Wildlife Disease News Digest

TOP STORIES

Parasite infects Atlantic finches [Avian trichomoniasis]
CBC News - www.cbc.ca
14 Aug 2009
Location: Canada - Map It

Atlantic Canadians are being asked to keep their bird baths and feeders clean to help prevent the spread of a nasty parasite killing off finches

The Trichomonas gallinae parasite is deadly to the American goldfinch and the purple finch. Both are common sights near bird baths and feeders in the region during the summer.

...Maria Forzan, a pathologist for the Canadian Co-operative Wildlife Health Centre in Charlottetown, has examined more than two dozen dead finches since the parasite first infected the birds in Nova Scotia in 2007.

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Minnesota DNR to unveil plan to save moose
Duluth News Tribune - www.duluthnewstribune.com
14 Aug 2009

The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources will unveil its species survival plan for moose Tuesday along with a research effort to find out why the animal is declining in the state.

Hit hard by parasites and warmer weather, Minnesota’s moose population is shrinking, and experts fear the state may lose the big, beloved animal for good.

Moose experts from across North America met in Duluth last December to jumpstart the effort. The DNR’s 24-member moose committee will unveil its recommendations at the Natural Resources Research Institute in Duluth on Tuesday.

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Government scientist suspected of contracting bovine TB from badger
Telegraph - www.telegraph.co.uk
13 Aug 2009
L Gray
Location: Gloucestershire, England - Map It

Farmers have renewed calls for a cull of badgers after it was revealed a government scientist is suspected of having contracted bovine tuberculosis (TB) from the mammal.

The scientist, employed by the Government body in charge of animal health the Food and Environment Research Agency (Fera) near Stroud in Gloucestershire, was thought to be working with infected animals.

A spokesman for Fera confirmed an individual was being tested but would not comment on the case. Other people working with animals in the lab will also be tested.

>>> FULL ARTICLE

Rabies, wildlife - otter, human exposure - Archive Number 20090813.2885
ProMed - www.promedmail.org
13 Aug 2009

A comment:

The description of the incident recorded in the ProMED-mail post "Rabies, wildlife - USA (04): (WI) otter, human exp 20090812.2876", doesn't sound at all like rabies to me. The involvement of multiple otters and the mode of the attack sound as if the woman inadvertently swam into an otter "raft", that is, a family of otters, and was attacked by parents who were defending their young in a very typical otter manner.

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Higher Pathogen Loads In Collapsed Honeybee Colonies, Study Finds
Science Daily - www.sciencedaily.com
13 Aug 2009

Honeybees in colonies affected by colony collapse disorder (CCD) have higher levels of pathogens and are co-infected with a greater number of pathogens than their non-CCD counterparts, but no individual pathogen can be singled out as the cause of CCD, according to a study by an international team of researchers.

The researchers, who represented Penn State's College of Agricultural Sciences, University of Liege, Gembloux Agricultural University, North Carolina State University and the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Agricultural Research Service (ARS), collected samples of adult bees, wax comb, pollen and brood – developing larvae – from 91 colonies in 13 apiaries in Florida and California and quantified more than 200 variables, including the presence of parasites such as varroa and tracheal mites; infection by bacteria, viruses and fungi; pesticide levels; nutritional factors; and bee physiology. No single factor was found consistently only in those colonies suffering from CCD.

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Cited Article

Colony Collapse Disorder: A Descriptive Study. PLoS ONE 4(8): e6481. D vanEngelsdorp et al.

Chinese mystery snail found in sixth Missouri spot
Kansas City - www.kansascity.com
15 Aug 2009

The Missouri Department of Conservation says that it has confirmed the sixth infestation of the invasive species in the state. This time they were discovered in the Niangua River, considered one of the state’s best fishing streams.

... State conservation officials say they’re worried about the snail’s ecological impact on food and habitat resources.

... Chinese mystery snails can be found on both coasts as well as several states in between. They are a danger in part because they can transmit disease, their shells can clog screens of water intake pipes and because they compete with native snails for habitats

>>> FULL ARTICLE

Other Invasive Species News

>>> Alien Invasion? An Ecologist Doubts the Impact of Exotic Species