TOP STORIES
National Geographic News - news.nationalgeographic.com
04 May 2009
A Minard
Area: United States
Evolving faster than any other new rabies virus on record, a northern-Arizona rabies strain has mutated to become contagious among skunks and now foxes, experts believe.
The strain looks to be spreading fast, commanding attention from disease researchers across the United States (U.S. map).
. . . What is unusual is that the strain appears to have mutated so that foxes and skunks are now able to pass the virus on to their kin—not just through biting and scratching but through simple socializing, as humans might spread a flu.
Mercury in Seal's Diet Linked to WarmingDiscovery News - dsc.discovery.com
05 May 2009
E Sohn
Area: Arctic
As sea ice vanishes from the Arctic, levels of mercury will rise in the region's seals -- and in the people who eat them, suggests a new study.
It's a complicated relationship, and far too soon to recommend that native seal-hunters stop eating their traditional diet. But the study, which found a shift in what the seals eat -- and an increase in mercury-contaminated foods -- when climate is at extremes, provides yet another example of global warming's reverberating effects.
"Knowing what we know, if we continue to lose sea ice, the mercury concentration in seals may go up," said Gary Stern, senior research scientist at the Department of Fisheries and Oceans in Winnipeg. Arctic seals already face a number of threats, including a changing habitat. "Mercury contamination is just one additional stressor on top of the others."
Disease Threatening Bees in South AfricaDiscovery News - dsc.discovery.com (Source: AFP)
05 May 2009
Area: Western Cape Province, South Africa - Map It
Hundreds of thousands of South African bees are at risk from a disease sweeping through hives and posing a threat to fruit and vegetable farming in the country, an industry expert said Tuesday.
The only way to rid bee populations of American Foul Brood disease is by burning the infected hives. However, as the only country to avoid the disease for the past 150 years, South Africa has no quarantine regulations for insects.
"It is extremely serious because it is a very contagious disease ... not only for honey but for agriculture. We need to use bees for pollinating fruit trees and vegetable crops," said John Moodie, chairman of the Bee Industry Organization.
Black band disease hits Great Barrier ReefABC News - www.abc.net.au
06 May 2009
H Carter
Photo Credit: Yui Sato
Area: Great Barrier Reef, Australia - Map It
An epizootic - the wildlife equivalent of a human epidemic - of black band disease has appeared in the Great Barrier Reef, say Australian researchers.
Scientists, who have been monitoring the progress of the disease, say this the first time an epizootic of this type has been documented in Australian waters.
Black band disease has decimated coral populations in the Caribbean and researchers are concerned it could spread here.
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Is the Earth's 6th Great Mass Extinction In Progress?Daily Galaxy - www.dailygalaxy.com
04 May 2009
. . . There is little doubt left in the minds of professional biologists that Earth is currently faced with a mounting loss of species that threatens to rival the five great mass extinctions of the geological past, the most devasting being the Third major Extinction (c. 245 mya), the Permian, where 54% of the planet's species families lost.
As long ago as 1993, Harvard biologist E.O. Wilson estimated that Earth is currently losing something on the order of 30,000 species per year -- which breaks down to the even more daunting statistic of some three species per hour. Some biologists have begun to feel that this biodiversity crisis -- this "Sixth Extinction" -- is even more severe, and more imminent, than Wilson had supposed.
>>>FULL ARTICLE
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OTHER WILDLIFE HEALTH RELATED STORIES
Photo credit: National Geographic News - news.nationalgeographic.com
PHOTOS: Over 200 New Amphibians Found in Madagascar
- Aquatic animal health measures approved [USA]
- Avian influenza (LPAI), poultry - USA (03): (TN)
- Birdbrain! Smuggler held at airport with 12 rare songbirds strapped to his socks [Los Angeles]
- Fears of rat plague in UK grow
- RACCOON ROUNDWORM: Blinds NYC Teen In One Eye, Causes Brain Damage In Infant
- Hunting: Rising CWD rates in Wisconsin alarming [Wisconsin]
WILDLIFE RELATED HEALTH PUBLICATIONS
Browse complete Digest publications library here.
Wildlife Health Bulletin - Avian Salmonellosis in Wild Birds [pdf]
USGS National Wildlife Health Center
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