Wildlife Disease News Digest

TOP STORIES

Florida Sea Turtle Cold-Stunning – News Update Report from NOAA/NMFS

Florida has been experiencing unusually cold temperatures since early January, which has caused a massive cold-stunning event of endangered and threatened sea turtles. The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) is leading the response effort, with assistance from NOAA, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, NASA Kennedy Space Center, National Park Service, U.S. Coast Guard, Florida aquaria, and many volunteers.

Since January 6, approximately 3500 sea turtles have been recovered, primarily split between two areas 1) the Cape Canaveral area, including the southern end of Mosquito Lagoon, northern end of the Banana River and the Indian River Lagoon in Brevard County, and 2) St. Joseph Bay, between Apalachicola and Panama City, in Gulf County.

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) / National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS)
14 January 2010
S McNulty
Photo courtesy of J Hill (FWC)

>>> FULL NEWS REPORT [pdf]

FWP kills 7 sheep with pneumona

State wildlife officials have killed seven bighorn sheep as they try to limit an outbreak of pneumonia in a herd in the mountains west of the Marshall Ski Area.

Two ewes killed on Tuesday and three more killed on Wednesday all tested positive for pneumonia at the Fish, Wildlife and Park's wildlife lab in Bozeman.

Billings Gazette - billingsgazette.com (Source: Associated Press)
14 January 2010
Location: Missoula, Montana, USA - Map It

>>> FULL ARTICLE

Polar Bear Droppings Advance Superbug Debate

Scientists investigating the spread of antibiotic-resistant superbugs have gone the extra mile for their research -- all the way to the Arctic.

Researchers writing in the open access journal BMC Microbiology found little sign of the microbes in the droppings of polar bears that have had limited or no contact with humans, suggesting that the spread of antibiotic resistance genes seen in other animals may be the result of human influence.

Science Daily - www.sciencedaily.com
13 January 2010
Photo courtesy of BBC Earth News

>>> FULL ARTICLE

Cited Journal Article

>>> Bacterial diversity in faeces from polar bear (Ursus maritimus) in Arctic Svalbard. BMC Microbiology, 2010; 10(10): [in press].

More Polar Bear News

>>> Arctic polar bears imperilled by man-made pollution [cited journal article]

Reported Wildlife Mortality Events to the USGS National Wildlife Health Center Updated
USGS National Wildlife Health Center
14 January 2010
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 January 14, 2010 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.

>>> Updated Wildlife Mortality Event Table