 
Emerging Infectious Diseases Of Wildlife - Microbiology Today
: November 2003 issue
28 October 2003
Wildlife is an important source of diseases that are a risk to
the health of man and his domesticated stock. This was very clearly
demonstrated earlier this year when the masked palm civet was
implicated as a possible wild animal source for the SARS (Severe
Acute Respiratory Syndrome) coronavirus. In the November 2003
issue of Microbiology Today we seek to highlight the importance
of veterinary and animal microbiology, focussing on emerging infectious
diseases of wildlife.
In her overview, Sarah Cleaveland explains that the interaction
between wildlife and human health is complex, with implications
that pose real challenges to microbiologists and veterinarians
(page 155). Many pathogens are not fussy about their host species,
and this means that wildlife hosts can play a central role in
the emergence of human and domestic animal diseases.
West Nile virus has caused numerous human deaths in North America.
Antibodies to the virus have been detected in wild birds in the
UK and Ernie Gould assesses the risks of this potentially fatal
disease to humans in this country (page 160).
Prion diseases, such as CJD and BSE, are important around the
world, with economic as well as health implications. Wilfred Goldmann
considers whether or not wildlife species are less prone to TSE
diseases than domesticated animals (page 170). Also, Beth Williams
and Michael Miller discuss why Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD) and
its effects on US deer populations are so unusual. CWD is the
only known prion disease to affect free-ranging animals (page
172).
Other features in the November issue of Microbiology Today
include:
· Wildlife disease surveillance by the Veterinary Laboratories
Agency (page 157)
· Seal distemper outbreak 2002 (page 162)
· Now they eat them, now they don't: phagocytes and
Borrelia burgdorferi in Lyme disease (page 165)
· Tick-borne relapsing fever in Tanzania (page 167)
· Emerging bartonellosis (page 168)
These are just some of the articles that appear, together
with all the regular features and reports of Society activities.
- ENDS -
|
