TOP STORIES 
The parasite which causes malignant malaria in humans has been identified in gorillas for the first time. Researchers analysed faeces from wild gorillas in Cameroon and blood samples from a captive animal from Gabon.
The study says increasing contact between humans and primates due to logging and deforestation raises the risk of transmission of new pathogens.
. . . DNA evidence of Plasmodium falciparum, the parasite that causes malignant malaria in humans, was found in faecal samples from two gorilla subspecies, the highly endangered cross-river gorilla and the western lowland gorilla.
BBC News - news.bbc.co.uk
18 Jan 2010
D Walton
18 Jan 2010
D Walton
Scientists discover avian influenza outbreak closely related to bird migration
A research jointly conducted by Chinese and Asian scientists has discovered that highly pathogenic avian influenza (H5N1) outbreak was closely related to bird migration.
The discovery was revealed at the fifth regional meeting of the Asian Partnership on Emerging Infectious Diseases Research (APEIR),which concluded on Saturday in Kunming, capital of southwest Yunnan Province.
Lei Fumin, researcher of Institute of Zoology with Chinese Academy of Sciences, told Xinhua that the research team had studied avian influenza outbreaks along the bird migration routes in the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau.
China View - www.chinaview.cn
16 January 2010
Y Hao
16 January 2010
Y Hao
Original Press Release
>>> Asian Partnership on Emerging Infectious Diseases Research (APEIR) The 5th APEIR Regional Meeting [see first "Key Outcome" for avian influenza in migratory birds]
What's killing the ducks of Hedgeley Dene?. . . An investigation into the picturesque Glen Iris locale is under way at the Department of Primary Industries, after a large number of bird deaths in recent days.
At least 18 ducks have now died in the lake, and the small number remaining were far from a picture of health when The Age visited yesterday.
. . . Amid fears of an outbreak of botulism, Stonnington Council said the cause of the deaths would remain a mystery until tests came back from the department.
The Age - www.theage.com.au
20 January 2010
P Ker
Photo credit: M Clayton-Jones
Location: Melbourne, Australia - Map It
20 January 2010
P Ker
Photo credit: M Clayton-Jones
Location: Melbourne, Australia - Map It
Sixteen New CWD Cases Found in Hampshire County
The slow growth and spread of chronic wasting disease continues in West Virginia. DNR Biologists report 16 deer killed by hunters in the 2009 deer season tested positive for the presence of CWD.
The DNR pulled those positives from 1,091 deer killed by hunters in Hampshire at local checking stations during the season.
"It's not the greatest news and certainly wasn't the Christmas present I was hoping to open, but you know when you're dealing with CWD and lots of unknowns associated with it, having a result with 16 positives was not necessarily unexpected at all," said Paul Johansen, Chief of the DNR's Game Management on West Virginia Outdoors.
OTHER WILDLIFE HEALTH RELATED NEWS
- 5 more bighorns killed in effort to stop pneumonia outbreak [West Riverside, Montana, USA - Map It
- Reporter's Notebook: Game Commission asking for public's help with bat disease
- Black bream wired for salinity research
Biodiversity Conservation
- Biodiversity crucial to lives of billions, says UNEP
- Biodiversity nears 'point of no return'
- Sacred Sites Act as Wildlife Sanctuaries
- RSPB takes rare insects under its wing [breeding and reintroduction plan]
- Saving Gorillas, Elephants Starts With Understanding Their Human Neighbors
- Wilder Weather Exerts a Stronger Influence on Biodiversity Than Steadily Changing Conditions
Huh, That's Interesting!
Photo credit: iStockphoto
- Extreme Migrations Spell Safety For Arctic Shorebirds [includes audio; cited journal article]
- Variety slows fish learning
WILDLIFE HEALTH RELATED PUBLICATIONS
Browse complete Digest publication library here.
Human, Animal, Ecosystem Health All Key to Curbing Emerging Infectious DiseasesJAMA. 2010;303(2):117-124
BM Kuehn
Humans, Animals—It's One Health. Or Is It?
Science. 15 Jan 2010; 327(5963): 266 - 267
M Enserink
Explaining Bird Migration
Science 15 Jan 2010; 327(5963): 276 - 277
O Gilg1 and NG Yoccoz3
Genetic susceptibility to chronic wasting disease in free-ranging white-tailed deer: complement component C1q and Prnp polymorphisms
Infect Genet Evol. 2009 Dec;9(6):1329-35. Epub 2009 Aug 31
JA Blanchong et al.
Investigation of factors predicting disease among zoo birds exposed to avian mycobacteriosis
J Am Vet Med Assoc. 2010 Jan 15;236(2):211-8.
CL Witte et al.
