August 18, 2009

TOP STORIES

Oil company puts native frog species at risk
Perth Now - www.news.com.au/perthnow
17 Aug 2009
N Towie
Area: Barrow Island, Australia

DESERT tree frogs released on Barrow Island by oil giant Chevron could have exposed native species to a deadly fungus, an environmental biologist says.

PerthNow revealed last month that three unidentified frogs were discovered in materials barged from Dampier to Barrow Island, a site recognised for its rare and endangered fauna and flora.

Chevron vessels are moving materials onto the island as part of the controversial Gorgon gas project.




Partial direct contact transmission in ferrets of a mallard H7N3 influenza virus with typical avian-like receptor specificity
7th Space - 7thspace.com

Avian influenza viruses of the H7 subtype have caused multiple outbreaks in domestic poultry and represent a significant threat to public health due to their propensity to occasionally transmit directly from birds to humans.

In order to better understand the cross species transmission potential of H7 viruses in nature, we performed biological and molecular characterizations of an H7N3 virus isolated from mallards in Canada in 2001.

Results. Sequence analysis that the HA gene of the mallard H7N3 virus shares 97 % identity with the highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) H7N3 virus isolated from a human case in British Columbia, Canada in 2004.




Reported Wildlife Mortality Events to the USGS National Wildlife Health Center Updated
USGS National Wildlife Health Center
17 Aug 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 Aug 13, 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.




Sunken steel cages could save coral reefs
Guardian News - www.guardian.co.uk
16 Aug 2009
G Vince
Photo credit: HO/AFP/Getty Images
Area: Vabbinfaru island, Maldives

Scientists are reporting encouragingly rapid coral growth on giant underwater steel cages – structures that they hope will help to regenerate battered reefs and improve protection of some vulnerable coastlines from rising sea levels.

Coral reefs support a quarter of life on Earth and last month David Attenborough warned that carbon dioxide is already above the levels that will condemn corals to extinction.

And while the metal cages, fed with electric current, are not a solution to the global problem of dramatically contracting reefs, they do appear to be providing promising results in small, local projects, and – in some cases – rescuing resorts where coral was vanishing fast.




OTHER WILDLIFE HEALTH RELATED NEWS
Photo credit: Kevin Harris


Population genetic patterns suggest a behavioural change in wild common frogs (Rana temporaria) following disease outbreaks (Ranavirus)
Mol Ecol. 2009 Jun 29. [Epub ahead of print]
AG Teacher et al.

The role of trematode parasites in larval anuran communities: an aquatic ecologist's guide to the major players
Oecologia. 2009 Aug;161(2):371-85. Epub 2009 Jun 20
D Szuroczki and JM Richardson

Detection of polyoma and corona viruses in bats of Canada
J Gen Virol. 2009 Aug;90(Pt 8):2015-22. Epub 2009 Apr 8
V Misra et al.

The Arctic as a model for anticipating, preventing, and mitigating climate change impacts on host-parasite interactions
Vet Parasitol. 2009 Aug 7;163(3):217-28. Epub 2009 Jun 13
SJ Kutz et al.