- Update on zoos and penguin deaths. Also, in another post
regarding zoo and WNV, they do suggest bird-to-bird transmission.
-
- It is not clear if they are suggesting direct aerosol
transmission - or transmission via droppings, which could be secondary
aerosol.
-
- Patty
-
-
- West Nile Virus And Zoos
-
- From ProMED-mail promed@promed.isid.harvard.edu
-
- A ProMED-mail post http://www.promedmail.org ProMED-mail
is a program of the International Society for Infectious Diseases http://www.isid.org
-
- [1] Date: Sat 12 Oct 2002
- From: ProMED-mail <promed@promedmail.org>
- Source: Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Sat 10 Oct 2002 [edited]
<http://www.jsonline.com/news/metro/oct02/86807.asp>
-
- West Nile Virus Responsible for Death of Humboldt Penguins
at Milwaukee Zoo
-
- The death of at least 8 Humboldt penguins [attributed
] to West Nile virus infection at the Milwaukee County Zoo is the most
significant loss due to the mosquito-borne disease suffered by any single
zoo in the country, a leading veterinarian said here on Thu 10 Oct 2002.
Dominic Travis, a veterinarian at Chicago's Lincoln Park Zoo, heads a project
to track West Nile virus's impact on zoos and wildlife parks around the
country. Travis presented first-year results at a meeting of the American
Association of Zoo Veterinarians in Milwaukee on Thu 10 Oct 2002.
-
- The penguin deaths occurred in September 2002, just after
the one-year mark for data collection. Around the country, Travis said,
the first year of sampling turned up 150 cases of lab-confirmed West Nile
virus infection in 35 species. Another 250 initially positive samples are
awaiting confirmation by further testing, covering 70 species including
alpacas, zebras, emus, and a kind of lizard called a crocodile monitor,
Travis said. Species with more than 3 animals testing positive include
bats, penguins, mergansers, crows, other penguin species, flamingos, and
owls.
-
- In Milwaukee, zoo officials have said that blood tests
and tissue samples showed West Nile virus in at least 8 of the 11 penguin
deaths. They believe that one penguin died of other causes. Tests are pending
on 2 others, and 10 of the zoo's 12 surviving Humboldt penguins are hospitalized
with symptoms of what is suspected to be West Nile virus infection. "If
that's true, it's the worst" impact of the virus on any one zoo, Travis
said.
-
- West Nile virus is primarily a bird disease that has
spread to humans and a host of other animals through the bite of infected
mosquitoes. The disease was first detected in 1999 in the New York area,
largely through the efforts of experts at the Bronx Zoo in New York, particularly
pathologist Tracey McNamara, who worked with Travis to establish the zoo
surveillance project. More than 100 zoos now participate, and the project
gets money from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. It has
several components, including testing any outdoor birds or mammals that
appear ill, testing birds or animals for West Nile virus whenever they're
handled for other reasons, and testing stored blood samples for the presence
of the virus.
-
- No one knows why West Nile virus has had such a large
impact on the zoo in Milwaukee, where the human epidemic has been quite
modest. Wisconsin accounts for only 28 of the nearly 2900 human cases reported
to the CDC so far this year, while neighboring Illinois and Michigan have
had major outbreaks, reporting 656 and 409 cases, respectively. Some experts
speculate that West Nile might be spread bird-to-bird, but the mechanism
and frequency of such an event, if it occurs, are unknown.
-
- West Nile virus infection is still such a novel disease
that "almost every case that occurs is a new case" in terms of
its impact on zoo animals, said Roberta Wallace, the Milwaukee zoo's senior
staff veterinarian. Unknown issues are the long-term effect on birds and
animals surviving West Nile virus infection, whether it can be passed parent-to-[offspring],
and whether having had the virus will affect an animal's fertility. "All
of these things are going to require long-term follow-up," McNamara
said. West Nile "has been a wake-up call for all zoos," said
the veterinary association's executi ve director, Wilbur Amand.
-
- [Byline: Marilynn Marchione]
-
- -- ProMED-mail promed@promedmail.org
-
- **** [2] Date: Fri 11 Oct 2002 From: Myron Pulier <m.pulier@verizon.net>
-
- Scattered reports of West Nile virus infection and fatalities
in species other than humans, horses, and certain birds may produce a distorted
impression of relative susceptibility of various species and higher taxonomic
groups to infection, illness, and death from West Nile virus infection.
I may have missed it, but I did not see mention in ProMED-mail of data
collected and shared by US zoos, many of which have been following the
infection rates of their animals closely, in part for fear of losing significant
genetic diversity in breeding programs for endangered and near-extinct
species.
-
- On Wed 2 Oct 2002, journalist John Nielson on National
Public Radio's "Morning Edition" presented a segment on the zoo
situation: <http://www.npr.org/news/specials/westnilevirus/index.html>.
-
- -- Myron L. Pulier, MD, ClinAssocProfPsychiatry
- UMDNJ-NJ MedSchl <m.pulier@verizon.net>
-
- [In fact, most of the reports of West Nile virus infection
among zoo animals have concerned avian species. For the benefit of ProMED-mail
subscribers, the following is an abbreviated version of John Nielsen's
report.
-
- West Nile virus, fatal to more than 100 Americans so
far, is taking a similar toll at US zoos. By one count, more than 150 zoo
animals have died of the mosquito-borne illness since 1999. Many species
of birds are on that casualty list: flamingos, owls, kestrels & hawks
as well as penguins, eagles, and geese. Emu have perished, and so has an
Andean condor.
-
- At Chicago's Lincoln Park Zoo, epidemiologist Dominick
Travis told Nielsen there's "no reason to believe" that the atmosphere
at a zoo poses a greater danger than any other part of a city where West
Nile virus has been detected. In fact, zoos are taking many precautions
to improve testing and surveillance programs. "It's all about getting
results as soon as possible so you can act," Travis says. At some
zoos, birds have been injected with a vaccine developed for horses, but
there's no proof it will work. Other institutions bring the most vulnerable
animals indoors at dawn and dusk, when mosquitoes carrying the virus are
most active.
-
- An overriding fear, as Nielsen points out, is that the
virus has the potential to put irreplaceable animals at risk. Population
geneticist Steve Thompson cites the example of the Micronesian kingfisher.
He tells Nielsen there are no more than 65 of the birds left in the world,
and all are in North American zoos. They've been kept from extinction for
the past 15 years by vigorous human intervention. "If West Nile virus
hit them it could be potentially disastrous," Thompson says.
-
- Health officials are also watching zoos closely, since
the virus strikes animals before it reaches people. "Public health
officials used to ignore the West Nile case numbers coming out of zoos,"
Nielsen says. "Now they treat them like intelligence reports."
Local governments and federal agencies are helping zoos improve testing
and surveillance programs, hoping to detect the virus as soon as possible.
-
- ProMED-mail has routinely reported the occurrence of
West Nile virus in zoo animals, usually embedded in updates and other collected
reports. Some recent references are listed below. - Mod.CP]
-
- ProMED-mail makes every effort to verify the reports
that are posted, but the accuracy and completeness of the information,
and of any statements or opinions based thereon, are not guaranteed.
The reader assumes all risks in using information posted or archived by
ProMED-mail. ISID and its associated service providers shall not
be held responsible for errors or omissions or held liable for any damages
incurred as a result of use or reliance upon posted or archived material.
-
-
-
- Patricia A. Doyle, PhD Please visit my "Emerging
Diseases" message board at: http://www.clickitnews.com/emergingdiseases/index.shtml
Zhan le Devlesa tai sastimasa Go with God and in Good Health
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