Archive: 2016

Update bird-flu in the Netherlands

Highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) H5N8 has been making headlines again in Europe since the end of October 2016. The first reports in the Netherlands were of increased death amongst wild tufted ducks and several other species of waterbirds in the Gouwzee and Wolderwijd. Subsequently, high death rates were
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Killed by an acorn!

In October the DWHC investigated the death of a roe deer fawn found in the Kromme Rijn area in the province of Utrecht. The fawn was thin and the tail and hind legs were soiled. Upon necropsy the cause of death was immediately apparent: a large acorn measuring 3,4 x 2,3 cm was found in the throat, blocking
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Toxoplasmosis in red squirrels, an update

In the summer and autumn of 2014 hundreds of dead squirrels were reported to the DWHC; observers described them as literally falling dead out of the trees. Investigations carried out by the Dutch Wildlife Health Centre (DWHC) and the Zoogdiervereniging (the Dutch Organisation for Native Mammal Research and
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Highly pathogenic H5N8 in waterbirds in the Netherlands

On the 10th of November Wageningen Bioveterinary Research (WBVR) reported that the bird flu detected earlier this week in tufted ducks and great crested grebes in the Netherlands belongs to the highly pathogenic H5N8 form of the virus.
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Reappearance of tularemia in the central Netherlands

In October 2016 tularemia re-surfaced in hares (Lepus europaeus) in the Kromme Rijngebied (province of Utrecht) and the Vijfheerenlanden region in the neighbouring province of Zuid-Holland. Evidence of the disease was found in hares submitted to the Dutch Wildlife Health Centre for postmortem investigations and
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Hundreds of reports of dead blackbirds

Hundreds of reports of dead blackbirds Usutu-virus detected in 8 Dutch provinces Joint message from the DWHC, Erasmus MC, Sovon, Vogeltrekstation NIOO-KNAW, Vogelbescherming
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Usutu virus in the Netherlands

Usutu virus was recently detected for the first time in the Netherlands but has been circulating in Europe for some time. To-date it has been identified in captive great grey owls (Strix nebulosa) and in living and dead blackbirds (Turdus merula).
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On-going ranavirus epidemic in the Netherlands

After the discovery of the initial outbreak of ranavirus in the Netherlands in the Dwingerveld National Park in 2010 subsequent outbreaks have been closely monitored in order to better characterize the emergence of the disease and its potential ecological impact.
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Duck plague in Muscovy ducks

Duck plague was found to be the cause of death in three Muscovy Ducks (Cairina moschata) from Midden-Kennemerland, a region in North Holland.
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