Archive: 2015

In the UK, thousands of cattle and badgers are infected with Mycobacterium bovis, a member of the Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex and the cause of  bovine tuberculosis (TB) in cattle. The prevention of TB in cattle is of great economic and public health importance and the role of badgers in disease persistence

In 2014 and the first quarter of 2015, a total of 72 hares were submitted to the Dutch Wildlife Health Centre (DWHC) for post-mortem investigation. Causes of death identified in these animals included trauma and a range of infectious diseases, three of which can affect humans (zoonoses); tularemia, toxoplasmosis

In early 2015 an adult male stone marten was submitted to the DWHC for post-mortem exam. The animal was in good nutritional condition and there was evidence of fatal trauma to the head consistent with roadkill. In addition, there was inflammation of the heart due to infection with Toxoplasma gondii; this may have

In mid-April another hare from the area surrounding the Friesian town of Akkrum, submitted to the Dutch Wildlife Health Centre (DWHC) for post-mortem exam, tested positive for tularemia. This brings the total number of tularemia-positive hares in 2015 to 11, nine of which are from this area, the other two from a

In the last few weeks vets, farmers and hunters in central Friesland have reported a high rate of death among wild hares in the area. To date, the bacterial disease tularemia, caused by Francisella tularensis, has been associated with the death of eight hares from the area surrounding the Friesian town of Akkrum.

Two hares submitted to the Dutch Wildlife Health Centre at the start of 2015 for post-mortem exam had died from toxoplasmosis. The animals, from Utrecht and Drenthe, had a moderate nutritional status and one had inflammation in the lungs, liver, brain and heart. When tissues from both animals were examined under

The mute swan (Cygnus olor) has been chosen as the DWHC focus species for 2015. 

Friesland is the fifth province in which tularemia has been found in hares. Two hares from the centre of the province were submitted to the Dutch Wildlife Health Centre (DWHC) for post-mortem exam. Tularemia was initially suspected based on lesions seen in the liver and was later confirmed by molecular tests

In December 2014 the Animal Ambulance in the Dutch town of Doetinchem found a second dead raccoon and submitted it to the Dutch Wildlife Health Centre (DWHC) for post-mortem investigation. This animal was a male, in a good nutritional state with, as found earlier this year in a female raccoon submitted from the

At the end of December 2014 a resident of the Dutch town of Heerlen reported finding a number of dead sparrows in her garden and that the remaining sparrows appeared weak. One of the sparrows in an early stage of decomposition was submitted for post-mortem investigation at the Dutch Wildlife Health Centre (DWHC);