Wildlife Disease News Digest

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West Nile virus update: Benton County red-tailed hawk is state’s first bird to test positive this season [Press Release]
Washington State Dept of Health - www.doh.wa.gov
23 Jul 2009
Location: Washington, USA - Map It

An ailing red-tailed hawk captured in the Prosser area of Benton County tested positive for West Nile virus. This is the first bird to test positive in our state this year.

The bird was found ill last month in the Prosser area. It was sent to a rehabilitation center in Eastern Oregon where blood was drawn last week and sent to Oregon State University for testing. Along with this bird, the virus has been detected in 63 mosquito pools in Yakima and Benton counties this year. Last year 24 birds tested positive for West Nile virus.

>>> FULL ARTICLE

Other West Nile Virus News

>>> Do Chicago’s suburbs hold the key to understanding West Nile virus? [UW-Madison Press Release]

Scientists to Investigate Impacts of Wind Energy on Migratory Wildlife: Industry and conservation representatives set research priorities [Press Release]
American Bird Conservancy - www.abcbirds.org
23 Jul 2009

Thirty top wildlife scientists have announced agreement on some of the highest research priorities to help America’s rapidly growing wind energy industry produce much-needed alternative energy—while also providing safe passage for birds and bats.

This coalition of scientists from industry, government, nongovernmental organizations, and universities met recently in Racine, Wisconsin, to address unanswered questions about how continued wind energy development will affect migrating birds and bats. The meeting was hosted by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, the American Bird Conservancy, and The Johnson Foundation at Wingspread.

>>> FULL PRESS RELEASE

Other Related Wind Turbine News

>>> Objection to wind farm over bird

>>>Gull killer turbines are removed

Chimpanzees Infected With SIV Do Develop And Die From AIDS, Contrary To Prevailing View
Science Daily - www.sciencedaily.com
23 Jul 2009

Although the AIDS virus (HIV-1) entered the human population through chimpanzees, scientists have long believed that chimpanzees don't develop AIDS. But a new study from an international team, including University of Minnesota professors Anne Pusey and Michael Wilson, shows that chimpanzees infected with SIV (simian immunodeficiency virus), the precursor to HIV-1, do contract and die from AIDS. The discovery is published in the July 23 issue of Nature.

The authors report that infected chimpanzees in their study group were 10-16 times more likely to die than those who were uninfected. The team also found that infected females were less likely to give birth and infants born to infected mothers were unlikely to survive. The virus, they learned, was transmitted sexually and through mother's milk. Over the nine-year study period, 10-20 percent of the 94 chimpanzees were infected at any one time.

>>> FULL ARTICLE

Cited Journal Article

BF Keela et al. 2009. Increased mortality and AIDS-like immunopathology in wild chimpanzees infected with SIVcpz. Nature; 460(7254): 515

Other Primate News

>>> The Impact of Congo Violence on Lowland Gorillas

Deadly bass virus outbreak hits Miss. lake
Outdoors - www.clarionledger.com
23 Jul 2009
B Cleveland
Location: Lake Okhissa, Mississippi, USA - Map It

U.S. Forest Service biologists have confirmed an outbreak of Largemouth Bass Virus (LMBV) at Lake Okhissa, a popular fishing destination at Homochitto National Forest in southwest Mississippi.

Biologist Rick Dillard said Thursday that sample bass taken to the Mississippi State University fisheries lab were found to have LMBV, a fatal disease that only affects largemouth bass.

>>> FULL ARTICLE

Alien-Wasp Swarms Devouring Birds, Bugs in Hawaii
National Geographic - news.nationalgeographic.com
23 Jul 2009
C Dell'Amore
Photo courtesy of National Geographic

Attacking from nests as big as pickup-truck beds, invasive western yellowjacket wasps in Hawaii are munching their way through an "astonishing diversity" of creatures, from caterpillars to pheasants, a new study says.

Adult yellowjackets consume only nectar. But they kill or scavenge prey to deliver needed protein to their growing broods.

. . .In their native habitat in the western U.S., the wasps die off in winter. But in Hawaii the wasps survive the winter, possibly due to mild year-round temperatures or subtle genetic changes.

>>> FULL ARTICLE