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In the last few weeks vets, farmers and hunters in central Friesland have reported a high rate of death among wild hares in the area. To date, the bacterial disease tularemia, caused by Francisella tularensis, has been associated with the death of eight hares from the area surrounding the Friesian town of Akkrum.

Two hares submitted to the Dutch Wildlife Health Centre at the start of 2015 for post-mortem exam had died from toxoplasmosis. The animals, from Utrecht and Drenthe, had a moderate nutritional status and one had inflammation in the lungs, liver, brain and heart. When tissues from both animals were examined under

The mute swan (Cygnus olor) has been chosen as the DWHC focus species for 2015. 

Friesland is the fifth province in which tularemia has been found in hares. Two hares from the centre of the province were submitted to the Dutch Wildlife Health Centre (DWHC) for post-mortem exam. Tularemia was initially suspected based on lesions seen in the liver and was later confirmed by molecular tests

In December 2014 the Animal Ambulance in the Dutch town of Doetinchem found a second dead raccoon and submitted it to the Dutch Wildlife Health Centre (DWHC) for post-mortem investigation. This animal was a male, in a good nutritional state with, as found earlier this year in a female raccoon submitted from the

At the end of December 2014 a resident of the Dutch town of Heerlen reported finding a number of dead sparrows in her garden and that the remaining sparrows appeared weak. One of the sparrows in an early stage of decomposition was submitted for post-mortem investigation at the Dutch Wildlife Health Centre (DWHC);

In October 2014 a dead female raccoon found by the Animal Ambulance in the Dutch town of Doetinchem in Gelderland, submitted it to the Dutch Wildlife Health Centre (DWHC) for post-mortem investigation. This animal was in a moderate nutritional state and the cause of death appeared to be trauma to the head.

The National Institute for Public Health and the Environment (RIVM) will investigate whether raccoon dogs in the Netherlands are infected with the parasites Trichinella spiralis and Echinococcus multilocularis that can be transmitted to humans.

Background and aims for the pilot project Prior to entering the food chain for human consumption, hunted game must first undergo a series of inspections. The first of these is performed in the field by ‘qualified persons’ who are trained by the National Hunt Training Organisation (Stichting

It is difficult to say whether or not the number of squirrel deaths that is currently being seen in the Netherlands is normal. Since the zoogdiervereniging (Dutch organisation for protection and research of native mammals) called on the public to report any findings of dead squirrels, the level of awareness and