. My buddy saw one deer and he killed that doe.





OTHER WILDLIFE DISEASE RELATED NEWS
Photo courtesy of Dick Kettlewell/Rapid CityJournal

at Thursday, December 13, 2007 0 comments

December 12, 2007


21 Crocodile-Like Reptiles Die in India
Associated Press - ap.google.com
12 Dec 2007
B Banerjee
Area: India
Photo courtesy of Wikipedia - Gharials

At least 21 endangered crocodile-like reptiles have died mysteriously in a river sanctuary in central India, raising fears that one of India's last unpolluted waterways has become toxic. Wildlife officials discovered the bodies of one male and 20 female gharials — massive reptiles that look like their crocodile relatives, but with long slender snouts — in the Chambal River over the last three days, Sri Kishna, a government official in Uttar Pradesh state, said Wednesday.

The deaths have concerned conservationists, who believe there are only some 1,500 gharials left in the wild, many of them in a sanctuary based along the Chambal, one of the few unpolluted Indian rivers. "The deaths of such a large number of gharials is not common. There has to be something wrong with the river water," said state Chief Wildlife Warden D.N.S. Suman. Scientists said it appeared that either the water or fish, the gharials' main food, were contaminated as there were no signs of injuries to any of the animals.


Study says 3 H5N1 variants reached Germany
CIDRAP - www.cidrap.umn.edu
10 Dec 2007
R Roos
Area: Germany

Scientists say they have found three distinct variants of H5N1 avian influenza virus in wild birds in Germany, two of which might have been brought in by wild birds migrating from Russia.

Researchers from the Friedrich Loeffler Institute in Insel Riems, Germany, analyzed 27 H5N1 isolates collected mostly from wild birds in widely scattered locations in Germany in 2006 and this year. Writing in the journal Veterinary Microbiology, they say the findings suggest that the virus was brought into the country on three separate occasions—two of them in early 2006 and the third in 2007. The strains that appeared in early 2006 are closely related to viruses found in southern and central Russia, suggesting that wild birds on their winter migration from Russia might have brought the strains to Germany, says the report by E. Starick and colleagues.

In Germany in 2006, the report says, the highly pathogenic H5N1 virus was found in 343 dead wild birds, a black swan in a zoo, three stray cats, and a stone marten and on one turkey farm. In June and July of this year the virus was found in 96 wild birds in scattered areas of southeastern Germany and in one backyard goose. More recently, the disease killed ducks on a farm in Bavaria in late August (an outbreak not covered by this study).


Threatened Birds May Be Rarer Than Geographic Range Maps Suggest
Science Daily - www.sciencedaily.com
12 Dec 2007
Photo Courtesy of Cagan Sekercioglu/Science Daily

Geographic range maps that allow conservationists to estimate the distribution of birds may vastly overestimate the actual population size of threatened species and those with specific habitats, according to a study published online this week in the journal Conservation Biology.

“Our study found that species ranges in general tend to get overestimated, but that this trend is particularly pronounced for birds that are threatened, rely on specialized diets or have small habitats,” said Walter Jetz, an assistant professor of biological sciences at UC San Diego and the lead author of the study, which will appear in the February issue of the printed journal. “This suggests that many threatened species of birds may be even rarer than we believe and are in greater danger of going extinct.”


Related Journal Articles




State Fish and Wildlife officials discuss possible Elk rule changes
Statesmen Journal - statesmenjournal.com
12 Dec 2007
Area: Oregon, USA

A requirement for perimeter double-fencing, more intensive reporting, disease and DNA testing, a possible cap on the number of commercial elk-ranching licenses and allowing the imporation of elk sperm and embryos are being discussed. Those were among the "concepts" for changes from Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife officials unveiled Friday at the monthly meeting of the Oregon Fish and Wildlife Commission in Salem. But after a yearlong series of occasionally acrimonious meetings among representatives on both sides with a stake in the outcome of any changes, there hasn't been a lot of movement on either side.

"The controversy was running high, and the compromise was running low," said Karen Smith of Bend about the process. A lifelong hunter and Oregon Hunters Association state board member, Smith was clear about her feelings. "You should not allow Oregon elk to be raised for canned hunts in other states," she said about Oregon's ban on raising game animals for in-state hunting, but allowing so-called "shooter bulls" to be raised and shipped out of state to become trophies at other private ranches. "End elk ranching in Oregon," she said. "Eliminate it, or phase it out."


DA Region VI starts bird-flu monitoring
Philippine Information Agency - www.pia.gov.ph
11 Dec 2007
T Villavert
Area: Philippines

The Department of Agriculture through the Bureau of Animal Industry is again in a state of preparedness to monitor the coming in of migratory birds that might carry the dreaded bird flu virus. Dr. Leriza Balopenos, assistant regional Avian Influenza coordinator of the Bureau of Animal Industry in Western Visyas disclosed in a PIA interview that migratory birds flock to our local wetlands to escape the cold weather in their host countries.

Dr. Balopenos said that Western Visayas is still bird flu-free but "we should still be very vigilant against the threat of the virus". She said that the public is especially urged to monitor cases of multiple deaths among domestic poultry and migratory waterbirds, and report it to the nearest office of the Department of Agriculture or Bureau of Animal Industry. The other government agencies concerned of monitoring the bird flu concerns are the Department of Health and Department of Environment and Natural Resources.


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OTHER WILDLIFE DISEASE RELATED NEWS
Photo courtesy of Sherri Barber/Coloradoan library



WILDLIFE DISEASE RELATED PUBLICATIONS

Estimating Wind Turbine–Caused Bird Mortality [online abstract only]
Journal of Wildlife Management. 2007 Nov; 71(8): 2781–2791
K.S. Smallwood

Relationships between Human Disturbance and Wildlife Land Use in Urban Habitat Fragments [online abstract only]
Conservation Biology. [Ahead of print]
L. Markovchick-Nicholls

Climate Change, Elevational Range Shifts, and Bird Extinctions [online abstract only]
Conservation Biology. [Ahead of print]
CH Sekercioglu et al.

at Wednesday, December 12, 2007 0 comments

December 11, 2007

Oil Threatens South Korean Seafood, Birds, Tourism
The Associated Press (Posted by news.nationalgeographic.com)
10 Dec 2007
H Kim
Area: South Korea

. . . The slick has affected at least 181 aquatic farms producing abalone, seaweed, littleneck clams, and sea cucumbers, according to Lee Seung-yop, a Taean County official. No detailed damage estimates for the area as a whole have been released, though Lee said officials feared it would be substantial. Ku Bon-chun, chief of a local fishermen's association at Mohang Port, close to Mallipo Beach, said oily waters submerged 32 acres of aquatic farms. "I feel like my heart is empty," he said. "These fishing farms are all finished."

Mallipo is considered one of South Korea's most scenic areas and serves as an important stopover for migrating mallards, great crested grebes, and others birds. More than 20 million tourists visit the area each year, providing an economic boost to nearly 64,000 nearby residents, who depend heavily on fishing and seafood farming. Raw-fish restaurant owner Kim Eung-ku, of Mallipo, was helping with the cleanup but said he feared the situation was hopeless. "We have no choice but to leave this place," he said. "This ocean is dead."





University of California, Davis Bird Flu Expert Calls for Changes in Early-Warning System [Press Release]
Ascribe - newswire.ascribe.org
06 Dec 2007
Area: United States

The international science community is not doing enough to track the many avian influenza viruses that might cause the next pandemic, a UC Davis researcher says in Thursday's issue (Dec. 6) of the journal Nature. Global surveillance is critical for identifying and tracking potential pandemic viruses such as highly pathogenic H5N1. But the current surveillance strategy in wild birds is piecemeal and risks missing important virus sources or subtypes, Walter Boyce writes in a commentary. Boyce, a UC Davis professor of veterinary medicine, is co-director of the $18.5 million Center for Rapid Influenza Surveillance and Research (CRISAR). The center, supported by the National Institutes of Health, is charged with tracking viruses in wild birds in the United States and Asia.

Addressing Nature's worldwide audience, Boyce says scientists must take several steps to catch avian influenza viruses before they catch us:

- Go where the H5N1 virus lives: Surveillance has focused too heavily on Europe and North America, where few wild birds are infected. To really understand the role of wild birds in spreading H5N1, more surveillance should be done in places where the virus is endemic, such as China, southeast Asia and Africa, Boyce says.

- Characterize all of the influenza viruses they collect: Currently, the narrow focus on H5N1 misses other viruses that also pose pandemic risks.

- Share samples and data more promptly: Whether caused by regulatory hurdles or researchers' concerns about intellectual property rights, a reluctance to share hampers health officials' ability to track and respond to potential pandemic viruses. Boyce recommends that the scientific community set a standard of releasing data no more than 45 days after it is generated.





Farmers will pay for any badger cull, Lord Rooker tells
Farmers Weekly Interactive - www.fwi.co.uk
11 Dec 2007
Area: England United Kingdom

DEFRA is committed to announcing a new policy to tackle the spread and escalating cost of bovine tuberculosis in the early part of 2008, but the industry will have to pay for a large part of it, according to junior minister Jeff Rooker. Giving evidence to the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs select committee of MPs on Monday (10 December), the minister gave a hint as to what shape future policy might take although he repeated that no decision had yet been made. And he expects DEFRA's proposals to be controversial, and almost certainly result in a legal challenge, regardless of which side of the badger debate future policy pursues. Lord Rooker began by saying that current policy was not sustainable and that the Treasury was not prepared to assign additional funding to tackle the disease.

"The present situation is unsustainable and the cost is unsustainable. We can't tolerate the cost that we're paying from a taxpayer point of view. I have to make that abundantly clear to the committee and the industry, the taxpayer has come to the end of the line in funding to this scale. We have to find other directions." Any additional costs, he made clear, would be borne by the industry and from the re-allocation of existing funds.





How Chikungunya Virus Has Spread To New Vectors And Locations
Public Library of Science (Posted by www.sciencedaily.com)
10 Dec 2007

Researchers at the University of Texas Medical Branch have discovered how a key protein switch allows Chikungunya Virus (CHIKV) to spread to new vectors. The study explains how the virus has increased its ability to infect and be transmitted by the Asian tiger mosquito, Aedes albopictus. CHIKV is an emerging arbovirus associated with several recent large-scale epidemics of arthritic disease. The virus has formerly been known to be carried primarily by the mosquito Aedes aegypti.

However, a recent epidemic in the Indian Ocean islands suggested that something else was carrying the virus, as Ae. aegypti are not found there. In fact the relative Asian tiger mosquito, Ae. albopictus, was present. This prompted the team, led by Dr. Stephen Higgs, to look further into the virus. In an earlier study it had been found that the epidemics on islands in the Indian Ocean were associated with a strain of CHIKV with a mutation in the envelope protein gene (E1-A226V).





Bald Eagle Found Dead near Park
Keiser Times - www.keizertimes.com
10 Dec 2007
J Cox
Area: Oregon United States

Federal wildlife officials are trying to determine what killed a bald eagle found dead near Keizer Rapids Park last week. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is awaiting autopsy results on the adult eagle to find out how it died. Special Agent Jim Stinebaugh declined to speculate on what he believed killed the bird. The bald eagle was considered endangered up until the mid-1990s, but has since been removed from the federal Threatened and Endangered Species list.

However, bald eagles are still protected under the federal Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act, Stinebaugh said. Keizer Police Capt. Jeff Kuhns said a KPD officer responded to an area near Keizer Rapids Park on Thursday, Dec. 6, around 7:50 a.m. A woman was walking in the area and found the eagle in the roadway. She said she heard approximately 10 gunshots in the area.





OTHER WILDLIFE DISEASE RELATED NEWS




WILDLIFE DISEASE RELATED PUBLICATIONS

Risk-based surveillance for H5N1 avian influenza virus in wild birds in Great Britain [online abstract only]
Veterinary Record. 2007;161:775-781
LC Snow

A Dutch case of atypical pneumonia after culling of H5N1 positive ducks in Bavaria was found infected with Chlamydophila psittaci [full free-text available]
Euro Surveillance. 2007 Nov 29;12(11):E071129.3.
WH Haas et al.

Integrated Approaches and Empirical Models for Investigation of Parasitic Diseases in Northern Wildlife [free full-text available]
Emerging Infectious Diseseases. 2008 Jan; [Epub ahead of print]
EP Hoberg

at Tuesday, December 11, 2007 0 comments

December 10, 2007

China market may be breeding ground for deadly viruses
Reuters - uk.reuters.com
10 Dec 2007
J Chaney
Area: China

Scorpions scamper in bowls, water snakes coil in tanks and cats whine in cramped cages, waiting to be slaughtered, skinned and served for dinner. Welcome to the Qingping market in the southern Chinese city of Guangzhou, where everything from turtles to insects are sold alongside fowl and freshly caught fish. An outbreak of the SARS virus in 2002 resulted in a local gourmet favorite -- the civet -- being banished to the black market. The raccoon-like animal was blamed for spreading SARS, which infected 8,000 people globally and killed 800.

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. Ever since Severe Respiratory Disease Syndrome (SARS) virus emerged in China, authorities have fought to rectify the country's image and clean up it's market.





Researcher tests water for bird flu evidence
Grand Rapids Press - blog.mlive.com
09 Dec 2007
Area: Michigan United States

A researcher is poking holes in the ice this winter at waterfowl watering holes, hoping to find a new way to stand guard against the deadly ''bird flu.'' The lethal strain of the avian influenza virus -- known as H5N1 -- has killed more than 150 people worldwide since 2003, with more than 4,000 outbreaks in poultry and deaths in more than 60 wildlife species. It hasn't cropped up in North America yet, but the World Health Organization has tracked its spread across the globe to Europe, Africa and Asia -- highlighting the need for better early warning methods. ''Two or three years ago, bird flu was everywhere in the news.

Today you don't hear about it as much, but the threat hasn't gone away -- it's just been replaced in the media by other health scares,'' said CMU graduate assistant Todd M. Lickfett. Lickfett hopes to develop his new monitoring method using bird flu strains that are common in North American migratory flocks but aren't harmful to humans. ''It probably is just a matter of time before we get that more virulent strain. It's still spreading,'' said Tom M. Gehring, CMU associate professor of wildlife biology and Lickfett's faculty adviser.





State and Federal Agencies Predict Busy Winter for Bison Management
New West - www.newwest.net
06 Dec 2007
D Nolt
Photo Courtesy of National Park Service
Area: United States

Bison are powerful American icons and stir deep emotions in many different people. The Interagency Bison Management Plan (IBMP) meeting in Bozeman last Tuesday night was testament to this; dreadlocks and cowboy hats commingled as officials from federal and state agencies presented an update on the IBMP and answered an array of questions on what they predicted the coming winter would hold for Yellowstone’s bison. In panel discussions and public discussion sessions with the IBMP’s five signatory agencies, officials had one overarching message: all agencies would be fully implementing the IBMP this winter, including – if necessary – the costly and controversial practices of hazing and slaughtering bison who wander out of the park.

Bison, elk and many other mammals carry the disease brucellosis, which showed up in a Montana cattle herd this summer. Though the Department of Livestock (DOL) says the transmission likely came from elk, if another cattle herd tests positive before May 2009 Montana will lose its brucellosis free status, and the DOL will not be taking any chances with bison. In 2000 the Yellowstone National Park Service, Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks, the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, the Gallatin National Forest Service and the Montana Department of Livestock formed the IBMP to “Preserve a viable, wild population of Yellowstone bison, address the management of bison when they leave Yellowstone National Park, reduce the risk of transmission of brucellosis from bison to cattle, maintain Montana’s brucellosis-free status” while protecting private property. The five agencies updated the IBMP operating procedures on November 16, 2007.





New CWD Areas Documented in Wyoming
Wyoming Game and Fish Department (Posted by www.buckmasters.com)
10 Dec 2007
Area: Wyoming United States

Six new Chronic Wasting Disease hunt areas have been identified by Wyoming Game and Fish Department personnel since the beginning of the Fall 2007 hunting season, including elk hunt area 110, deer hunt areas 23, 87, 122, 125 and 163. Chronic Wasting Disease, or CWD, is a fatal wildlife brain disease that can affect all members of Wyoming's deer family. CWD had not previously been detected in these areas.

The sex, species, hunt areas and locations are as follows:
Female elk, elk hunt area 110, southeast of Encampment
Mule deer buck, deer hunt area 23, near Ucross
Mule deer buck, deer hunt area 87, eastern edge of the Ferris Mountains
Mature white-tailed buck, deer hunt area 122 near Lovell
Mule deer buck, deer hunt area 125, along Gooseberry Creek southwest of Worland
Two male mule deer, deer hunt area 163, southwest of Kaycee, near the Ed O. Taylor Wildlife Habitat Management Area





Asking Where And When The Next Disease Outbreak Could Happen
Kansas State University (Posted by www.newswise.com)
10 Dec 2007

After a three-year research fellowship at the Centers for Disease Control studying viruses like West Nile and Japanese encephalitis, a Kansas State University graduate returned to her alma mater to find ways to predict where and when a disease might crop up. It was one of those things you hear about on the news: an outbreak of monkeypox in the Chicago area. An animal dealer placed infected rats from Africa next to a crate of prairie dogs. The disease spread to the prairie dogs, which were then sold in pet stores across the nation. Dozens of people in multiple states were sickened from contact with the animals. The incident gave K-State veterinary medicine graduate Christine Ellis a little bit of global perspective.

At the time, she was working as an associate veterinarian at The Midwest Bird and Exotic Animal Hospital in the Chicago area. "It really made me realize how fast disease can spread -- and how easily," she said. It also motivated her to want to do more to protect public health. After all, the veterinarian's oath covers both animal and public health. So after a three-year research fellowship at the Centers for Disease Control studying viruses like West Nile and Japanese encephalitis, she returned to her alma mater to find ways to predict where and when a disease might crop up.





OTHER WILDLIFE DISEASE RELATED NEWS




WILDLIFE DISEASE RELATED PUBLICATIONS

Microbiological and serological monitoring in hooded crow (Corvus corone cornix) in the Region Lombardia, Italy [free full-text available]
Italian Journal of Animal Science. 2007 Jul-Sep; 6(3): 309-312
V Ferrazzi et al.

Applying the scientific method when assessing the influence of migratory birds on the dispersal of H5N1 [free full-text available]
Virology Journal 2007, 4: 132
PL Flint

Prions and prion diseases: fundamentals and mechanistic details [online abstract online]
Journal of microbiology and biotechnology. 2007 Jul; 17(7): 1059-70
C Ryou

at Monday, December 10, 2007 0 comments

December 7, 2007

Climate Change Will Significantly Increase Impending Bird Extinctions
ScienceDaily - www.sciencedaily.com
07 Dec 2007
Photo courtesy of ScienceDaily

Where do you go when you've reached the top of a mountain and you can't go back down?

It's a question increasingly relevant to plants and animals, as their habitats slowly shift to higher elevations, driven by rising temperatures worldwide. The answer, unfortunately, is you can't go anywhere. Habitats shrink to the vanishing point, and species go extinct.

That scenario is likely to be played out repeatedly and at an accelerating rate as the world continues to warm, Stanford researchers say. By 2100, climate change could cause up to 30 percent of land-bird species to go extinct worldwide, if the worst-case scenario comes to pass. Land birds constitute the vast majority of all bird species.



Environmentalists worry border fence-building will threaten Arizona river
Associated Press (posted by Las Cruces Sun-News – www.lcsun-news.com)
05 Dec 2007
Area: Arizona, USA

. . . The federal government contends the fence is needed to stem the flow of illegal immigrants and drug-runners through the area. Environmentalists say it may slow some illegal crossers but will have a devastating impact on wildlife and the environment in the riparian area that encompasses the river.

Mountain lions, jaguars, white-tailed deer, black bears and some ground birds will be among wildlife especially affected by the fence, which is just some 400 yards from the river at this point, said Matt Clark, a spokesman for Defenders of Wildlife.
"When you construct a barrier across a conservation habitat, you're limiting the ability of a species to find food, habitat and mates, and you're preventing genetic exchange between populations," Clark said.


Tagged Tasmanian devils hold key for survival
ABC - www.abc.net.au
06 Dec 2007
F Ogilvie
Photo courtesy of Tasmanian Devil Conservation Park
Area: Tasman Peninsula, Australia

MARK COLVIN: There's finally some hope in the battle to save the threatened Tasmanian devil population.

The species is in danger of extinction because of a contagious facial cancer that's spreading across the Island.

But today scientists are releasing a group of Tasmanian devil orphans on the Tasman Peninsula back into the wild.

The orphans will wear high-tech collars through which the scientists can track their movements via satellite.

From the Tasman Peninsula, Felicity Ogilvie reports.

(Sound of Tasmanian devil squealing and snorting)

FELICITY OGILVIE: That's the cry that got the Tasmanian devil it name.

>>> FULL ARTICLE (audio broadcast also available)

Related Article



Cargill Partners With Wildlife Conservation Society on Global Animal Health and Food Security
Grain Journal - www.grainnet.com
04 Dec 2007

Cargill and the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) have formed a partnership to support global efforts to examine health links among humans, livestock, and wildlife, and to monitor for avian influenza and other diseases shared between people and animals.

Cargill is committing $1.5 million for two initiatives spearheaded by WCS: expanding a global surveillance network for avian influenza in Indonesia and Vietnam, and introducing a grants program for animal health projects in Brazil.

“Food security begins with healthy animals,” said Mike Robach, Vice President of Global Food Safety for Cargill. “We believe that the health of wildlife and livestock are interconnected, and will require a multi-disciplinary approach in order to develop safe and effective food systems.


The Sea Louse, A Common Parasite Of Wild Fish
ScienceDaily - www.sciencedaily.com
06 Dec 2007
Photo courtesy of ScienceDaily

Øivind Øines has shown in his Ph. D. thesis that the sea louse, a parasitic copepod, is widely distributed among wild fish species along the Norwegian coast. The parasite is found in large numbers in the lumpfish, which is now considered to be one of the primary hosts of the parasite. The lumpfish in turn infects several types of farmed fish when it comes into the coast during the spring months.

. . . “Since sea lice are found on so many different north-Atlantic fish species, it is highly likely that they can transmit from wild fish to farmed fish. Our genetic studies of the parasite also support this. It is also likely that they can transmit between different farmed species”, says Øivind Øines.



OTHER WILDLIFE DISEASE RELATED NEWS

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December 6, 2007

Electricity Revives Bali Coral Reefs
The Associated Press (Posted by news.nationalgeographic.com)
04 Dec 2007
J Coleman
Area: Bali Indonesia

Just a few years ago, the lush coral reefs off Indonesia's Bali island were dying out, bleached by rising temperatures, blasted by dynamite fishing, and poisoned by cyanide. Now they are coming back, thanks to an unlikely remedy: electricity. The coral is thriving on dozens of metal structures submerged in the bay and fed by cables that send low-voltage electricity, which conservationists say is reviving it and spurring the growth. As thousands of delegates, experts, and activists debate climate at a conference that opened this week on Bali, the coral restoration project illustrates the creative ways scientists are trying to fight the ill-effects of global warming.

The project—dubbed "Bio-Rock"—is the brainchild of scientist Thomas Goreau and the late architect Wolf Hilbertz. The two have set up similar structures in some 20 countries, but the Bali experiment is the most extensive. Goreau said the Pemuteran Bay reefs off Bali's northwestern shore were under serious assault by 1998, victims of rising temperatures and impoverished islanders' aggressive fishing methods, which included stunning fish with cyanide poison and scooping them up with nets. "Under these conditions, traditional (revival) methods fail," explained Goreau, who is in Bali presenting his research at the UN-led conference. "Our method is the only one that speeds coral growth."





Undiagnosed Deaths, Camels - Saudi Arabia: RFI - Archive Number 20071205.3926
ProMED-mail - www.promedmail.org
30 Nov 2007
Area: Saudi Arabia

When more than 2000 camels perished in Saudi Arabia this year [2007], the mysterious die-offs caused a nationwide furor. Investigations were launched, and camel "beauty contests" suspended. And when evidence mounted that the killer was not an infectious disease but rather a toxic substance in the animals' feed, a government council demanded punishments and reforms. But just as scientists in North Africa and the Middle East are expanding research into these seemingly impregnable desert juggernauts, the animals appear to be increasingly vulnerable to disease and toxins.

Although epidemiological data are scarce -- especially in the camel-rich but politically troubled nations of Somalia and Sudan -- some scientists argue that the illnesses striking camels are changing. "We are seeing new diseases in camels, and we often don't have a good explanation," says Bernard Faye, chair of the newly formed International Society of Camelids Research and Development (ISOCARD). In North Africa, there have been several unexplained dromedary die-offs during the past decade, but the incidents have not shown a consistent pattern so far. In the late 1990s, hundreds of camels perished in Ethiopia, followed by isolated incidents of dying animals showing similar symptoms -- pneumonia and fevers, for example -- in Kenya and Sudan over the past 7 years.





Ecologists Discover a Novel Route of Viral Transmission
Public Library of Science (Posted by www.sciencedaily.com)
06 Dec 2007

A group of avian ecologists, led by Jaime Potti, at the Estación Biológica de Doñana-CSIC (Sevilla, Spain) reports on the discovery that avian polyomaviruses, known potential pathogens producing disease in a number of vertebrate species, follow an 'upwards vertical' route of contagion throughout their studied host population of pied flycatchers, a small migrant songbird breeding in forests in central Spain near Madrid. The blood-sucking, parasitic fly larvae which infest their nests almost invariably transmit polyomaviruses to nestlings, which in turn pass them on to their parents throughout the latter's disposal of nestling faeces. Viral transmission thus follow an inverse vertical route, from offspring to parents, instead of the more usual vertical transmission from mothers to offspring, which was experimentally discarded by exchanging clutches among nests.





Classical Swine Fever, Wild Boars - Russia: (Moskovskaya)- Archive Number 20071205.3919
ProMED-mail - www.promedmail.org
04 Dec 2007
Area: Moskovskaya Russia

An outbreak of classical swine fever (CSF) among wild boars has been registered in the Lotoshinsky district in the Moscow region [Moskovskaya Oblast], says the press release of the Federal Veterinary and Phytosanitary Control Service of Russia (Rosselkhoznadzor). As specified by said department, the CSF virus was discovered during the investigation, by the laboratory of All-Russian institute for animal protection, of samples from 2 killed (in extremis) wild boars. The boars were located within the "Lotoshinskaya okhota" hunting territory. Quarantine measures have been applied, including a ban on boar hunting.

Oral vaccination of wild boars in the region against CSF is being applied. No additional infected boars have been detected, so far, among culled animals in the region. Noteworthy, domestic pigs in the private sector of the Lotoshinsky district were vaccinated against CSF in September 2007. However, additional measures for the prevention of CSF spread are being carried out on the pig farms of the Moscow region.





OTHER WILDLIFE DISEASE RELATED NEWS

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December 5, 2007

TPWD experts discuss bat issues
Palestine Herald-Press - www.palestineherald.com
B Foley
05 Dec 2007

State wildlife biologists told approximately two dozen downtown property owners Monday that the best way to handle the city’s bat problem would be to seal their buildings against the flying rodents. Ricky Maxey, a wildlife diversity biologist with Texas Parks and Wildlife, along with TPWD wildlife biologists David Sierra and Aaron Flanders, described the type of habitat that Mexican free-tail bats prefer and discussed options for dealing with the approximately 70,000 bats estimated to live in the downtown area during an afternoon meeting of the Main Street
Advisory Board at city hall.

While the bats are known to eat insects, their urine leaves a distinctive odor and their droppings, or guano, can carry disease, the biologists said. “This is not going to be something that can be taken care of with a quick fix, because these colonies have developed over a number of years,” Maxey said. “The main action that needs to be taken to alleviate the problem in the buildings is exclusion. You can’t just go in there and kill all these
bats because they’re protected under law in Texas.”




Parasite puts more pandas at risk
USA Today - www..usatoday.com
S Sternberg
05 Dec 2007

A new natural enemy is preying upon China's shrinking population of wild
pandas, posing a "significant threat" to their survival, researchers say.

Stalked to near extinction by poachers and decimated by starvation, China's most beloved creatures are now also dying of a disease most likely caused by a roundworm called Baylisascaris schroederi, which can infect the brain and other vital organs.

"It's the most significant cause of death in the last decade, and it seems to be increasing," says study author Peter Daszak of the Consortium for Conservation Medicine, a collaboration of the Wildlife Trust and several universities focused on the interactions of humans, wildlife and
disease-causing organisms.




DNR sets late-month deer season
Grand Forks Herald - www.grandforksherald.com
05 Dec 2007
B Dokken
Area: Minnesota, USA

The Department of Natural Resources is of fering a special winter deer season near Skime, Minn., beginning late this month in an effort to further reduce deer populations in the core area of a bovine tuberculosis out break. The disease originated in a handful of cattle herds in the Skime area and later spread to nearby deer herds...According to Dr. Michelle Carstensen, wild life health program coordinator for the DNR, the upcoming special hunt comes on the heels of a fall testing campaign in which three deer, all adult bucks, tested "pre sumptive positive" for bovine TB.

The DNR collected tissue samples from more than 1,100 deer during an early antler less season and the regular ri fle season. All three of the infected deer came from the core area near Skime, where bovine TB first was found in a handful of cattle herds in 2005, Carsten sen said. Since then, the DNR has collected tissue samples from more than 3,000 deer in the Skime area. Test results confirmed 13 deer with the disease.




Heatwave is a hell for threatened bats [Article Preview]
New Scientist Environment - environment.newscientist.com
04 Dec 2007
Area: Australia

It was a disastrous day for flying foxes. On 12 January 2002, at least 3500 of these fruit bats dropped dead from heat exhaustion as temperatures along Australia's eastern coast rose to almost 43 °C, some 14 °C higher than normal for that time of year. Stefan Klose of the University of Ulm in Germany and colleagues have been analysing the effects of extreme temperatures and the threat they pose to species survival.

They conclude that if warming continues unabated, grey-headed flying foxes and black flying foxes face extinction "this century" (Proceedings of the Royal Society B, DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2007.1385). "It is a striking experience to see the effects of climate change right in front of you, in the form of a dying vertebrate falling from a tree, along with thousands of others," he says.




OTHER WILDLIFE DISEASE RELATED NEWS


WILDLIFE DISEASE RELATED PUBLICATIONS

Isolates of Zaire ebolavirus from wild apes reveal genetic lineage and
recombinants [online abstract only]
PNAS. 2007 Oct 23; 104(43): 17123-17127
TJ Wittmann et al.

Biological characters of bats in relation to natural reservoir of emerging
viruses [online abstract only]
Comparative Immunology, Microbiology and Infectious Diseases . 2007
Sep;30(5-6):357-74. Epub 2007 Aug 15.
T Omatsu et al.

Characterization of Low-Pathogenicity H5N1 Avian Influenza Viruses from
North America [online abstract only]
Journal of Virology. 2007 Nov;81(21):11612-9. Epub 2007 Aug 29
E Spackman et al.

at Wednesday, December 05, 2007 0 comments

December 4, 2007

DRC fighting imperils rare gorillas: conservationists
Agence France-Presse - afp.google.com
03 Dec 2007
Area: Democratic Republic of Congo

Fighting in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo has isolated rare mountain gorillas, leaving their state unknown and welfare uncared for in three months, an animal charity charged Monday. The raging clashes between forces loyal to ex-general Laurent Nkunda and the Congolese army have barred rangers from accessing the gorillas in Virunga National Park to check for injuries or sickness, Wildlife Direct said in a joint statement by five nongovernmental organisations. "For three months now we have been totally unable to do our job due to the senseless fighting," Norbert Mushenzi, director of park services for the Congolese Institute for the Conservation of Nature (ICCN), said in the statement. The group said fresh artillery clashes around the primates' habitats Sunday and Monday posed "a severe threat to the mountain gorillas," already depopulated this year.

. . . The conservationists said the clashes have blocked veterinarians from reaching the the primates to deal with common flu-like diseases. "The biggest threats to free-ranging mountain gorillas include injuries from poacher's snares, flu-like respiratory disease which can be fatal in infants, and communicable infectious diseases such as measles and tuberculosis," said Lucy Spelman of the Mountain Gorilla Veterinary Project. "This situation is very frustrating," she added in the statement. Only about 700 critically endangered mountain gorillas remain in the wild, all of them in the mountain forests of Rwanda, Uganda and the eastern DRC.





Disease Leaves Toads in a Hole
Glouchester Echo - www.thisisgloucestershire.co.uk
04 Dec 2007
Area: England United Kingdom

Toads in Gloucestershire are at risk from a killer infection that has driven many amphibians to extinction. Chytridiomycosis is caused by a fungus which infects frogs, toads, and newts. It causes their skin to flake, makes them so lethargic they don't respond when threatened by predators and can cause whole groups of newly-hatched toadlets to die. Research by the Institute of Zoology showed that left uncheck-ed, the disease could wipe out the British toad population in a decade.

The infection is responsible for wiping out 40 species of amphibian in the past 20 years. Last month it was confirmed that the disease was present in a group of wild bullfrogs in Kent. Experts say it could easily spread to other parts of the country. Colin Twissell, is amphibian and reptile recorder for the Gloucestershire Naturalist Society. He said: "Toads are vital to this country.





Caution Sounded on Avian Influenza
The Statesman - www.thestatesman.net
03 Dec 2007
Photo coutesy of Wikipedia
Area: Orissa India

The wildlife personnel here have sounded an alert on possible outbreak of avian influenza as chirpy cacophony has begun to pervade the wetland sites along the Bhitarkanika wildlife sanctuary with avian guests from across cool northern hemispheres arriving. Veterinary experts from Animal Disease Laboratory, Bhopal and Veterinary Disease Diagnosis and Research Laboratory, Kolkata are shortly arriving to examine the health profile of avian guests, according to forest officials. The forest department sources said that heronries and habitat near Satabhaya within the Bhitarkanika national park are so far perfectly free from avian influenza fear. Instructions have been issued to ground level staff to segregate the birds found drooping from other birds and conduct the blood sample for test check.





Hay Day Nets 55 Tons
Jackson Hole Daily - www.jhguide.com
03 Dec 2007
C Hatch
Photo courtesy of Wikipedia
Area: Wyoming United States

Sportsmen wound through Jackson on Saturday to deliver 55 tons of hay to the National Elk Refuge for Hay Day, an event to show support for providing supplemental feed to elk. While this year’s Sportsmen for Fish and Wildlife Hay Day drew fewer participants — 37 vehicles, compared with roughly 100 last year — organizers say sportsmen from around the region brought nearly the same amount of hay as last year. The group donated about 60 tons to the refuge last December, in part to protest the death of elk on the refuge during the winter of 2005-06. Bob Wharff, Wyoming Sportsmen for Fish and Wildlife executive director, says elk refuge managers failed to notice when conditions got too difficult for elk that winter.

. . . Most biologists and wildlife managers say supplemental feeding creates crowded conditions, exacerbating diseases like brucellosis. Kallin said the new plan doesn’t mean Jackson Hole animals will suffer. “We are not looking at withholding any feed to starve elk to reduce the numbers,” Kallin said. “We don’t plan to have any animals leave [the refuge] in poor condition.” Kallin said wildlife managers would use this year’s hay donation to lure bison away from elk feeding areas, as they did last year.





New national map shows relative risk for zebra and quagga mussel invasion
Ecological Society of America (Posted by www.biologynews.net)
03 Dec 2007
Area: United States

There is considerable interest in determining the range of habitats an invasive alien species could possibly reach. Since its discovery in the Great Lakes, the zebra mussel (Dreissena polymorpha) has spread rapidly throughout waterways in the eastern US, negatively impacting ecosystems and infrastructure. A close relative of the zebra mussel and also of the Dreissena genus is the more slowly-spreading quagga mussel (D bugensis), found primarily in the Great Lakes. Based on published reports of the species’ preferred habitats and needs for survival, Thomas Whittier (Oregon State University) Paul Ringold (US Environmental Protection Agency), Alan Herlily(Oregon State University) and Suzanne Pierson (Indus Corporation) created a map to better determine where the quagga and zebra mussel may appear next, in their paper “A calcium-based risk assessment for zebra mussel and quagga mussel (Dreissena spp) invasion.”

Their research appears in the online e-view version of Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment. According to the authors, “The rate of zebra mussel expansion was rapid from its discovery in 1988. After 1994, the rate of expansion slowed considerably.” While expansion of the zebra mussel’s range continues in the Great Lakes and other inland locations, there has been no invasion of New England, the mid-Atlantic Piedmont and Coastal Plains, the Southeast, or areas west of the 100th meridian, despite climates and other conditions favorable for the organisms. “Another Dreissena species, the quagga mussel was discovered in 1989 in the Great Lakes.





OTHER WILDLIFE DISEASE RELATED NEWS




WILDLIFE DISEASE RELATED PUBLICATIONS

The prevalence, distribution and severity of detectable pathological lesions in badgers naturally infected with Mycobacterium bovis [online article only]
Epidemiology and Infection. 2007 Nov 30;: 1-12 [Epub ahead of print]
HE Jenkins et al.

Sharing H5N1 Viruses to Stop a Global Influenza Pandemic [free full-text article]
PLoS Medicine. 2007; 4(11): e330
L Garrett and DP Fidler

Epidemiology of an outbreak of chronic wasting disease on elk farms in Saskatchewan [online abstract only]
Canadian Veterinary Journal. 2007; 48: 1241–1248
CK Argue et al.

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December 3, 2007

Sun-Loving Frogs Get Skin Check with Eye Doctor's Tool
National Geographic - news.nationalgeographic.com
30 Nov 2007
A Minard
Area: England United Kingdom

Sun-loving tree frogs from Costa Rica could get a reprieve from dissection—thanks to a tool borrowed from eye doctors.

The technique, called optical coherence tomography (OCT), can produce images to a depth of a few millimeters and is normally used to examine the human retina, a thin layer of cells that lines the back of the eyeball. But animal conservationists in Manchester, England, are using OCT to study skin characteristics in frog species that bask in the sun—an unusual trait among thin-skinned amphibians. The team hopes that the noninvasive method will yield clues about the frogs' susceptibility to a deadly chytrid fungal infection, a disease found worldwide that has been linked to global warming. Andrew Gray is curator of herpetology at the Manchester Museum and a co-author of the new work, which also involves researchers at the Photon Science Institute at the University of Manchester.





Undocumented Elk Intercepted at Missouri's Border
Kansas City infoZine - www.infozine.com
01 Dec 2007
J Low
Area: Missouri United States

A tip from an Oklahoma wildlife officer enabled Missouri conservation agents to intercept the illegal interstate shipment.

Cooperation with Oklahoma wildlife officials allowed Missouri conservation agents to intercept an uncertified interstate shipment of elk. Quick action safeguarded the health of Missouri's wildlife and domestic livestock, according to Conservation Agent Travis McLain. McLain said the shipment came to Missouri officials' attention Sept. 26, when an Oklahoma wildlife officer called Conservation Agent Adam Bracken. Getting McLain in on a conference call, the Oklahoma officer informed the two conservation agents that he had just stopped three stock trailers headed for a game farm in Missouri.

. . . Greg Baker, 41, of Springdale, Ark., was the driver of one of the trucks bringing the elk to Missouri. He also is the permit holder for Hidden Spring Big Game Farm, the facility where the animals were headed. McLain issued Baker a citation for illegally importing wildlife into Missouri. Baker pleaded guilty in Barry County and paid a fine. Federal officials also are looking into the matter. Transporting wildlife or livestock across state borders without documentation is unlawful and has serious implications for wildlife and animal agriculture. Moving elk or deer between states without first checking their health creates the potential for spreading diseases.





Big bucks see bird smuggling spread
The New Zealand Herald - www.nzherald.co.nz
02 Dec 2007
P Lewis
Area: Auckland New Zealand

Usually it's the aircraft at Auckland International Airport which carry the passengers. South African Pillipus Fourie had passengers of his own. Forty-four of them, to be precise. Parrots' eggs, smuggled away in an under-the-clothes vest with special compartments for the precious cargo.

. . . The reality is that not all the eggs will remain intact so the ultimate payoff may not be quite that big. But, after Fourie was stopped at the airport and his avian payload discovered, he was fined $20,000 for possession of unauthorised goods, for making a false declaration and for trading in threatened species. Parrots, particularly exotic species, and lizards are the most trafficked live items in New Zealand. Controls are strict because of the bio-security risk - disease could wreak havoc among the poultry industry and native birds, among others - and because trading in wildlife helps hasten the graduation from threatened species to extinction.





Bluetongue of interest to wool growers
Billings Gazette - www.billingsgazette.net
01 Dec 2007
J Gransbery
Area: Montana United States

A puzzling outbreak of the livestock disease bluetongue engaged a panel of scientists and sheep producers along with a couple hundred other people attending the opening session of the Montana Woolgrowers Association convention Friday morning. The selling and movement of sheep in 16 counties in the southeastern part of Montana were put on hold for a month this fall until the weather cooled enough to halt the activity of the midge that carries the virus causing the disease. The hold placed by the state veterinarian came just as many producers were about to ship their lambs to feedlots and slaughter or their rams for breeding. Scores of sheep and wild-game animals succumbed to the disease, although a tally of deaths is incomplete.

The question most on the minds of producers and animal scientists Friday was: "What about next year?" The complexity of the transmission of the disease and the life cycle of the midge provided an interesting discussion. The exact reservoir of the virus is an unknown. While options are being explored, the reality is that "we have no tools to prevent it happening next summer," said Greg Johnson, an entomologist at Montana State University in Bozeman. He suggested that a combination of drought and high temperatures this summer provided the right climate for the disease beginning in September when sheep, whitetail deer and antelope began displaying symptoms and dying from the infection.





OTHER WILDLIFE DISEASE RELATED NEWS


WILDIFE DISEASE RELATED PUBLICATIONS

Foot-and-Mouth Disease - 2007 Edition to Electronic Encyclopaedia and Library of wildlife, wildlife habitats,and emerging infectious diseases
Wildlife Information Network

Influenza in Migratory Birds and Evidence of Limited Intercontinental Virus Exchange [free full-text available]
PloS Pathogens. 2007; 3(11): e167
S Krauss et al.

Emerging Infectious Diseases - December Issue
Table of Contents

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