Wildlife Disease News Digest

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Mysterious Ailment Could Wipe Out U.S. Northeast Bats
National Geographic News - news.nationalgeographic.com
14 May 2008
B Handwerk
Area: United States

This summer scientists hope to finally crack the case of the mysterious ailment afflicting bats in the U.S. Northeast—before time runs out for the animals and the local environment. The emergence of pregnant females from their wintering grounds should provide vital clues to the extent and transmission mode of the affliction, known as white-nose syndrome. First identified in February 2007 among hibernating bats in caves outside of Albany, New York, the ailment has became especially troubling this year, with signs of the illness spotted at more than two dozen caves and mines used by hibernating bats around New England and New York. Mortality rates in affected hibernation sites can be as high as 80 to 100 percent, and tens of thousands of bats have been found dead.

Because a single bat may typically eat some 3,000 insects a night, experts say, the consequences could be dire for entire ecosystems. (Related: "Early Bats Flew First, Developed 'Sonar' Later [February 13, 2008].) "What we saw last year was kind of just one cave affected, and this year we have seen many hibernation sites in multiple states," said wildlife disease specialist Kimberli Miller at the National Wildlife Health Center in Madison, Wisconsin. "It's hard to predict whether next year it will be in even more locations or whether it won't," she added. "It is definitely a big concern."

>>>FULL ARTICLE

Related News
>>>White-nose disease still a bat mystery

Monarch butterflies help explain why parasites harm hosts
Biology News Net - www.biologynews.net
14 May 2008

It’s a paradox that has confounded evolutionary biologists since Charles Darwin published On the Origin of Species in 1859: Since parasites depend on their hosts for survival, why do they harm them? A new University of Georgia and Emory University study of monarch butterflies and the microscopic parasites that hitch a ride on them finds that the parasites strike a middle ground between the benefits gained by reproducing rapidly and the costs to their hosts. The study, published in the early online edition of the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, provides the first empirical evidence in a natural system of what’s called the “trade-off hypothesis.”

“Parasites have to harm their host to replicate and be transmitted,” said lead author Jacobus de Roode, a former post-doctoral researcher at UGA and now an assistant professor at Emory University. “But what this study found is that if they harm their host too much, they’ll suffer too. On the other hand, this study also shows that it does not benefit the parasite to be maximally benign, because those parasites don’t replicate enough to be effectively transmitted.” In a painstaking, three-year study conducted in the laboratory of Sonia Altizer, assistant professor in the UGA Odum School of Ecology, researchers infected monarch caterpillars with varying levels of spores from a protozoan parasite commonly found in wild populations.

>>>FULL ARTICLE

Alberta to allow hunters to kill Hay-Zama bison
Vancouver Sun - www.canada.com/vancouversun
14 May 2008
H Brooymans
Area: Alberta Canada

The provincial government will allow hunting of an endangered wood bison herd in northwest Alberta beginning in September. The decision is motivated by two things: an increased risk of people hitting bison on roads, and a greater chance of the bison coming into contact with diseased bison emerging from Wood Buffalo National Park. A small herd of 24 wood bison were first moved from Elk Island National Park to Hay-Zama Lakes Wildland Park in 1984. That population has now increased to about 700, with more to arrive soon when the calves are born, said Lyle Fullerton, special projects co-ordinator with Alberta Sustainable Resource Development.

. . . The other major concern is the fear that the so far "clean" bison from Hay-Zama will come into contact with bison from Wood Buffalo that carry brucellosis or tuberculosis. Two small diseased herds have already become established west of Wood Buffalo. The provincial government would prefer to see the disease risk in Wood Buffalo eliminated, said George Hamilton, a priority species manager with the ministry. This would involve removing bison from the park, killing the diseased animals and carefully monitoring calves as they are born until eventually a disease-free herd can be re-established in the park. But that is up to the federal government.

>>>FULL ARTICLE -- Map It

Hunters may face lead-free future
Sportsday - www.dallasnews.com
14 May 2008
R Sasser
Area: Idaho United States

A conference in Idaho this week could have a significant ripple effect on hunting. The conference title is "Ingestion of Spent Lead Ammunition: Implications for Wildlife and Humans." Presentations will link lead poisoning to endangered California condors, eagles and other birds of prey and scavengers. In a news release, Rick Watson, vice president of the Peregrine Fund, said there's significant evidence that condors are sickened and that some of the birds die from eating the remains of shot animals. Watson also suggested the possibility that other species, including humans, are at risk.

. . . For several years, the F&WS has been looking at lead ingestion in mourning doves, but the federal agency has told state wildlife officials that they consider it a state issue. Only one state, South Dakota, has banned all lead pellets used for hunting any game bird on public hunting areas. Who knows what the F&WS will do under the next administration? There are alternate, nontoxic materials from which rifle bullets and shotgun pellets can be made. A ban on all lead bullets and shotgun pellets would not stop hunting, but it would make the ammunition much more expensive.

>>>FULL ARTICLE

Conference Link
>>>Ingestion of Spent Lead Ammunition: Implications for Wildlife and Humans

Rabid Fox in North Georgia
News Channel 9 - www.newschannel9.com
14 May 2008
R Simms
Area: Georgia United States

A fox that fought with a dog last week on Colwell Road in Fannin County, Ga. has now been confirmed as positive for rabies, according to county environmental health officials. The dog's owner shot the fox four times, once in the head, last Wednesday, May 7 as it fought with his dog. The owner then reported the incident the next day to county environmental health officials and took the fox to the Ocoee Animal Clinic so that the head could be removed for rabies testing. There had been some concern that the shot to the head might have impeded testing, however, it was ultimately determined that the damage was minimal enough for testing to be effective.

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OTHER WILDLIFE HEALTH RELATED NEWS
Photo courtesy of BBC News