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Utah wildlife experts believe they have solved the mystery of what killed at least 29 bald eagles over the last month: West Nile virus.

The majestic birds, the national symbol of the United States, apparently became infected after eating smaller birds with the disease, according to the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources.

In December, hunters and farmers across five counties in northern and central Utah began finding the normally skittish raptors lying, listless, on the ground. Many suffered from seizures, head tremors and paralysis in the legs, feet and wings.

Several ailing birds were taken to the Wildlife Rehabilitation Center of Northern Utah, where most died within 48 hours. In a release, wildlife officials said a recent die-off of eared grebes that stop at Utahs Great Salt Lake was the most probable culprit.

Each year, 2 million grebes visit the region. Most years, a small percentage that visit the Great Salt Lake die from avian cholera, Leslie McFarlane, wildlife disease coordinator for the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources, said in a news release.

"Every time grebes die, we send some of the dead birds to a laboratory for testing. Usually, avian cholera jumps out as the cause of death. This year, though, the initial laboratory results were not as conclusive. That led us to believe that something else might have killed the grebes this year," McFarlane said.

Between 750 and 1,200 bald eagles visit Utah in the winter, when the predators eat mostly dead animals. Since all of the eagles that have died have been within flying distance of the lake, McFarlane said she believed the eagles might have contracted West Nile virus after eating grebes in the area.

West Nile virus usually affects birds, including eagles, during warmer months, when mosquitoes that carry the disease are active. Officials say the sick birds do not pose a risk to either humans or livestock.

Testing at the Utah Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory in Logan and the National Wildlife Health Center in Madison, Wis., ruled out such possible causes as toxic chemicals, poisons, bacterial infections and several other viruses.

West Nile virus can live for a few days in the carcass of a bird, so theres still a chance that additional eagles will get sick and die, even after the grebes leave. But the risk to eagles should decrease quickly.

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West Nile virus blamed for rash of bald eagle deaths in Utah

With hepatitis viral infections assuming menacing proportions and leading to very high mortality, a group of concerned doctors and non-medical individuals have decided to launch Hepatitis-free India Liver Foundation to make government and community pay greater attention to the problem.

Good sanitation

India is emerging as the global capital of Hepatitis B virus (HBV), while the problem of Hepatitis C virus (HCV) is also rising. More and more people are dying because of acute hepatitis which can be prevented by good sanitation and proper water supply, said Dr. Manisha Bangar, chief consultant Hepatologist, Mediciti Hospitals and executive council member of the Indian Association for Study of Liver Diseases (IASLD), AP chapter.

Compounded by alcohol consumption, leptospirosis and dengue, acute hepatitis was causing many deaths both in urban and rural areas in the country.

Dr. Manisha, who along with hepatologists from different cities in the country is proposing to establish the Foundation, said that lot more focus like the campaign against HIV was needed to contain hepatitis problem. HBV and HCV were tenacious and communicable from patient-to-patient.

The Government and community have to focus on containing the problem, she added.

She said the prevalence of HBV was 4-5 per cent in the general population, but quite high of about 10-12 per cent in North-eastern States and in Andhra Pradesh. While that of HCV was 2-3 per cent in general population and 5.2 per cent in certain parts of North India and coastal Andhra Pradesh.

Besides HCV, hepatitis A and E viruses were also causing lot of liver-related deaths, that too in the younger people, including pregnant women, Dr.Manisha said

NAFLD on the rise

She said that non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) was on the upsurge due to modern lifestyle and dietary habits and increasingly linked to metabolic syndrome ( a group of health problems that increase the risk for heart disease, diabetes and stroke), which was also on the rise in the affluent and middle income sections.

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Killer hepatitis on the prowl, warn experts

East Lancashire vets in vaccination plea after puppy's virus death

4:00pm Thursday 2nd January 2014 in News

VETS across East Lancashire have been warning people to get their dogs vaccinated after a puppy died of the deadly parvovirus.

An eight-week old bulldog caught the highly-contagious canine disease following an outbreak in the Rochdale area.

The puppy, which was too young to be vaccinated against the killer disease had to be put to sleep at the Myerscough Veterinary Group in Padiham.

Fears have now grown that the virus may have spread after several cases of the fatal condition were alerted in East Lancashire before Christmas.

Vets are warning dog owners of the dangers of not getting their dogs vaccinated.

Sue Holroyd, practice manager at Abbeydale Vets, which has branches in Blackburn, Whalley and Darwen, said: The area around Blackburn and Darwen is classed as a high risk area for the parvovirus. The disease has never gone away since it first became a problem in the 1970s.

The virus is very virulent and is very difficult to come back from once an animal has contracted it, with a very high percentage of the animals dying from it, even with treatment.

It is a lot more expensive to have to treat it than it is to prevent it.

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East Lancashire vets in vaccination plea after puppy's virus death

J&H Stables in Raleigh experienced several cases of the rare neurological form of EHV-1. In its normal state, EHV-1 affects a horses respiratory tract and sometimes causes miscarriages in pregnant mares. It is extremely contagious among horses, but it is not communicable to humans or animals such as cattle. SAMANTHAGILMANsgilman@newsobserver.com

Four horses euthanized last month had contracted the rare neurological form of EHV-1, the equine herpes virus, the North Carolina Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services confirmed.

After receiving reports of the deaths, state officials began investigating the virus that made the horses so ill. The affected horses showed symptoms of fever and were extremely uncoordinated, but it was not immediately apparent that the horses had neurological EHV-1.

You cant distinguish it from rabies or triple E (eastern equine encephalitis virus that affects a horses brain), or West Nile virus, said Dr. Tom Ray, director of animal health programs for the states agriculture department.

Officials sent samples to a testing lab in Ames, Iowa, for a verification of the virus. The results returned on Dec. 23, and the agriculture department immediately quarantined J&H Stables, where the cases allegedly appeared.

All 29 horses at the stables were exposed to neurological EHV-1 and are being monitored. The boarding facility will remain under quarantine for 28 days after the last signs of fever disappear from any of the horses.

J&H Stables offers boarding, western riding lessons, summer camps and other family-oriented horsemanship activities on 66 acres in northwest Raleigh. According to their website, the fully-booked facility has been in business since 1967.

Contagious only to horses

In its normal state, EHV-1 affects a horses respiratory tract and sometimes causes miscarriages in pregnant mares. It is extremely contagious among horses, but it is not communicable to humans or animals such as cattle.

Its like the common cold we get as humans, Ray said.

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Neurological form of EHV-1 proves deadly for 4 Raleigh horses

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Over ten states have been caught in the turmoil of swine flu. They are mostly concentrated in the northeastern and southern regions of the United States. And as flu season is upon us, this killer flu virus is on the rampage once again.

"That may change, but right now most of the flu is H1N1," said Dr. Michael Young, a medical officer with the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's influenza division. "It's the same H1N1 we have been seeing the past couple of years and that we really started to see in 2009 during the pandemic."

The first time it appeared on the scene historically was in 1919. And it caused havoc with the death toll which resulted from its effects. If swine flu is not contained right now, it might spread to the rest of the world and end in millions of deaths. There was a global epidemic in 2009 and now it is back with a vengeance.

"This year, because it's an H1N1 season so far, we are seeing more infections in younger adults," Young said. "And some of these folks have underlying conditions that put them at risk for hospitalization or death. This may be surprising to some folks, because they forget the population that H1N1 hits."

The flu is increasing its influence on a daily basis. And the sad news is that it hasnt even reached its apogee. It began originally amidst extremely unhygienic conditions in factory farms. Pigs were kept in close quarters to each other and in the filthiest environs. This was obviously a breeding ground for the disease.

The characteristic cough that started among the swine kept in quarantine was the beginning of H1N1. The precautions are to eat reliable pork products and begin a nutritionally healthy diet regimen. And by staying clean and at home a person may avoid contracting the disease.

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Swine Flu Spreading Across the US