Archive

Post-mortem was performed on a common minke whale at the University of Utrecht after it was found dead on the bow of a ship in Rotterdam harbour. The cadaver was relatively fresh suggesting that it had only been picked up by the boat shortly before it arrived at Rotterdam. Provisional findings point towards the

Researchers at the Dutch Wildlife Health Centre (DWHC) working together with members of the Zoogdiervereniging (Dutch organisation for the research and conservation of native mammals) and the RIVM (National Institute for Public Health and the Environment), have confirmed that more than half of the squirrels that

In the summer of 2015, avian malaria was found in a green finch from Son en Breugel in the South of the Netherlands and a pied avocet from Medemblik in North Holland. In 2011 the parasite was found in Read more

In June an inhabitant of the Dutch Wadden Sea Island of Schiermonnikoog spotted a greylag goose that was behaving oddly and distanced from the other birds. The goose was culled and due to the poor nutritional status of the animal and the unusual appearance of lumps on its legs the carcase was submitted to the DWHC

Tularemia in hares Tularemia has been identified in a hare from the Dutch province of Gelderland that was submitted to the Dutch Wildlife Health Centre (DWHC) in June 2015 for post-mortem exam. Since 2011, all dead hares received by the DWHC are routinely tested by the Central Veterinary Institute for the bacteria

In May 2015 a bat that had been submitted to the Dutch Wildlife Health Centre (DWHC) for post-mortem investigation proved to be positive for the bat form of rabies after further testing was carried out at the Central Veterinary Institute (CVI) in Lelystad. This disease is caused by the European Bat Lyssa Virus

In the UK, thousands of cattle and badgers are infected with Mycobacterium bovis, a member of the Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex and the cause of  bovine tuberculosis (TB) in cattle. The prevention of TB in cattle is of great economic and public health importance and the role of badgers in disease persistence

In 2014 and the first quarter of 2015, a total of 72 hares were submitted to the Dutch Wildlife Health Centre (DWHC) for post-mortem investigation. Causes of death identified in these animals included trauma and a range of infectious diseases, three of which can affect humans (zoonoses); tularemia, toxoplasmosis

In early 2015 an adult male stone marten was submitted to the DWHC for post-mortem exam. The animal was in good nutritional condition and there was evidence of fatal trauma to the head consistent with roadkill. In addition, there was inflammation of the heart due to infection with Toxoplasma gondii; this may have

In mid-April another hare from the area surrounding the Friesian town of Akkrum, submitted to the Dutch Wildlife Health Centre (DWHC) for post-mortem exam, tested positive for tularemia. This brings the total number of tularemia-positive hares in 2015 to 11, nine of which are from this area, the other two from a