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Scwds Briefs: Volume 21, Number 1 (April 2005)

Southeastern Cooperative Wildlife Disease Study: Publications

Chronic wasting disease (CWD) recently was found in captive and free-ranging white-tailed deer in New York.
Exotic Bluetongue Virus inLouisiana Deer
The United States Poultry and Egg Association (USPEA) recently funded a SCWDS research project to investigate the epidemiology of the Southeast Asian highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) viruses of the H5N1 serotype.
West Nile virus (WNV) continues to cause morbidity and mortality in humans, horses, and wildlife.
Wild Pigeons as Hosts for WNV
Vesicular Stomatitis Outbreak Continues
SCWDS diagnosticians recently diagnosed an unusual case of canine adenovirus (CAV) infection in an adult, male gray fox from Baker County, Georgia. …

Electrocution Of An Adult White-Tailed Deer, Christopher S. Deperno, Benjamin J. Bigalke, Jonathan A. Jenks, Brian S. Haroldson, Robert G. Osborn

The Prairie Naturalist

On 16 May 2002, an adult female white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) died after becoming entangled in an electric fence in southeast Minnesota. The deer (#393) was captured 30 January 2000 as part of a cooperative, long-term deer mortality study being conducted in southern Minnesota (Bigalke et al. 2002, Brinkman 2003, Brinkman et al. 2002). Although fence entanglements occur, they do not account for significant losses in white-tailed deer populations (Matschke et al. 1984). Nixon et al. (1991) documented mortality of two fawns with broken cervical vertebrae that had collided with fences, but did not distinguish the type of …

Serologic Evidence Of Exposure Of Wild Mammals To Flavivirusesin The Central And Eastern United States , J. Jeffrey Root, Jeffrey S. Hall, Robert G. Mclean, Nicole L. Marlenee, Barry J. Beaty, Justin Gansowski, Larry Clark

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Serosurveys were conducted to obtain flavivirus and West Nile virus (WNV) seroprevalence data from mammals. Sera from 513 small- and medium-sized mammals collected during late summer and fall 2003 from Colorado, Louisiana, New York, Ohio, and Pennsylvania were screened for flavivirus-specific antibodies. Sera samples containing antibody to flaviviruses were screened for WNV-specific antibodies by epitope-blocking enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays and confirmed with plaque reduction neutralization tests. Prevalence of WNV antibodies among study sites ranged from 0% to 42.8% among the mammal communities sampled. High prevalence rates for WNV were noted among raccoons (100%, with a very small sample size, N 2), …

Assessment Of Texas Medical Providers Concerning Rabies Vaccines, Denise Ruffino, Scott Henke

Wildlife Damage Management Conference Proceedings

Rabies is an important zoonotic disease in Texas and thousands of people each year either request or require rabies prophylaxis because they have ‘high risk’ jobs or are exposed to the disease. After experiencing difficulty in receiving rabies prophylaxis from physicians, we conducted a survey of Texas medical providers to assess their knowledge of rabies vaccine procedures and their experience with rabies vaccines. Most providers in Texas (>95% of 297) rarely saw patients for rabies prophylaxis; therefore, providers have minimal, if any, experience with the procedures of acquiring and administering the vaccine. Providers varied greatly in their responses to …

Challenges Of Invasive Reptiles And Amphibians, William Pitt, Daniel Vice, Mike Pitzler

Wildlife Damage Management Conference Proceedings

Although worldwide distributions of many amphibians and reptiles are declining, a handful of species are spreading rapidly throughout tropical regions of the world. The species that have the greatest effect tend to be generalist feeders, have high reproductive rates, attain large population sizes, and often due to their behavior and or small size, are easily transported or are difficult to detect. The most notable of these species include the coqui frog, cane toad, bullfrog, brown tree snake, and Burmese pythons. The effect of a few individuals typically is small but the combined effect of large populations can be devastating to …

Preliminary Serologic Survey Of Selected Diseases And Movements Of Feral Swine In Texas, A. Christy Wykoff, Scott Henke, Tyler Campbell, David G. Hewitt, Kurt C. Vercauteren

Wildlife Damage Management Conference Proceedings

Feral swine (Sus scrofa) populations occur throughout eastern, central, and southern Texas, and their populations appear to be increasing. Despite their abundance and wide distribution, little is known about their range and interaction with domestic animals. In the last decade the national pork production industry has enforced an eradication program for economically detrimental swine diseases such as pseudorabies and brucellosis. It is hypothesized that feral hogs can be reservoirs that could reintroduce diseases to disease-free domestic swine herds. The objectives of this on-going project are to determine the prevalence of selected swine diseases that exist within feral hog …

Oral Rabies Vaccination—A Progress Report, Dennis Slate, Charles Rupprecht, Mike Dunbar, Robert Mclean

Wildlife Damage Management Conference Proceedings

Oral rabies vaccination (ORV) targeting specific wild Carnivora species has emerged as an integral adjunct to conventional rabies control strategies to protect humans and domestic animals. ORV has been applied with progress toward eliminating rabies in red foxes (Vulpes vulpes) in western Europe and southern Ontario, Canada. Beginning in the 1990’s, coordinated ORV was implemented in Texas to contain and eliminate variants of rabies virus in the gray fox (Urocyon cinereoargenteus ) and coyote (Canis latrans ) and in several eastern U.S. States with the goal of preventing spread of raccoon (Procyon lotor ) rabies. …

Compressed Air, Wooden Clappers, And Other Non-Traditional Methods For Dispersing European Starlings From An Urban Roost, Randolph White, Richard Dolbeer, Craig Hicks

Wildlife Damage Management Conference Proceedings

During autumn 2003, several thousand European starlings (Sturnus vulgaris) began roosting on exposed I-beams in a newly constructed, decorative glass canopy that covered the passenger pick-up area at the terminal building for Cleveland Hopkins International Airport, Ohio. The use of lethal control or conventional dispersal techniques, such as pyrotechnics and fire hoses, were not feasible in the airport terminal area. The design and aesthetics of the structure precluded the use of netting and other exclusion materials. In January 2004, an attempt was made to disperse the birds using recorded predator and distress calls broadcast from speakers installed in …

Fence-Line Interactions Among Farmed And Free-Ranging Cervids: Preliminary Results, Kurt C. Vercauteren, Justin Fischer, Robert Pooler, Michael J. Lavelle, Greg Phillips

Wildlife Damage Management Conference Proceedings

Occurrences of disease outbreaks within and near captive cervid (mule deer (Odocoileus hemionus), white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus), and Rocky Mountain elk (Cervus elaphus nelsoni)) farms have recently drawn attention to these facilities. Some state wildlife and agricultural agencies have pondered making double fencing mandatory or otherwise increasing regulation of captive operations. Diseases such as Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD) and Bovine Tuberculosis (bovine TB) are a threat to captive and free-ranging cervid populations. Concerns over these and other diseases being transmitted from captive to wild cervids, and vice versa, have increased. In most cases, captive …

Scwds Briefs: Volume 20, Number 4 (January 2005), Michael J. Yabsley

Southeastern Cooperative Wildlife Disease Study: Publications

Dr. Tom Thorne, a 36-year veteran of the Wyoming Game and Fish Department, and his wife, Dr. Beth Williams, a professor of pathology at the University of Wyoming, were killed in a tragic automobile accident on December 29, 2004.
Dr. Al Kocan, recently retired professor of parasitology from Oklahoma State University, died of an apparent heart attack on December 15, 2004.
SCWDS Studies on Johne’s Disease in Wildlife Johne’s disease is a chronic, progressive disease of the gastrointestinal tract and lymphoid tissue that is caused by the bacterium Mycobacterium avium subspecies paratuberculosis (Map). Johne’s disease is known primarily as a …

Breeding Behavior Of The Mongolian Pika (Ochotona Pallasi) In The Gobi Gurvan Saykhan Mountains, Mongolia, Tserendorjiin Munkhzul

Erforschung biologischer Ressourcen der Mongolei / Exploration into the Biological Resources of Mongolia, ISSN 0440-1298

Behavior, morphology, and biology of the Mongolian pika (Ochotona pallasi) were investigated within the framework of the joint ’Grazing Research Project’ of the Philipps-University of Mar-burg, Germany and the Mongolian National University in Ulaanbaatar. The study took place in the Stipa-Allium-steppes of the upper pediments in the Dund Saykhan mountain of the Gobi Gurvan Saykhan National Park, where its burrows cover a significant part of the area.

The behavior of the Mongolian pikas changes seasonally. During the rut in spring males are generally more occupied with defending their territory and fighting off rivals, while females spend more time …

Overview Of Impacts Of Feral And Introduced Ungulates On The Environment In The Eastern United States And Caribbean, Martin Lowney, Paul Schoenfeld, William Haglan, Gary Witmer

Wildlife Damage Management Conference Proceedings

Non-native wild and feral ungulates have been introduced throughout the world for many centuries. Often the reasons for introductions were narrow in scope and benefits or the ungulates escaped or were released. Justifications for some introductions have included providing hunting opportunity, meeting cultural and dietary needs of people, fund raising, and aesthetics. Evaluations about the impacts to the environment, native wildlife, livestock, and people were most likely looked at in a narrow prism or not fully evaluated. Ungulates commonly introduced in the Eastern United States and Caribbean islands over the last 150 years included white-tailed deer, sika deer, hogs, horses, …

Monitoring Raccoon Rabies In Alabama: The Potential Effects Of Habitat And Demographics, Wendy Arjo, Christine Fisher, James Armstrong, Dana Johnson, Frank Boyd

Wildlife Damage Management Conference Proceedings

Density, morphometrics, and disease prevalence of raccoon populations were determined in 4 habitats (agriculture, riverine, managed, and forested) in central Alabama. In addition we monitored 71 collared raccoons to determine survival. Density estimates were similar in the agriculture (ag) and riverine habitats in central Alabama with 8 raccoons/km², and lower in the forested habitat at 5 raccoons/ km². Retention of juveniles did not appear to contribute to observed higher populations in the riverine and ag habitat. Although the riverine and ag, possibly due to supplemental resources, likely provide better habitat for raccoons, we found only body …

Recommender Systems Research, Saverio Perugini

Computer Science Faculty Publications

We outline the history of recommender systems from their roots in information retrieval and filtering to their role in today’s Internet economy. Recommender systems attempt to reduce information overload and retain customers by selecting a subset of items from a universal set based on user preferences. Research in recommender systems lies at the intersection of several areas of computer science, such as artificial intelligence and human-computer interaction, and has progressed to an important research area of its own. It is important to note that recommendations are not delivered within a vacuum, but rather cast within an informal community of users …

Amphibian Research And Monitoring Initiative: Concepts And Implementation, Paul Stephen Corn, Michael J. Adams, William A. Battaglin, Alisa L. Gallant, Daniel L. James, Melinda Knutson, Catherine A. Langtimm, John R. Sauer

United States Geological Survey: Publications

This report provides the basis for discussion and subsequent articulation of a national plan for the Amphibian Research and Monitoring Initiative (ARMI). The authors were members of a task force formed from within the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) that included scientists with expertise in biology, cartography, hydrology, and statistics. The assignment of the task force was to extend work begun by the National Amphibian Leadership Group. This group, composed of senior USGS scientists, managers, and external authorities, met in Gainesville, Florida, in February 20001. The product of this meeting was a document outlining the framework for a national program to …

Design And Cloning Of A Hammerhead Ribozyme Targeted Tohiv-1p7fmrna, Katherine L. Anderson, William H. Jackson

Journal of the South Carolina Academy of Science

No abstract provided.

Part I : Isolation Of Dipentyl 2-(4-(Pentan-3-Yl) Phenyl) Malonate From Sanguisorba Officinalis Labill Part Ii: Synthesis Of A Novel Family Of Ethers Of Podocarpic Acid, Manjeera Yalavarty

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The goal of part I of this thesis was to isolate pure anti cancer compounds from the Russian plant Sanguisorba officinalis. This plant was selected for investigation because it showed 100% activity against leukemia (L1210 mouse leukemia cells) during the preliminary screening of approximately 100 Russian plant extracts. This work has resulted in the isolation of novel compound 11 using traditional chromatography techniques. Compound 11 was characterized with spectroscopic techniques such as IR, 1H NMR, 13C NMR, DEPT, DQCOSY and MS. Compound 11 was assigned the structure dipentyl 2-(4-(pentan-3-yl) phenyl) malonate. The goal of part II of this thesis was …

The Underestimation Of Threats To Patients Data In Clinical Practice, Patricia Williams

Research outputs pre 2011

Issues in the security of medical data present a greater challenge than in other data security environments. The complexity of the threats and ethics involved, coupled with the poor management of these threats makes the protection of data in clinical practice problematic. This paper discusses the security threats to medical data in terms of confidentiality, privacy, integrity, misuse and availability, and reviews the issue of responsibility with reference to clinical governance. Finally. the paper uncovers some of the underlying reasons for the underestimation of the threats to medical data by the medical profession.

Epizootiology Of Sin Nombre And El Moro Canyon Hantaviruses, Southeastern Colorado, 1995–2000, Charles H. Calisher, J. Jeffrey Root, James N. Mills, Joan E. Rowe, Serena A. Reeder, Emily S. Jentes, Kent Wagoner, Barry J. Beaty

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Sin Nombre virus (SNV) is an etiologic agent of hantavirus pulmonary syndrome. To better understand the natural history of this virus we studied population dynamics and temporal pattern of infection of its rodent hosts in southeastern Colorado (USA) from 1995 to 2000. We present evidence for the presence of two hantaviruses, SNV in deer mice (Peromyscus maniculatus) and El Moro Canyon virus in western harvest mice (Reithrodontomys megalotis), at our study sites. Sin Nombre virus appeared only sporadically in deer mouse populations; overall prevalence of antibody to SNV was 2.6%. El Moro Canyon virus was enzootic: …

Population Dynamics Of A Diverse Rodent Assemblage In Mixed Grass-Shrub Habitat, Southeastern Colorado, 1995–2000, Charles H. Calisher, James N. Mills, William P. Sweeney, J. Jeffrey Root, Serena A. Reeder, Emily S. Jentes, Kent Wagoner, Barry J. Beaty

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

We followed seasonal and year-to-year population dynamics for a diverse rodent assemblage in a short-grass prairie ecosystem in southeastern Colorado (USA) for 6 yr. We captured 2,798 individual rodents (range, one to 812 individuals per species) belonging to 19 species. The two most common species, deer mice (Peromyscus maniculatus) and western harvest mice (Reithrodontomys megalotis), generally had population peaks in winter and nadirs in summer; several other murid species demonstrated autumn peaks and spring nadirs; heteromyids were infrequently captured in winter, and populations generally peaked in summer or autumn. Interannual trends indicated an interactive effect between …

Potential Consequences Of The Coqui Frog Invasion In Hawaii, Karen H. Beard, William C. Pitt

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

The Puerto Rican frog, Eleutherodactylus coqui , has invaded Hawaii and has negatively impacted the state’s multimillion dollar floriculture, nursery and tourist industries; however, little is known about the ecological consequences of the invasion. Using data from Puerto Rico and Hawaii, the authors summarize the potential consequences of the invasion and describe future research needs. It could be predicted that the coqui would reduce the abundance of Hawaii’s endemic invertebrates. However, data suggest that coquis are mostly consuming non-native invertebrates, and not invertebrate pests, such as mosquitoes and termites. Endemic invertebrates are likely to represent a portion of the coqui …

Historic And Current Status Of The American White Pelican Breeding At Chase Lake National Wildlife Refuge, North Dakota, Marsha A. Sovada, D. Tommy King, Michael Erickson, Cheryl Gray

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Chase Lake National Wildlife Refuge currently supports the largest breeding colony of the American White Pelican ( Pelecanus erythrorhynchos ) in North America. The first written account of the colony’s status was in 1905, when approximately 500 pelicans nested on two islands in Chase Lake. The colony grew to nearly 34,000 breeding birds by 2002. Surveys of breeding pelicans in the colony were sporadic from 1905 until 1972. Because the availability of foraging areas affects recruitment, pond counts from south-central North Dakota were used as an index of the relative availability of foraging areas. Pond counts varied widely in the …

The Impact Of Disease In The American White Pelican In North America, Tonie Rocke, Kathryn Converse, Carol Meteyer, Bob Mclean

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Records of reported die-offs of the American White Pelican ( Pelicanus erythrorhynchos ) held by the U.S. Geological Survey National Wildlife Health Center from 1978 through 2003 indicate that type C botulism (caused by Clostridium botulinum ) was the major cause of mortality. In 1996, over 15,000 birds, including 8,500 American White Pelicans, were estimated to have died from type C botulism at the Salton Sea in California. This was the largest documented die-off of any pelican species and was estimated to represent 15-20% of the western metapopulation. This event was also notable in that it was the first time …

A Multilocus Population Genetic Survey Of The Greater Sage-Grouse Across Their Range, S. J. Oyler-Mccance, S.E. Taylor, T. W. Quinn

United States Geological Survey: Staff Publications

The distribution and abundance of the greater sage-grouse (Centrocercus urophasianus) have declined dramatically, and as a result the species has become the focus of conservation efforts. We conducted a range-wide genetic survey of the species which included 46 populations and over 1000 individuals using both mitochondria1 sequence data and data from seven nuclear microsatellites. Nested clade and STRUCTURE analyses revealed that, in general, the greater sage-grouse populations follow an isolation-by-distance model of restricted gene flow. This suggests that movements of the greater sage-grouse are typically among neighboring populations and not across the species, range. This may have important …

West Nile Virus Infection In Farmed American Alligators (Alligator Mississippiensis) In Florida, Elliott R. Jacobson, Pamela E. Ginn, J. Mitchell Troutman, Lisa Farina, Lillian Stark, Kaci Klenk, Kristen L. Burkhalter, Nicholas Komar

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

No abstract provided.

Serologic Evidence Of Exposure Of Wild Mammals To Flaviviruses In The Central And Eastern United States, J. Jeffrey Root, Jeffrey S. Hall, Robert G. Mclean, Nicole L. Marlenee, Barry J. Beaty, Justin Gansowski, Larry Clark

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Serosurveys were conducted to obtain flavivirus and West Nile virus (WNV) seroprevalence data from mammals. Sera from 513 small- and medium-sized mammals collected during late summer and fall 2003 from Colorado, Louisiana, New York, Ohio, and Pennsylvania were screened for flavivirus-specific antibodies. Sera samples containing antibody to flaviviruses were screened for WNV-specific antibodies by epitope-blocking enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays and confirmed with plaque reduction neutralization tests. Prevalence of WNV antibodies among study sites ranged from 0% to 42.8% among the mammal communities sampled. High prevalence rates for WNV were noted among raccoons (100%, with a very small sample size, N = …

Climate Change And Amphibians, P.S. Corn

United States Geological Survey: Staff Publications

Amphibian life histories are exceedingly sensitive to temperature and precipitation, and there is good evidence that recent climate change has already resulted in a shift to breeding earlier in the year for some species. There are also suggestions that the recent increase in the occurrence of El Niño events has caused declines of anurans in Central America and is linked to elevated mortality of amphibian embryos in the northwestern United States. However, evidence linking amphibian declines in Central America to climate relies solely on correlations, and the mechanisms underlying the declines are not understood. Connections between embryo mortality and declines …

An Evaluation Of Weather And Disease As Causes Of Decline In Two Populations Of Boreal Toads, Rick D. Scherer, Erin Muths, Barry R. Noon, Paul Stephen Corn

United States Geological Survey: Staff Publications

Two populations of boreal toads (Bufo boreas) experienced drastic declines in abundance in the late 1990s. Evidence supported the hypothesis of disease (the chytrid fungus, Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis) as the cause of these declines. but other hypotheses had not been evaluated. We used an 11-year capture-recapture data set to evaluate weather and disease as causes of these declines. We developed sets of mathematical models that reflected hypothesized relationships between several weather variables and annual survival rates of adult males in these populations. In addition, models that reflected the possibility that the declines were caused by an introduced fungus …

Amphibian Research And Monitoring Initiative (Armi): A Successful Start To A National Program In The United States, Erin Muths, Robin E. Jung, Larissa L. Bailey, Michael J. Adams, P. Stephen Corn, C. Kenneth Dodd Jr., Gary M. Fellers, Walter J. Sadinski, Cecil R. Schwalbe, Susan C. Walls, Robert N. Fisher, Alisa L. Gallant, William A. Battaglin, D. Earl Green

United States Geological Survey: Staff Publications

Most research to assess amphibian declines has focused on local-scale projects on one or a few species. The Amphibian Research and Monitoring Initiative (ARMI) is a national program in the United States mandated by congressional directive and implemented by the U.S. Department of the Interior (specifically the U.S. Geological Survey, USGS). Program goals are to monitor changes in populations of amphibians across U.S. Department of the Interior lands and to address research questions related to amphibian declines using a hierarchical framework of base-, mid- and apex-level monitoring sites. ARMI is currently monitoring 83 amphibian species (29% of species in the …

Structural Study Of Disease Related Proteins, Ayse Sinem Ozyurt

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The availability of complete sequences for the genomes of many organisms changes the researcher's attention from genome sequencing to finding the function of gene products, the proteins. The three dimensional (3D) structure of a protein is helpful to understand its function, because tertiary structure is more conserved in evolution than sequence. The 3D structures can be found quickly by using high-throughput (HT) methods for protein expression, purification, characterization and structure determination. This process is very challenging in every step. Therefore we selected nearly 200 cancer related proteins as targets to see the difficulties in trying to determine the web predicted …