Veterinary Infectious Diseases Commons^™

The Economic Impacts Of Blackbird (Icteridae) Damage To Sunflower In The Usa, Karina Ernst, Julie Elser, George Linz, Hans Kandel, Jason Holderieath, Samantha Degroot, Steven Shwiff, Stephanie Shwiff

Jason Holderieath

BACKGROUND: Blackbird (Icteridae) damage to ripening sunflower (Helianthus annuus L.) has been a persistent economic issue in the USA for the last five decades. To quantify losses, we surveyed blackbird damage from 2001 to 2013 (excluding 2004) to physiologically mature sunflower in eight states: North Dakota, South Dakota, Texas, Nebraska, Minnesota, Colorado, Kansas, and Vermont.

RESULTS:We pooled data gathered during the most recent 5 years (2009 to 2013) of the survey and found losses averaged $US2.5 million and $US11.3 million for confectionery and oilseed hybrids, respectively. Three states, North Dakota, South Dakota, and Nebraska, had sufficient acreage and bird damage …

Characterization Of A Piscirickettsiosis-Like Disease In Hawaiian Tilapia., M. J. Mauel, Debra L. Miller, K. Frazier, A. Liggett, E. Styer, D. Montgomery-Brock, J. Brock

Debra L Miller

In 1994, tilapia (Oreochromis mossambicus and Sarotherodon melanotheron) in wild and farmed populations on Oahu, Hawaii, USA, began to die of an unknown disease that was similar but not identical to piscirickettsiosis in salmonids. Only tilapia were affected. Diseased tilapia often swam erratically and had trouble staying at depth. Scattered cutaneous haemorrhage and exophthalmia were often noted. In many cases, fish were found dead with no clinical signs. Gills exhibited epithelial hyperplasia with severe multifocal consolidation of secondary lamellae. Multiple granulomas were observed in the gills, spleen, kidney, choroid gland and testes, but not in the liver. Tilapia mortalities occurred …