Field evidence of secondary poisoning of foxes (Vulpes vulpes) and buzzards (Buteo buteo) by bromadiolone, a 4-year survey.

This paper presents the result of a 4 year survey in France (1991-1994) based on the activity of a wildlife disease surveillance network (SAGIR). The purpose of this study was to evaluate the detrimental effects of anticoagulant (Ac) rodenticides in non-target wild animals. Ac poisoning accounted for a very limited number of the identified causes of death (1-3%) in most species. Predators (mainly foxes and buzzards) were potentially exposed to anticoagulant compounds (especially bromadiolone) via contaminated prey in some instances. The liver concentrations of bromadiolone residues were elevated and species-specific diagnostic values were determined. These values were quite similar to those reported in the literature when secondary anticoagulant poisoning was experimentally assessed.

The value of wildlife.

The value of wildlife has been widely ignored or under-rated in the past by the international community. At most, wildlife was considered from the limited aesthetic and touristic aspects. This situation has changed somewhat. In the majority of the veterinary profession, which is largely livestock-oriented, wildlife is increasingly considered in terms of wild animal production and occupies just as relevant a position as domestic animal production. Some economists are now trying to quantify the informal nature of a large portion of the wildlife sector. The importance of wildlife to local communities is now globally recognised in community-based or participatory natural resources management programmes. The authors highlight not only the economic importance of wildlife (which amounts to billions of United States dollars world-wide), through consumptive and non-consumptive uses, but also the present and potential nutritional value, the ecological role as well as the socio-cultural significance of wildlife for human societies of both the developed and the developing worlds. Also addressed in this chapter is a discussion on one of the main threats to wildlife conservation which consists of the reduction or even retrieval of the different values wildlife can offer.

[Calicivirus infection of the hare and human calicivirus]. / Calicivirose du lièvre et calicivirus de l'homme.

The calicivirus outbreak in hares which occurred in Center West of France in the fall of 1996 illustrates the pathogenic role of caliciviruses in animals and in humans. A comparison of these different viruses, based on the RNA nucleic sequences is presented. The aspect of interspecies transmission is also discussed.

Bartonella tribocorum sp. nov., a new Bartonella species isolated from the blood of wild rats.

Two Bartonella strains from blood of two wild rats (Rattus norvegicus) living in a rural environment were isolated. These strains were distinct from all previously known Bartonella species based on phenotypic and genotypic characteristics. This new species is distinguished by its trypsin-like activity, the absence of the ability to hydrolyse proline and tributyrin, its 16S rRNA and citrate synthase gene sequences and by whole-DNA hybridization data. This new species, for which the name Bartonella tribocorum sp. nov. is proposed, seems to be genetically related to Bartonella elizabethae, an agent isolated in a case of human endocarditis. The type strain of Bartonella tribocorum sp. nov. is IBS 506T (CIP 105476T).

Bartonella alsatica sp. nov., a new Bartonella species isolated from the blood of wild rabbits.

Bartonella species are considered as emerging human pathogens, with at least six different species pathogenic or possibly pathogenic for humans. However, little is known about Bartonella distribution, species polymorphism and pathogenicity in mammalian species. The objective of this work was to determine the presence, the frequency and the distribution of Bartonella species in wild rabbits (Oryctolagus cuniculus) caught in warrens in Alsace, France. Humans may come into contact with wild rabbits when hunting, especially when they are picked up with bare hands and at time of evisceration. Of 30 blood samples collected and cultured from wild rabbits, nine (30%) were positive for organisms morphologically similar to Bartonella spp. The bacteria appeared as small, fastidious, aerobic, oxidase-negative, Gram-negative rods which could be localized within erythrocytes. Their biochemical properties were similar to those of the genus Bartonella. The sequence of the 16S rRNA gene obtained from the rabbit isolates was highly related to the sequences of the different Bartonella species (97.8-99.3% similarity). The high DNA hybridization rate (81-90% similarity) between the three strains isolated from rabbit blood confirmed that they belong to the same bacterial species. Hybridization values, obtained with the nuclease-TCA method, when testing type strains of recognized Bartonella species (9-14% similarity), support the creation of a new species for the rabbit isolates. The name Bartonella alsatica is proposed for these strains isolated from the blood of wild rabbits. The type strain is IBS 382T (= CIP 105477T).