Wildlife Disease News Digest

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Bald eagles succumb to poison in rat eradication on Alaskan island
Scientific American - www.scientificamerican.com
01 Jul 2009
B Borrell
Photo credit: Alaskan Dude via Flickr
Area: Aleutian Islands, Alaska, USA - Map It

Last month we reported on bald eagles and other birds found dead after a rat eradication project in Alaska’s Aleutian Islands.

The National Wildlife Health Center in Madison, Wis., has confirmed that the birds were casualties of brodifacoum, the poison used in bait scattered around Rat Island by helicopter.

“Every one of the liver samples tested positive for brodifacoum,” U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service spokesman Bruce Woods told Scientific American.

>>>FULL ARTICLE

Avian influenza, poultry vs migratory birds (03): Russia (TU) [Defra - Final Draft]
ProMED-mail - www.promedmail.org
26 Jun 2009
Area: Respublika Tyva, Russia

In February [2009], Hong Kong reported 11 incidents of H5N1 HPAI involving both wild birds (2 corvids, a heron, and a falcon) and poultry which were found dead, either washed up along the coast line or inland (OIE, 2009a). In May [2009], an outbreak of H5N1 HPAI was reported in wild birds at Lake Qinghai in China (OIE, 2009a).

The report suggests that 107 great crested grebes, 3 bar headed geese, and 11 brown headed gulls were found dead. Mongolia reported an outbreak of H5 HPAI in migratory whooper swans from Arkhangai region in May 2009 (OIE, 2009a).

>>>FULL POSTING
>>>HPAI H5N1 in wild birds in Russia [PDF]

July Science Picks -- Leads, Feeds and Story Seeds
USGS Newsroom - www.usgs.gov/newsroom
02 Jul 2009

Weeding Out Alien Invaders
Corals in Decline — USGS to the Rescue
Protecting Tortoises by Understanding Their Habitat
Climate Change in the Rocky Mountains

>>>JULY SCIENCE PICKS

Coordinated Pushback Could Help Contain Bovine Bacterial Diseases
Cattle Network - www.cattlenetwork.com
01 Jul 2009
A Perry
Area: United States

. . . NADC veterinary officers Ray Waters and Mitch Palmer and molecular biologist Tyler Thacker are working on several fronts to optimize bovine tuberculosis diagnostic tests and vaccinations for both wildlife and domestic livestock.

For instance, Palmer is using white-tailed deer, which are a significant reservoir of bovine tuberculosis, to test experimental vaccines for potential bovine tuberculosis control in wildlife.

So far his studies indicate that vaccines can be effective in decreasing the severity of the disease, and that oral vaccination appears to be as effective as subcutaneous vaccination. But other safety issues still need to be resolved before the vaccine could be used in wildlife.

>>>FULL ARTICLE