In a first of its kind study, researchers have identified significant differences between the diversity of gut bacteria in grey squirrels compared to red squirrels which could hold the key to further understanding the ability of grey squirrels to outcompete red squirrels in the UK.
Researchers from the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO), Australia’s national science agency, have detected antibodies to a filovirus in Australian bats for the first time.
Emerging zoonotic diseases are infectious diseases that can be transmitted between vertebrate animals and humans, which have been newly identified, or are increasing in incidence or geographic range. Examples include Ebola, avian influenza and West Nile virus. They pose threats to global public health and economic security.
Endemic livestock diseases are found in cows, pigs, sheep and poultry and include mastitis, tuberculosis, avian colibacillosis, and salmonellosis. They are caused by infectious micro-organisms, some of which rapidly evolve to escape control.
Watch the Hot Topic Lecture Schmallenberg virus - fact from fiction, which featured at the Society for General Microbiology Spring Conference 2012 held at the Convention Centre Dublin, 26-29 March 2012.
The November 2003 issue of Microbiology Today focuses on emerging infection diseases of wildlife. Some of these pathogens affect a wide range of animals, including domestic species and humans, whereas others are confined to their wildlife host and can devastate populations.
