TOP STORIES
More West Nile infected birds found in Ocean County
Jackson NJ Online - www.jacksonnjonline.com
22 Sep 2009
Location: Ocean County, New Jersey, USA - Map It
The Ocean County Health Department has received positive reports for West Nile Virus (WNV) from six more birds in Ocean County bringing the total to sixteen.
The municipalities in Ocean County that have had positive birds identified are Beachwood (1), Brick (7), Manchester (2), Plumsted (1), Point Pleasant (2) and Toms River (3). To date, twenty-three positive birds have been identified in New Jersey; the other counties with positive birds are Monmouth (2), Mercer (1), Hunterdon (2), Burlington (1) and Gloucester (1).
Terjesen stated, “So far this season, a total of ninety-three birds have been submitted from throughout New Jersey with twenty-three testing positive. Except for a hawk testing positive from Plumsted Township, all of the other specimens submitted were blue jays.” Terjesen added that the dead blue jays are an indication that the virus is present in Ocean County. WNV is spread by infected mosquitoes. The mosquitoes feed on the birds, causing them to become infected and possibly die from the disease.
Sharpshooters begin destroying elk herdStar Tribune - www.startribune.com
22 Sep 2009
D Smith
Photo credit: G Stubbe, Star Tribune
Location: Minnesota, USA - Map It
In January, a female at the farm near Pine Island was found to have CWD, a fatal brain disease. A USDA agency is killing all 700 elk.
Federal sharpshooters have begun destroying a herd of about 700 elk on a farm in southeastern Minnesota where chronic wasting disease (CWD) was discovered this year.
Sharpshooters with the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Wildlife Services shot elk Friday and Monday on the farm off Hwy. 52 near Pine Island, after the federal agency reached an agreement with the herd's owners concerning compensation and cleanup. A cow elk at Elk Farm LLC -- the largest such farm in the state -- was found to have the disease in January, and the herd has been quarantined since.
Hunt for clues to sea life deaths at FarallonesSan Francisco Chronicle - www.sfgate.com
22 Sep 2009
P Fimrite
Photo credit: F Larson, The Chronicle
A humpback whale that suddenly rose out of the water and splashed down near the Farallon Islands provided a research vessel full of scientists with a surprising bonanza of research data.
"Whale poop!" shouted several researchers in unison, as biologists scrambled to collect the floating reddish specimens Saturday as part of a comprehensive study of the ocean's ecology off the Northern California coast.
The color of the whale excrement meant that the huge creature had been feeding mostly on a tiny shrimp-like crustacean called krill instead of fish and anchovies, its preferred food in recent decades. It is a change in diet that several bird species at the Farallon National Wildlife Refuge are unable to make, according to researchers in a joint ocean survey by the Cordell Bank National Marine Sanctuary, the Gulf of the Farallones National Marine Sanctuary and PRBO Conservation Science.
Oceanographers Examine Mercury Levels Of Pelagic Fish In HawaiiScience Daily - www.sciencedaily.com
21 Sep 2009
Photo credit: Courtesy of University of Hawaii at Manoa
In the open ocean, species of large predatory fish will swim and hunt for food at various depths, which leads to unique diets in these fish. Oceanographers and geologists in the School of Ocean and Earth Science and Technology (SOEST) at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa (UHM) and colleagues have found that those fish that hunt deeper in the open ocean have higher mercury concentrations than those that feed near the surface of the ocean because their deep water food has higher mercury.
This research was detailed in the August 18th early edition of the prestigous journal the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
Mercury is a naturally-occurring trace element distributed throughout the Earth's oceans, land and air. The general public is interested in mercury levels in fish because the organic form, methylmercury, can be toxic at elevated levels if ingested by humans and animals.Mercury enters open ocean food webs, where it bioaccumulates, leading to higher levels in large predatory animals.
OTHER WILDLIFE HEALTH RELATED NEWS
Photo courtesy of WKOW 27
Gilbert the whale washed up dead [Dorset, England - Map It
]
- Plague vaccine found in dead researcher's body
- Navy Teams to Study Marine Mammals in the Mediterranean
- 230 years later, Alaska’s Rat Island may be rat-free
- Invasive mussels may have reached Isle Royale
- Invasive species in lakes Mendota, Monona, Waubesa [includes video]
- Bizarre New Fish Discovered [video]
WILDLIFE HEALTH RELATED PUBLICATIONS
Browse complete Digest publication library here.
Effects of a Chemically Polluted Discharge on the Relationship Between Fecundity and Parasitic Infections in the Chub (Leuciscus cephalus) from a River in Southern England
Archives of Environmental Contamination and Toxicology. 2009; [Epub ahead of print]
NJ Morley et al.
A Serological Survey of Infectious Disease in Yellowstone National Park’s Canid Community
PLoS ONE. 2009; 4(9): e7042. [free-full text available]
ES Almberg et al.
Rabies surveillance in the United States during 2008
J Am Vet Med Assoc. 2009 Sep 15;235(6):676-89
JD Blanton et al.
Detection of Mammalian Virulence Determinants in Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza H5N1 Viruses: Multivariate Analysis of Published Data
J Virol. 2009 Oct;83(19):9901-10. Epub 2009 Jul 22.
SJ Lycett et al.
Prevalence and diversity patterns of avian blood parasites in degraded African rainforest habitats
Mol Ecol. 2009 Sep 15. [Epub ahead of print]
A Chasar et al.
First report of beak and feather disease virus (BFDV) in wild Red-fronted Parakeets (Cyanoramphus novaezelandiae) in New Zealand
Emu. 2009; 109(3): 244-247
L Ortiz-Catedral et al.
