Wildlife Disease News Digest

Listening In on a Bat Cave
NPR – www.npr.org
06 May 2008
J Metzner
Location: New York, USA

A mysterious disease called "white-nose syndrome" is striking down hibernating bat populations in New York State. Four of the state's six species of hibernating bats are suffering from this affliction, which is decimating bat populations throughout the Northeast.

Jim Metzner has been training scientists to make audio recordings of their field research. Biologists from New York's Ulster County go underground as they try to work out what is killing the region's bats.

>>> Listen to Audio Broadcast [6 min 18 sec] [Links to Past Related Stories and a Video]

Humans may spread platypus disease: researcher
ABC News – www.abc.net.au
05 May 2008
Location: Campbell Town, Tasmania, Australia - Map It

New research into a fungus killing Tasmanian platypuses suggests the disease could be spread by soil on car wheels or bushwalkers shoes.

Research fellow at the University of Tasmania, Niall Stewart says the disease is rapidly spreading throughout the state but exactly how it's being transmitted is still a mystery.

Dr Stewart says it is likely the disease is being spread from animal to animal, although they're investigating other possibilities.

"We're wondering whether four wheel drives can carry it in, mud on the four wheel drive vehicle or it could be walked into an area on bushwalkers feet - it's one of those areas of the disease that we know nothing about," he said.

>>> FULL ARTICLE

Plague suspected in Valmont Butte prairie dogs
DailyCamera – www.dailycamera
02 May 2008
H Urie
Location: Valmont Butte, Boulder County, Colorado, USA - Map It

A population of prairie dogs inhabiting the Valmont Butte site could have the plague, according to Boulder County Public Health officials.

Signs were posted today at the site, warning people to stay away from the critters as the county investigates.

Officials say the population of the rodents has declined sharply in recent months — a sign of possible disease.

Flea samples being collected this weekend will be tested for plague. Results are expected within two weeks.

>>> FULL ARTICLE

Cod fall may speed 'toxic tide'
BBC News – news.bbc.uk
07 May 2008
R Black

Declining fish stocks could be partly responsible for algal blooms in the oceans, researchers have found.

Scientists found that the fall in cod stocks in the Baltic Sea in recent decades increased numbers of the tiny marine plants that produce the blooms.

Algal blooms - sometimes known as "toxic tides" - can be poisonous to people, fish and other wildlife, and may be on the increase worldwide. The research is reported in the Royal Society's journal Proceedings B.

>>> FULL ARTICLE

Cited Journal Article
Multi-level trophic cascades in a heavily exploited open marine ecosystem - Proceedings of the Royal Society B2008. Epub ahead of print

Japan confirms fresh bird flue case
Khabrein.info – www.khabrein.info
02 May 2008
Location: Hokkaido, Japan – Map It

Japan's Environment Ministry confirmed Monday that a dead swan found in the northernmost prefecture of Hokkaido on April 24 had the virulent H5N1 strain of avian influenza, which is potentially deadly to humans. The Hokkaido prefectural government began inspections of five chicken farms within a radius of 30 kilometers of the site where the dead swan was found.

The fresh case of bird flu outbreak comes less than a week after the health authorities found three wild swans in northern Akita Prefecture carrying the same virus late April, the first detection of deadly H5N1 in Japan in 13 months.

>>> FULL ARTICLE

Related News Stories
>>>Bird flu pandemic risk just as real and probably growing

>>>Bird Flu Spreads to Seoul Region, Eastern Province - Map It

>>>Swine, Avian Flu Genes in Same Virus [USDA News & Events]

Lack of information sharing agreements could put Canadians at risk
Calgary Herald – www.canada.com
06 May 2008
M Fitzpatrick

Four years after its creation, the Public Health Agency of Canada still doesn't have agreements in place with the provinces and territories on how to share health information and that's preventing Canadians from having a clear picture about the risks of infectious diseases, the auditor general warns.

In her office's first audit of the health agency since it was created in 2004 following the SARS outbreak, Sheila Fraser said Tuesday the agency has surveillance systems in place to detect and monitor existing and emerging infectious diseases, but that "fundamental weaknesses" identified as far back as 1999, when surveillance was the responsibility of Health Canada, still remain.
The report said the health agency has "not made satisfactory progress" on past recommendations related to strategic direction, data quality, measuring results and sharing information.

>>> FULL ARTICLE

>>> Disease Surveillance Could be Vulnerable Without Information-sharing Agreements [includes link to Audit Report to Surveillance of Infectious Diseases – Public Health Agency of Canada]

OTHER WILDLIFE HEALTH RELATED NEWS