TOP STORIES
Study: Wild birds spread a bird flu to Iowa hunter
Sun Journal - www.sunjournal.com
28 Jul 2009
A study of duck hunters in Iowa is believed to be the first to show people can catch bird flu - a non-threatening kind - from wild birds.
Previous cases of people being infected with any form of bird flu have involved domestic poultry, like chickens.
The type of bird flu seen in the study is not H5N1, the deadly form that emerged in Asia which has sparked concerns of a potential worldwide flu epidemic. Rather, it is H11N9, another form seen in ducks and other waterfowl that has not been associated with human illness.
In the Iowa study, one hunter and two state environmental workers tested positive for the virus, though none of the three men got sick, said Dr. James Gill, the University of Iowa researcher who led the study.
Researchers trapping hawks to track West Nile virus
The Olympian - www.theolympian.com
08 Aug 2009
T Woodward
James McKinley would be the last person to brag about it, but he's about as good as it gets when it comes to catching birds of prey.
. . . McKinley and Mattox are wildlife researchers who specialize in birds of prey. One of their current projects, tracking the progress of West Nile virus through Southwest Idaho's Swainson's hawk population, has brought them to a rocky field outside Caldwell.
Other West Nile Virus News
Dead fish, squid litter beach near Pacific Rim National Park
The Vancouver Sun - www.vancouversun.com
07 Aug 2009
S McCulloch
Location: British Columbia, Canada - Map It
Thousands of dead fish and squid have washed up on beaches in and near Pacific Rim National Park in the past week, Tofino-based biologist Josie Osborne said Friday. It was not immediately known what caused their deaths.
Last Sunday, dozens of Humboldt squid were found on Long Beach, inside the national park, and on Chesterman Beach north of the park, near dozens of homes and several tourist resorts.
That was followed on Tuesday by hundreds of dead sardines and herring found on the same beaches, to the amazement of visitors from all over the world at the height of the tourist season.
. . . One possible cause is a deadly fish disease called viral hemorrhagic septicemia. Since Humboldt squid travel in groups of about 1,200, it’s possible an entire group could have succumbed to an illness.
More Fish News
Disease kills ducks in Orange County
KABC – TV Los Angeles - abclocal.go.com
07 Aug 2009
E Frere
Location: California, USA - Map It
A potentially deadly disease is striking birds in Orange County. About two dozen ducks have gotten sick or died. But what's causing the illness?
It's noontime at the Wetlands and Wildlife Care Center in Huntington Beach and a worker brings in another sick mallard duck. She's among 11 that have survived. Nearly 30 other ducks have died, the victims of what wildlife experts believe is avian botulism.
>>> FULL ARTICLE [includes video]
Honeybees face new threat in Texas: “Crazy” Ants60-Second Science – www. scientificamerican.com
07 Aug 2009
K Harmon
Viruses, grueling journeys, monoculture diets. U.S. honeybees have had it rough lately, and millions have perished from the mysterious colony collapse disorder (CCD). But now some of the nation's bees have a new threat to contend with: ants. And not just any ants. These ants are crazy—Rasberry crazy ants (Paratrenicha species near pubens), to be precise.
Named for their helter-skelter scamper, which contrasts with most ants' standard rank-and-file march, the tiny invasive ants were first noticed in near Houston, Texas, in 2002 and have been destroying electronics, pestering picnickers and gunking up sewage pumps ever since. And now they have started to go after local honeybee hives, according to a recent Associated Press report.
More Invasive Species News
TOP READ LINKS FROM LAST WEEK
News
- The Wild’s Creeping Killer [cancer in wildlife]
- Bizarre Bald Bird Discovered In Asia
- Pollution leading cause of cancer in marine mammals, too
- Scientists Untangle Multiple Causes of Bee Colony Disorder
- Trapping hawks to study West Nile
- Whale dies on Ocean City beach
- Alien-Wasp Swarms Devouring Birds, Bugs in Hawaii
- White Nose Syndrome closes Tennessee caves until 2010
- SCWDS Briefs - Updating Wildlife Professionals about Wildlife Disease Developments
- New Ouchless Plague Vaccine, shipwrecks Wrecking Coral Reefs, White-Nose Syndrome in Bats, and More at the Wildlife Disease Association Conference
- SCWDS Brief - April 2009 Issue [free full-text] pdf]
- Avian Pathology - Volume 38, Issue 4 [journal TOC]
- Deer Carcass Decomposition and Potential Scavenger Exposure to Chronic Wasting Disease [free full-text][pdf]
- Susceptibilities of Nonhuman Primates to Chronic Wasting Disease [free full-text][pdf]
OTHER WILDLIFE HEALTH NEWS
Photo courtesy of The Guardian- The week in wildlife [image gallery]
- The effects of white-nose
- Rate of deer brain disease CWD increases in southwestern Wisconsin
- Some California Amphibians May Need a Lift to Survive Climate Change
- Dead whale found in Tacoma waterway struck by ship [Washington, USA - Map It
]
- Young porpoise dies after rescue from creek [includes images and video] [California - USA - Map It
- Mammal Mystery Spurs Calif. Rescue Mission: Hundreds of Sea Lions are Turning Up Sick and Starving on the Coast - and Scientists Aren't Sure Why [includes video]
