Author: ruffatt1@illinois.edu

Posted on

Targeted culling of deer controls disease with little effect on hunting | By Diana Yates

A new study found that the targeted culling of deer prevents the rampant spread of chronic wasting disease to healthy deer. Photo by L. Brian Stauffer.
A new study found that the targeted culling of deer prevents the rampant spread of chronic wasting disease to healthy deer. Photo by L. Brian Stauffer.

CHAMPAIGN, IL. – Chronic wasting disease, the deer-equivalent of mad cow disease, has crept across the U.S. landscape from west to east. It appeared first in captive mule deer in Colorado in the late 1960s. By 1981, it had escaped to the wild. It reached the Midwest by 2002. Little is known about its potential to infect humans.

Read the whole story by the University of Illinois News Bureau here.

Posted on

Illinois river otters still exposed to chemicals banned decades ago | By Diana Yates

from left – Samantha Carpenter, wildlife technical assistant; Kuldeep Singh, Clinical Assistant Professor, Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory, Clinical Assistant Professor, Pathobiology ; Nohra Mateus-Pinilla, Wildlife Veterinary Epidemiologist INHS ; and Jan Novakofski, Associate Vice Chancellor for Research for Compliance, Professor of Animal Sciences, Professor of Nutritional Sciences. Photo by L. Brian Stauffer.

 

CHAMPAIGN, IL. – Researchers report that river otters in Central Illinois are being exposed to polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and pesticides that were banned in the U.S. in the 1970s and ’80s.

Read the whole story by the University of Illinois News Bureau here.

Posted on

Lyme disease tick adapts to life on the (fragmented) prairie | By Diana Yates

The Lyme disease tick, seen here in its larval, nymph and adult forms, is advancing across "the prairie state." Photo by Illinois Natural History Survey.
The Lyme disease tick, seen here in its larval, nymph and adult forms, is advancing across “the prairie state.” Photo by Illinois Natural History Survey.

CHAMPAIGN, lL. – A new study offers a detailed look at the status of Lyme disease in Central Illinois and suggests that deer ticks and the Lyme disease bacteria they host are more adaptable to new habitats than previously appreciated.

Read the whole story by the University of Illinois News Bureau here.

Posted on

Researchers track the secret lives of feral and free-roaming house cats | By Diana Yates

The cats were fitted with radio collars and tracked over two years. Some of the collars also had devices that continuously monitored the cats' every move. This un-owned cat was one of those tracked. Photo courtesy Illinois Natural History Survey.
The cats were fitted with radio collars and tracked over two years. Some of the collars also had devices that continuously monitored the cats’ every move. This un-owned cat was one of those tracked. Photo courtesy Illinois Natural History Survey.

CHAMPAIGN, lL. – Researchers (and some cat-owners) wanted to know: What do feral and free-roaming house cats do when they’re out of sight? A two-year study offers a first look at the daily lives of these feline paupers and princes, whose territories overlap on the urban, suburban, rural and agricultural edges of many towns.

Read the whole story by the University of Illinois News Bureau here.

Posted on

Cats pass disease to wildlife, even in remote areas | By Diana Yates

Nohra Mateus-Pinilla, left, a wildlife veterinary epidemiologist at the University of Illinois Prairie Research Institute, with graduate student Shannon Fredebaugh, led a study that found that cats spread disease to wildlife even in remote parts of a 1,500-acre natural area. Mateus-Pinilla is a researcher with the Illinois Natural History Survey, one of the surveys in the PRI. Photo by L. Brian Stauffer.
Nohra Mateus-Pinilla, left, a wildlife veterinary epidemiologist at the University of Illinois Prairie Research Institute, with graduate student Shannon Fredebaugh, led a study that found that cats spread disease to wildlife even in remote parts of a 1,500-acre natural area. Mateus-Pinilla is a researcher with the Illinois Natural History Survey, one of the surveys in the PRI. Photo by L. Brian Stauffer.

CHAMPAIGN, lL. – Researchers tracking the spread of Toxoplasma gondii – a parasite that reproduces only in cats but sickens and kills many other animals – have found infected wildlife throughout a 1,500-acre (600-hectare) natural area in central Illinois.

Read the whole story by the University of Illinois News Bureau here.