April 30, 2009

TOP STORIES

Endless Caverns Bats Suspect: Animals Show Indications Of Mysterious Disease
DNR Online - www.dnronline.com
28 Apr 2009
Area: New Market, Rockingham County, Virginia, USA - Map It

Samples of bats found in the Endless Caverns show cave and suspected of having the deadly white-nose syndrome have been sent to a federal testing facility, the Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries confirmed Friday.

If the tests come back positive, it will be the first confirmed case in Rockingham County of the mysterious disease that has wiped out hundreds of thousands of bats in the Northeast. The disease showed up in Virginia for the first time earlier this year, but until now, no bats in the central Valley had been suspected of having the illness.


Related News
>>>Park closes all caves due to bat illness - Deleware Water Gap NRA, Pike County, Pennsylvania, USA - Map It
>>>Bats' homes off-limits because of disease [United States]



Reported Wildlife Mortality Events to the USGS National Wildlife Health Center Updated
USGS National Wildlife Health Center
29 Apr 2009
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 Apr 27, 2009 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.




As insects expand, new areas may become prone to Lyme disease
Insciences Organisation - insciences.org (Source: UW-Madison)
27 Apr 2009
N Miller
Photo credit: B Richter
Area: Wisconsin, United States

Last summer, after returning home from a walk in Madison's Dudgeon-Monroe neighborhood, Susan Paskewitz was astonished to find a deer tick crawling up her dog's hind leg. It was the first time Paskewitz, a University of Wisconsin-Madison entomologist, had collected a tick in the city. Within the month, she learned of two other such cases.

"It was striking to get three (deer ticks) last year in the Madison metro area," says Paskewitz, who specializes in mosquitoes and ticks. "We usually only get one every few years."

Deer ticks — the type known for carrying Lyme disease — are widely associated with Wisconsin's Northwoods. In truth, however, they occupy a much larger territory. In 1994, a deer tick "census" led by Paskewitz revealed they had already become established in the western two-thirds of the state. Since then, reports of Lyme disease and new infestations led Paskewitz to suspect that they had become prevalent throughout Wisconsin.



OTHER WILDLIFE HEALTH RELATED STORIES
Photo credit: BBC News - news.bbc.co.uk




WILDLIFE HEALTH RELATED PUBLICATIONS
Browse complete Digest publications library here.

Journal of Wildlife Disease - April 2009
Volume 45, Number 2

Prevalence of Edwardsiella tarda in Antarctic wildlife
Polar Biology. 2009 May; 32(5): 809-812
GA Leotta et al.

Adaptive strategies of Yersinia pestis to persist during inter-epizootic and epizootic periods
Vet Res. 2009 Mar-Apr;40(2):1. Epub 2008 Sep 23[free full-text available]
RJ Eisen and KL Gage

High prevalence of antibodies against Chlamydiaceae and Chlamydophila abortus in wild ungulates using two "in house" blocking-ELISA tests
Vet Microbiol. 2009 Mar 16;135(1-2):46-53. Epub 2008 Oct 14
J Salinas et al.

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April 28, 2009

TOP STORIES

Insight Into Fish Disease To Help Protect Farmed Fish Stocks
Science Daily - sciencedaily.com
24 Apr 2009

Researchers funded by the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) have gained a key insight into a disease that is devastating the UK's fish farming industry. The researchers have discovered that fish can harbour and spread proliferative kidney disease (PKD), a cause of major stock losses on fish farms, as well as being affected by the infection.




Acid rain and lobster shells
Gloucester Daily Times - gloucestertimes.com
25 Apr 2009

Could acid rain trigger shell disease in lobsters? Professor Joseph G. Kunkel, a teacher and researcher in University of Massachusetts Amherst's Biology Department, began scientifically proving a definitive answer to that important question two years ago. Kunkel is one of 10 investigators in an ongoing Rhode Island Sea Grant-funded Lobster Health Initiative Study that will end in 2010.



Tribe gathering small fish to save dwindling Stilly run
HeraldNet - enterprisenewspaperss.com
25 Apr 2009

There was a time when a net cast in the south fork of the Stillaguamish River would bring in a variety of fish. These days, nets often pull up little more than debris.





OTHER WILDLIFE HEALTH RELATED STORIES




WILDLIFE HEALTH RELATED PUBLICATIONS

The Wildlifer - The Wildlife Society Newsletter - April 2009
Issue 349

Special Issue: Adaptative strategies of vector-borne pathogens to vectorial transmission
Veterinary Research - March-April 2009
Volume 40, Number 2

Water-borne transmission drives avian influenza dynamics in wild birds: the case of the 2005-2006 epidemics in the Camargue area
Infect Genet Evol. 2009 Apr 17. [Epub ahead of print]
B Roche et al.

at Tuesday, April 28, 2009 0 comments

April 27, 2009

TOP STORIES

Toxic mining wastes kill tundra swans in Idaho
Anchorage Daily News - www.adn.com [source: Associated Press)
23 Apr 2009
Location: Coeur d'Alene River, Idaho, USA - Map It

LEAD: Contamination shuts down migrating birds' digestion and they starve.

A grim death toll of migrating tundra swans is again being observed at northern Idaho marshes contaminated with toxic mining waste.

Thousands of swans headed for breeding grounds in Alaska stop each spring at the marshes along the Coeur d'Alene River.

But the roots and tubers they feed on are laced with lead that's part of about 100 million tons of mining waste from the Silver Valley that has washed into the river system over the past century.

Lead shuts down the swans' digestive systems and the birds slowly starve to death -- at least 150 annually.


UC Davis launches 'One Health' care for wild mountain gorillas and human neighbors
First Science.com - www.firstscience.com
23 Apr 2009
University of California-Davis

Renowned wildlife veterinarians will help 740 remaining animals in African national parks

The University of California, Davis, today launched a new "One Health" program to conserve the world's remaining 740 mountain gorillas by caring for not only the gorillas but also the people and the other animals that share their home in the forests of central Africa.

With $750,000 in funding from the David and Lucile Packard Foundation, UC Davis will establish the Mountain Gorilla One Health Program in the School of Veterinary Medicine's Wildlife Health Center.



Related News

Dead bird surveillance program to begin
The Review - www.reviewonline.com
23 Apr 2009

Jolene Zuros, registered sanitarian for the Hancock County Health Department, reminds residents of Hancock County to be aware that the dead bird surveillance program for the West Nile Virus begins May 1 and continues through Nov. 30.


Related West Nile Virus News


Deaths of fish, birds probed at NJ reservoir
Philly.com - www.philly.com (source: Associated Press)
23 Apr 2009
Location: Oradell Reservoir, New Jersey, USA - Map It

Authorities are investigating why fish and birds are dying at a higher-than-normal rate at a northern New Jersey reservoir.

A security guard first noticed the dead fish, mostly carp, along the banks of the Oradell Reservoir April 14. More fish and birds, mergansers, started turning up dead in the days that followed.


Still no answers over Potomac fish deformities
Earth News - www.earthportal.org
22 Apr 2009
Location: Potomac River, Maryland, USA - Map It

After six years of investigation, scientists are still unsure what is causing more than 80 percent of the male smallmouth bass in the Potomac River to grow eggs.

After “intersex” fish were first discovered in a West Virginia tributary in 2003, biologists launched an investigation into the fish deformities.

The findings, released yesterday, affirmed the deformities continue to occur — in some places, between 82 percent and 100 percent of male fish displayed some female characteristics — but did not identify the cause.


Road kill tally hints at wildlife health
New Scientist - www.newscientist.com
24 Apr 2009

IT MIGHT be gruesome, but counting road kill could be a quick and effective way to spot local changes in wildlife populations.

In 1984, 1994 and 2005, Bob Brockie and Richard Sadleir, two retired ecologists, drove the length of New Zealand's North Island, counting dead animals along the way. Then, along with Wayne Linklater of Victoria University of Wellington, they compared their data with road kill counts going back to 1949.

In some cases, the counts agreed with known changes in a population. . . . "Interestingly, the decline coincides with a nosedive in hedgehog numbers in Britain, so perhaps a disease could be responsible," says Brockie.


LAST WEEK'S TOP READ LINKS

News
  1. Disruption Of Copper Regulation As Key To Prion Diseases
  2. Boreal owl deaths a mystery to Fairbanks bird experts
  3. Only 80-100 Florida Panthers Survive Says Congressman to Obama
  4. Deadly Domestic Sheep Disease Threatens Endangered Sierra Nevada Bighorn
  5. Pickford bald eagle beats West Nile virus
  6. Cure For Honey Bee Colony Collapse?
  7. Wyoming brucellosis group examines federal proposal
  8. U.S. will attempt to save rare bird
  9. Crane deaths raise alarm about water rights
  10. Time running out for Tasmanian devil
Publications
  1. The ecology of climate change and infectious diseases
  2. Veterinary Parasitology [TOC]
  3. Climate change and wildlife diseases: When does the host matter the most?
OTHER WILDLIFE HEALTH RELATED STORIES
Photo courtesy of The Guardian
White-Nose Syndrome
Rabies
Invasive Species

at Monday, April 27, 2009 0 comments

April 24, 2009

TOP STORIES

Severe Texas Drought Threatens Coastal Wildlife
Wall Street Journal - online.wsj.com
21 Apr 2009
A Compoy
Photo credit: Associated Press
Area: Texas, United States

A severe drought gripping Texas is causing unusually salty conditions along the Gulf Coast, upsetting the region's ecological balance and threatening coastal wildlife including oysters, crabs and whooping cranes, the most endangered crane species.

The drought is one of the driest on record for Texas and is currently the worst in the U.S., which has seen persistent dry weather across several Western states, Florida and even Hawaii, according to academic and government monitors. The scarcity of rain has reduced fresh-water flow from rivers and streams into coastal marshes, estuaries and bays that normally dilute the salt content of water from the Gulf of Mexico.

This spring, the only migrating whooping-crane flock that exists in the wild lost 23 of its 270 members to hunger and disease brought on by the dry weather, said Tom Stehn, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service whooping-crane coordinator.




Chromium: another threat to whale health?
Environmental Health News - www.environmentalhealthnews.org
22 Apr 2009
K Kidd

Endangered sperm whales are highly polluted with the metal chromium, a known human carcinogen.

Researchers sampling skin from sperm whales around the world found the animals have the highest levels of the metal chromium in their bodies of any marine mammal tested to date. The levels in the skin of the whales are similar to those found in lung tissues of humans with chromium-induced lung cancer and may be an additional health threat to the already endangered species.

Little is known about chromium in the world's ocean despite its link to human cancers.





Reported Wildlife Mortality Events to the USGS National Wildlife Health Center Updated
USGS National Wildlife Health Center
23 Apr 2009
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 Apr 20, 2009 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.




WILDLIFE HEALTH RELATED NEWS
Photo credit: Associated Press - www.ap.org

White Nose Syndrome
Avian Influenza

WILDLIFE HEALTH RELATED PUBLICATIONS
Browse complete Digest publications library here.

Transmission of scrapie and sheep-passaged bovine spongiform encephalopathy prions to transgenic mice expressing elk prion protein
J Gen Virol. 2009 Apr;90(Pt 4):1035-47. Epub 2009 Mar 4
G Tamquney et al.

Journal of Zoo and Wildlife Medicine - March 2009
Volume 40, Issue 1

Emerging Infectious Diseases - May 2009
Volume 15, Number 5

The impact of seasonal variability in wildlife populations on the predicted spread of foot and mouth disease
Vet Res. 2009 May-Jun;40(3):18. Epub 2009 Jan 13
LD Highfield et al.

at Friday, April 24, 2009 0 comments

April 23, 2009

TOP STORIES

Rare 'mountain chicken' frogs airlifted from path of deadly fungus
Guardian - www.guardian.co.uk
21 Apr 2009
J Aldred
Photo credit: Zoological Society of London
Area: Montserrat, Leeward Islands, Lesser Antilles - Map It

Conservationists have rescued a number of critically endangered "mountain chicken" frogs from the path of a fatal disease which has hit their Caribbean island home of Montserrat.

The decision to remove 50 mountain chicken frogs (leptodactylus fallax) from their natural habitat was taken in the face of the spread of the chytrid fungus, which is devastating amphibian populations worldwide.

The Zoological Society London (ZSL) and the Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust, based in Jersey, have each provided a home for 12 of the frogs which have been removed from Montserrat. Another 26 have gone to Parken zoo in Stockholm.





Time running out for Tasmanian devil
Australian Broadcastings News - www.abc.net.au
21 Apr 2009
C Duffy
Area: Tasmania, Australia

Scientists fear the window of time left to save the Tasmanian Devil is rapidly closing, and that in as few as five years, the biggest remaining marsupial predator may be on an unstoppable slide to extinction. Earlier this month, there was a breakthrough when a team from the University of Tasmania developed a blood test to identify devils infected with facial tumour disease.

However, they say a lack of funds is preventing their discovery from being fully utilised, and wildlife experts are warning the devil's decline is fundamentally changing the Tasmanian landscape. Conor Duffy reports from Hobart.




Squirrels in Key Largo suffer from tumors, blindness
Miami Herald - www.miamiherald.com
22 Apr 2009
K Wadlow
Area: Key Largo, Monroe County, Florida, USA - Map It

Squirrels in Key Largo have been stricken by a virulent disease that causes grotesque tumors and often blindness.

The disease -- squirrel pox -- occurs nationwide in squirrel populations but has never been reported previously in the Florida Keys, said local wildlife experts.

''We started getting a lot of calls in late January, mostly from the area between [mile markers] 101 and 103,'' said Marsha Garrettson, manager of the Key Largo Animal Shelter run by the Humane Animal Care Coalition.

''It's really sad to see these guys,'' she said. ``They've got these nasty tumors. Sometimes they're blind because the tumors have matted their eyes closed.''




WILDLIFE HEALTH RELATED NEWS
Photo credit: Guardian - www.guardian.co.uk

Fish
Alien Species



WILDLIFE HEALTH RELATED PUBLICATIONS
Browse complete Digest publications library here.

Interagency Oceans and Human Health Annual Report 2004-2006
Interagency Working Group on Harmful Algal Blooms, Hypoxia, and Human Health [free full-text available] [pdf]

Disease dynamics in marine metapopulations: modelling infectious diseases on coral reefs
Journal of Applied Ecology. 2009 [Epub ahead of print]
SH Sokolow et al.

Temporal Trends (1992–2007) of Perfluorinated Chemicals in Northern Sea Otters (Enhydra lutris kenyoni) from South-Central Alaska
Arch Environ Contam Toxicol. 2009 Apr;56(3):607-14. Epub 2008 Oct 7
K Hart et al.

at Thursday, April 23, 2009 0 comments

April 22, 2009

TOP STORIES

Brucellosis plan gets mixed reviews
Deseret News - deseretnews.com
19 Apr 2009

A Wyoming group that works to control the animal disease brucellosis has mixed opinions about a federal plan to declare the nation brucellosis free except for the greater Yellowstone area.

Crane deaths raise alarm about water rights
Houston Chronicle - chron.com
19 Apr 2009

A record number of whooping cranes have died while wintering along the Texas coast this year, leaving biologists stunned and once again placing the Guadalupe River at the center of the state’s ongoing battle over water rights.



Doubts raised over safety of two widely used plastics chemicals
EngineerLive - engineerlive.com
20 Apr 2009
Image Credit: Engineer Live

...Two articles report very similar changes in male reproductive organs in rats and humans related to foetal exposure to phthalates. Two articles show that foetal exposure to BPA or PBDEs disrupts normal development of the brain and behaviour in rats and mice. Two other articles provide data that these chemicals are massively contaminating the oceans and causing harm to aquatic wildlife.

The articles show amongst others the massive contamination of the Pacific Ocean with plastic, and the amount of contamination has increased dramatically in recent years; animal brain structure, brain chemistry and behavioural effects from exposure to BPA and 'phthalate syndrome' in rats' male offspring.




Minimizing The Spread Of Deadly Hendra Virus
Science Daily - sciencedaily.com
20 Apr 2009


First identified in Brisbane in 1994, Hendra virus, which spreads from flying foxes, has regularly infected horses in Australia. Of the 11 equine outbreaks, four have led to human infection, with three of the six known human cases being fatal, the most recent of these in August 2008.



WILDLIFE HEALTH RELATED NEWS



WILDLIFE HEALTH RELATED PUBLICATIONS
Browse complete Digest publications library here.

Wildlife Disease Association Newsletter - April 2009 [free full-text available][pdf]

Organochlorine pesticide and polychlorinated biphenyl in feathers of resident and migratory birds of South-west Iran
Arch Environ Contam Toxicol. 2009 May;56(4):803-10. Epub 2008 Aug 29
RD Behrooz et al.

Preliminary observations on the experimental transmission of chronic wasting disease (CWD) from elk and white-tailed deer to fallow deer
J Comp Pathol. 2008 Feb-Apr;138(2-3):121-30. Epub 2008 Mar 11
AN Hamir et al.


at Wednesday, April 22, 2009 0 comments

April 21, 2009

TOP STORIES


Salmonella May Be to Blame for Bird Deaths
USAgNet.com - www.usagnet.com (source: Minnesota Ag Connection)
17 Apr 2009
Location: Minnesota, USA - Map It

Minnesota residents have found an increasing number of dead birds at feeders over the last couple of weeks. According to the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (DNR), a strain of salmonella may be to blame.

Other Salmonella News


Disruption Of Copper Regulation As Key To Prion Diseases
Science Daily - sciencedaily.com
20 Apr 2009
Image Credit: PLoS Pathogens


Researchers at the University of California, Santa Cruz, discovered a striking relationship between changes in the copper-binding properties of abnormal prion proteins and the clinical features of prion disease in patients with certain rare, genetic mutations.



China confirms bird flu outbreak in Lhasa
Promed Mail - promedmail.org
19 Apr 2009
Area: Lhasa, Tibet - Map It

China's Ministry of Agriculture (MOA) confirmed Sunday [19 Apr 2009] a new outbreak of bird flu in Lhasa, southwestern Tibet Autonomous Region. The national bird flu laboratory confirmed that the H5N1 bird flu virus was found in poultry sold at a poultry wholesale market in Chengguan District of Lhasa on 12 Apr 2009.


WILDLIFE HEALTH RELATED NEWS

WILDLIFE HEALTH RELATED PUBLICATIONS
Browse complete Digest publications library here.

Veterinary Parasitology - May 2009
Vol 161, Issues 3-4

Early Onset Prion Disease from Octarepeat Expansion Correlates with Copper Binding Properties
PLoS Pathog. 2009; 5(4): e1000390 [free full-text available]
DJ Stevens et al.

Liver Parasites and Body Condition in Relation to Environmental Contaminants in Caribou (Rangifer tarandus) from Labrador, Canada
Arctic. 2009 Mar;62(1): 1-12 [scroll to locate abstract]
B Pollock et al.

Climate change and wildlife diseases: When does the host matter the most?
Ecology. 2009 Apr; 90(4): 912-920 [NO online abstract available]
D Harvell et al.

at Tuesday, April 21, 2009 0 comments

April 20, 2009

Salmonella outbreak kills birds: Fish and Game: keep feeders clean
Idaho Mountain Express and Guide - www.mtexpress.com
17 Apr 2009
D Sentilles
Location: Wood River Valley, Idaho, USA - Map It

Reports have surfaced of a small outbreak of salmonella among birds in the Wood River Valley. The affected birds are pine siskins, small creatures that are considered susceptible to salmonella.

Information on the birds' deaths first came from Jeramie Dreyfuss, a Hailey resident and bird enthusiast who said she found some 30 dead birds in her backyard. Dreyfuss sent the birds to Mark Drew, wildlife veterinarian for Idaho Fish and Game's Bureau of Wildlife, who performed an autopsy.

Drew said that the autopsy showed traces of salmonella in the birds. He did not yet know what strain of salmonella killed the birds or what caused the outbreak.

"We don't know the source," he said. "But my thoughts right now are that it's a feeder hygiene situation where there are a lot of feeders out and a lot of contaminated seed that's old and wet."


Resources


CWD forces more than 100 elk into quarantine
The Star Phoenix - www.thestarphoenix.com
16 Apr 2009
Location: Saskatchewan, Canada - Map It

he second case this year of Chronic Wasting Disease in Saskatchewan has put an elk herd of more than 100 in quarantine.

The Canadian Food Inspection Agency confirmed that a single elk suffered from the incurable disease, and then penned the entire herd, said CFIA animal health program manager Connie Argue.

Officials will eventually destroy the other elk that have been in contact with the infected specimen. . . .

This is the second confirmed case of CWD in Saskatchewan this year and the 57th case since it was first discovered in 1996.


Other prion News


Pickford bald eagle beats West Nile virus
The Detroit News. www.detnews.com
26 Mar 2009
K Filkins

A young bald eagle, suffering from West Nile virus, was captured in August 2002 from the parking lot of a car dealership in Pickford. With a lot of help, the nearly dead eagle survived, learned to fly again, was released and flew off to make history.

"Patty," as she became known, taught biologists and rehabilitators that eagles and other birds of prey can recover from West Nile virus and survive when released to the wild and produce offspring.



Wyoming brucellosis group examines federal proposal
Billings Gazette - www.billingsgazette.net
17 Apr 2009
R Prevost

Members of the Wyoming Brucellosis Coordination Team and others met Thursday to discuss a federal proposal to declare most of the nation outside the greater Yellowstone area "brucellosis free." The group also reviewed a plan to move bison from Yellowstone National Park to a Wyoming Indian reservation.

The proposal to create a National Brucellosis Elimination Zone got a mixed reaction from committee members, with one federal manager saying that an early draft of the scheme was pulled from a U.S. Department of Agriculture Web site after being criticized as incomplete.


Deadly Domestic Sheep Disease Threatens Endangered Sierra Nevada Bighorn
Center for Biological Diversity - www.biologicaldiveristy.org
15 Apr 2009

The Center for Biological Diversity and Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility today notified the U.S. Forest Service and the Bureau of Land Management of their intent to file a lawsuit against the agencies for failure to adequately protect endangered Sierra Nevada bighorn sheep from potentially deadly disease transmission. High-risk domestic sheep allotments must be closed in order to adequately protect Sierra Nevada bighorns from disease transmission that can occur when they come into contact with domestic sheep.

“The agencies must act now to address this significant threat to the endangered Sierra Nevada bighorn,” said Justin Augustine, staff attorney with the Center for Biological Diversity. “The scientific studies conducted over the last 20 years, especially the recent Recovery Plan and associated Risk Assessment, confirm what history has already shown: that domestic sheep grazing is incompatible with long-term survival and recovery of bighorn sheep.”


LAST WEEK'S TOP READ LINKS

News articles
Photo courtesy of The Guardian
  1. 11 Extinct Animals That Have Been Photographed Alive
  2. Saskatchewan seeks a different 'BFF': the black-footed ferret
  3. Sick bats' PR problem could prove to be deadly
  4. New rules force pets out of taxidermists' studios to stop spread of chronic wasting disease
  5. Spring Fishing Season Arrives ... And With It, Amphibian Diseases
  6. 10 raccoons discovered with bird flu antibodies
  7. ARE BAIT SHOPS AN ENVIRONMENTAL THREAT?
  8. Avian influenza found on Kentucky poultry farm
  9. The week in wildlife
  10. USGS National Wildlife Health Center Mortality Event Reports
Journal articles
Browse complete Digest publications library here.
  1. Options for the Control of Disease 3: Targeting the Environment [book chapter][pdf]
  2. Avian Pathology (Journal TOC]
  3. Olfactory System Involvement in Natural Scrapie Disease

OTHER WILDLIFE HEALTH RELATED NEWS

at Monday, April 20, 2009 0 comments

April 17, 2009

TOP STORIES

Boreal owl deaths a mystery to Fairbanks bird experts
Daily News-Miner - newsminer.com
16 Apr 2009
T Mowry
Photo credit: John Wagner
Area: Fairbanks, Fairbanks North Star County, Alaska - Map It

When a boreal owl showed up at Gary Hinzman’s house a few weeks ago, he and his family were excited about the prospect of the owl nesting near their home.

Their excitement faded a few days later when Hinzman found the little owl dead in a barn near the house.

“What a bummer,” Sally Hinzman stated in an e-mail. “We were hoping it was nesting nearby.”

Unbeknownst to the Hinzmans, who turned the dead owl over to family friend Philip Martin, who works for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the bird was one of a half dozen boreal owls that have been found dead around Fairbanks in the past few weeks.




Herbicide drainage harms reef
ScienceAlert - www.sciencealert.com.au (James Cook University)
14 Apr 2009
Photo credit: iStockphoto
Area: Great Barrier Reef, Australia

A comprehensive research program investigating pesticide residue run-off has revealed a suite of herbicides in rivers and creeks and in marine waters within the Great Barrier Reef lagoon.

The runoff of pesticide residues were monitored in the Tully-Murray, Burdekin-Townsville and Mackay Whitsunday Regions over four wet seasons (2005-2008), with a focus on key land uses within these regions.

The land uses include sugar cane, grazing, horticulture, urban and natural/conservation.

Dr Stephen Lewis from the Australian Centre for Tropical Freshwater Research (ACTFR) at James Cook University (JCU) said that the results show that a suite of herbicides including diuron, atrazine, ametryn and hexazinone have been commonly detected in waterways draining sugar cane lands.




Yellow fever - South America (26): Brazil (PA), monkeys, susp. - Archive Number 20090414.1424
ProMED-mail - www.promedmail.org
11 Apr 2009
Area: Ribeirao Claro, Parana, Brazil - Map It

Teams from the National Health Foundation (FUNASA) are conducting investigations in the Norte Pioneiro in Parana [state], near the municipality of Ribeirao Claro, to investigate the death of a group of monkeys. The initial suspicions are that the animals were victims of yellow fever, and technicians are collecting samples of _Haemagogus_ mosquitoes, [the vector] responsible for [the sylvan (jungle) cycle of] transmission of the disease [virus].

The State Secretariat of Health is advising the population not to take yellow fever vaccine, since a vaccination campaign was done in 1999, and a new dose could cause reactions. Cases of yellow fever have not been recorded in Norte Pioneiro in Parana for 23 years.




NRB member fears CWD could spread
Wisconsin State Journal - www.madison.com/wsj
15 Apr 2009
T Eisele
Photo credit: Tim Eisele
Area: Wisconsin

Migrating birds such as the garden warbler and whitethroat will face longer journeys because of climate change, experts warned today.

Sometimes it takes the tail to wag the dog, but what’s important is whether the dog is prodded into action.

In this case the “tail” is the Natural Resources Board, a citizen board that sets policy and approves rules and regulations for the Department of Natural Resources (DNR). State government, and particularly the DNR, is the “dog,” being prodded to increase its efforts and look for more resources to combat chronic wasting disease (CWD) in Wisconsin.

The prod came during Board meetings in January, February and March, when Dave Clausen, Board member from Amery, voiced his concerns that Wisconsin’s wild deer herd could be further exposed to CWD.



Frontline Examines Newest Health Hazards in Nation's Contaminated Waterways [Press Release]
PBS - www.pbs.org
21 Apr 2009

More than three decades after the Clean Water Act, iconic American waterways like the Chesapeake Bay and Puget Sound are in perilous condition and facing new sources of contamination.

With polluted runoff still flowing in from industry, agriculture and massive suburban development, scientists note that many new pollutants and toxins from modern everyday life are already being found in the drinking water of millions of people across the country and pose a threat to fish, wildlife and, potentially, human health.

In FRONTLINE’s Poisoned Waters, airing Tuesday, April 21, 2009, from 9 to 11 P.M. ET on PBS (check local listings), Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Hedrick Smith examines the growing hazards to human health and the ecosystem.

“The ’70s were a lot about, ‘We’re the good guys; we’re the environmentalists; we’re going to go after the polluters,’ and it’s not really about that anymore,” Jay Manning, director of ecology for Washington state, tells FRONTLINE.




Colony Collapse Disorder in bee populations... the possible causes... and emerging solutions
WPR Ideas Network - www.wpr.org
15 Apr 2009
Gene Purcell in for Kathleen Dunn

It's mysteriously wiped out large numbers of the bees that pollinate our crops. After nine, Gene Purcell and his guests discuss Colony Collapse Disorder in bee populations... the possible causes... and emerging solutions.

Guests:
- Diana Cox-Foster, professor of entomology, Pennsylvania State University. Co-director, colony collapse disorder working team.
- Dennis van Engelsdorp, acting state apiarist for Pennsylvania. Senior extension associate, entomology department, Pennsylvania State University.




OTHER WILDLIFE HEALTH NEWS
Photo credit: J Witham/Scientific American - www.sciam.com

Avian Influenza



WILDLIFE HEALTH RELATED PUBLICATIONS
Browse complete Digest publications library here.

The Role of Environmental Transmission in Recurrent Avian Influenza Epidemics
PLoS Comput Biol. 2009 Apr;5(4):e1000346. Epub 2009 Apr 10. [free full-text available]
R Breban et al.

Universal detection and identification of avian influenza virus by use of resequencing microarrays
J Clin Microbiol. 2009 Apr;47(4):988-93. Epub 2009 Mar 11.
B Lin et al.

Raptor Release Newsletter - Spring 2009
University of Minnesota, Raptor Center [free full-text available]

The ecology of climate change and infectious diseases
Ecology. 2009; 90(4): 888-900
KD Lafferty

at Friday, April 17, 2009 0 comments

April 16, 2009

TOP STORIES

Cure For Honey Bee Colony Collapse?
ScienceDaily - www.sciencedaily.com (Source: Wiley - Blackwell via AlphaGalileo)
14 Apr 2009
Photo credit: iStockphoto/Kamilla Mathisen
Area: Spain

For the first time, scientists have isolated the parasite Nosema ceranae (Microsporidia) from professional apiaries suffering from honey bee colony depopulation syndrome. They then went on to treat the infection with complete success.

In a study published in the new journal from the Society for Applied Microbiology: Environmental Microbiology Reports, scientists from Spain analysed two apiaries and found evidence of honey bee colony depopulation syndrome (also known as colony collapse disorder in the USA). They found no evidence of any other cause of the disease (such as the Varroa destructor, IAPV or pesticides), other than infection with Nosema ceranae.





Buffalo Warrior Documentary
Vimeo - vimeo.com (Source: Aquavision TV Productions)
B Harvey
01 Apr 2009
Photo credit: Mabulu News
Area: Kruger Park, South Africa

A few sequences of the documentary Buffalo Warrior I edited.
This programme was delivered to National Geographic and Animal Planet on High Def and broadcast internationally.

Its about a conservation warrior (Lindsay Hunt) who is fighting to keep the Kruger Park (South Africa) Buffalo population alive as they are dying from TB. A disease that is airborne.

The most endearing part is that Lindsay used to hunt buffalo himself but after one particular day he decided to put down his rifle and save the population instead.



Oil Spill Surface Cleanup Ignores Fish Below
Discovery News - dsc.discovery.com
10 Apr 2009
E Sohn

Birds are the most high-profile victims of oceanic oil spills, but fish suffer from these messy accidents, too. Even worse, a new study suggests, the chemicals commonly used to clean up oil spills make oil far more toxic to fish, particularly for eggs and young fish.

Scientists already debate about how best to clean up spills. The new work makes those decisions even more complicated and controversial.

"While you can see the risk on the surface, appreciating risk under the surface is much more difficult," said Peter Hodson, a fish toxicologist at Queen's University in Kingston, Ontario.




Protein linked to wasting disease found in elk antler velvet
Edmonton Journal - www.edmontonjournal.com
04 Apr 2009
H Brooymans
Photo credit: Bruce Edwards/Edmonton Journal
Area: Canada

New research shows that protein associated with chronic wasting disease can be found in antler velvet, a substance used to make nutritional supplements. . . . The discovery of prions in antler velvet of CWD-affected elk suggests that this tissue may play a role in disease transmission among members of the deer family, including elk, said the study, which will be published in the May issue of Emerging Infectious Diseases Journal.

"Humans who consume antler velvet as a nutritional supplement are at risk for exposure to prions," the study said.

The Canadian Food Inspection Agency collaborated on the study with scientists from the University of Kentucky Medical Center, Colorado State University, and the U.S. Department of Agriculture.





OTHER WILDLIFE HEALTH NEWS
Photo credit: Discovery News

Extinction Threat
Other



WILDLIFE HEALTH RELATED PUBLICATIONS
Browse complete Digest publications library here.

Diseases of Aquatic Organisms - April 2009
Vol 84, No. 2

Integrated Mercury Monitoring Program for Temperate Estuarine and Marine Ecosystems on the North American Atlantic Coast
EcoHealth. 2009 [Epub ahead of print]
DC Evers et al.

First Evidence of Canine Distemper in Brazilian Free-Ranging Felids
Ecohealth. 2009 Mar 4. [Epub ahead of print]
AF Nava et al.

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