TOP STORIES

NOAA, USFWS Study Finds Potential Disease Threats to Washington Sea Otters
NOAA News - www.noaanews.noaa.gov
05 May 2009
Area: Washington, United States

Many of Washington State’s sea otters are exposed to the same pathogens responsible for causing disease in marine mammal populations in other parts of the country, according to a study published by researchers from NOAA’s Olympic Coast National Marine Sanctuary, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and their partners.

While the Washington sea otters do not appear to be suffering negative effects from the pathogens, they still face potential threats from infectious disease due to their relatively small population size and limited distribution.

“Sea otters are a keystone species in the sanctuary, so potential disease threats are a significant concern for us,” said Mary Sue Brancato, a sanctuary resource protection specialist who is one of the study’s co-authors. “Changes in their population can affect the whole ecosystem.”

>>>FULL ARTICLE

Lawmakers seek funding for bat disease research
Associated Press - www.ap.org
05 May 2009
Area: United States

Congressional members from 13 states are asking the Obama administration for emergency funding to keep bats alive.

The lawmakers want the Interior Department to find out why a fungus has killed an estimated half-million of the animals.

They say white nose syndrome has profound implications for public health, the environment and the economy because bats feed on bugs that spread disease and damage crops.

>>>FULL ARTICLE

Related News
>>>White Nose Syndrome Spreads Through USA Bat Population
>>>Thousands of Caves Closed to Stop Spread of Bat-Killing Fungus

Centre for Public Health, Zoonoses Launched
Exchange - www.exchangemagazine.com
05 May 2009
Area: Ontario, Canada

Guelph - A one-of-a-kind centre aimed at preventing and controlling emerging animal-related diseases that threaten public health has officially opened at the University of Guelph.

The Centre for Public Health and Zoonoses brings together scientists in a variety of fields to address new or re-emerging zoonotic diseases (those that can jump between animals and humans) such as the H1N1 flu virus, bird flu, E. coli 0157:H7 and West Nile virus.

Based at Guelph's Ontario Veterinary College, it involves some 40 scientists from across U of G, as well as a wide group of collaborators from government agencies and industry.

>>>FULL ARTICLE

Creature discomforts
Sydney Morning Herald - www.smh.com.au
29 Mar 2009
A Fawcett
Area: Australia

The planet's overheating threatens all animal life, writes Anne Fawcett.

Climate change can drive species' extinctions directly and indirectly. Individual animals can be killed directly due to excessive heat or lack of water. But species' extinctions are more likely to occur gradually, when environmental change robs an animal of vital habitat or food sources, or tips the balance in favour of competitors, predators and disease.

. . . An increase in temperature in a range of environments has favoured the growth of the deadly chytrid fungus, which has reduced frog populations worldwide and resulted in local extinctions.

The fungus grows best in temperatures of 22 degrees to 24 degrees. If a frog population normally lives in an environment where the temperature sits at about 18 degrees, then the temperature spikes into the 20s, the fungus rapidly overwhelms the animals.

>>>FULL ARTICLE

OTHER WILDLIFE HEALTH RELATED STORIES
Photo credit: Los Angeles Times - www.latimes.com

• TRAVEL PHOTOGRAPHY: Oceans of the World
• Great escapes: Eight emergency species rescues [photo gallery]
• Songs raise awareness about aquatic invasive species [Wisconsin]
  
• ‘Ghost Fishing’ Poses Great Ecological Threat
• Seal ordeal has officials urging a fishhook switch [Hawaii]
  
• Light Pollution - Part One
• The Next Pandemic

WILDLIFE RELATED HEALTH PUBLICATIONS
Browse complete Digest publications library here.

Veterinary Parasitology - 26 May 2009 [TOC]
Volume 162, Issues 1-2

>>> New articles in print

Validation of recto-anal mucosa associated lymphoid tissue (RAMALT) for immunohistochemical diagnosis of chronic wasting disease in white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus)
J. Clin. Microbiol. 2009; Epub ahead of print
D Keane et al.

Experimental Evidence for Reduced Rodent Diversity Causing Increased Hantavirus Prevalence
PLoS ONE. 2009; 4(5): e5461.
G Suzán et al.

Infectious Diseases Subdue Serengeti Lions: Infectious Diseases Stalk Wildlife in the Serengeti, and Climate Change may be an Accessory
BioScience. 2009; 59(1):8-13
CL Dybas