Category: Research Results

Avian pox in a sparrow

At the beginning of January 2017 a sparrow (Passer domesticus) from the area around Soest was submitted to the DWHC. According to the individual who submitted the cadaver, before dying the bird had shown signs of sickness including fluffed up feathers, difficulty with flying, opening and closing the beak and
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Pigeon canker

Pigeon canker has been found in dead pigeons across the Netherlands. The online register run jointly by the DWHC and Sovon indicates that wood pigeons are most affected.
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First case of RHDV-2 in a hare in the Netherlands

For the first time in the Netherlands, RHDV-2 (Rabbit Haemorrhagic Disease Virus) has been confirmed as the cause of death in a hare. The animal was found dead on the territory of the Wildlife Management Unit in Aalten on the border between the municipalities of Aalten and Winterswijk. The cause of death
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Update bird-flu in the Netherlands

Highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) H5N8 has been making headlines again in Europe since the end of October 2016. The first reports in the Netherlands were of increased death amongst wild tufted ducks and several other species of waterbirds in the Gouwzee and Wolderwijd. Subsequently, high death rates were
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Killed by an acorn!

In October the DWHC investigated the death of a roe deer fawn found in the Kromme Rijn area in the province of Utrecht. The fawn was thin and the tail and hind legs were soiled. Upon necropsy the cause of death was immediately apparent: a large acorn measuring 3,4 x 2,3 cm was found in the throat, blocking
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Toxoplasmosis in red squirrels, an update

In the summer and autumn of 2014 hundreds of dead squirrels were reported to the DWHC; observers described them as literally falling dead out of the trees. Investigations carried out by the Dutch Wildlife Health Centre (DWHC) and the Zoogdiervereniging (the Dutch Organisation for Native Mammal Research and
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Highly pathogenic H5N8 in waterbirds in the Netherlands

On the 10th of November Wageningen Bioveterinary Research (WBVR) reported that the bird flu detected earlier this week in tufted ducks and great crested grebes in the Netherlands belongs to the highly pathogenic H5N8 form of the virus.
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Reappearance of tularemia in the central Netherlands

In October 2016 tularemia re-surfaced in hares (Lepus europaeus) in the Kromme Rijngebied (province of Utrecht) and the Vijfheerenlanden region in the neighbouring province of Zuid-Holland. Evidence of the disease was found in hares submitted to the Dutch Wildlife Health Centre for postmortem investigations and
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Hundreds of reports of dead blackbirds

Hundreds of reports of dead blackbirds Usutu-virus detected in 8 Dutch provinces Joint message from the DWHC, Erasmus MC, Sovon, Vogeltrekstation NIOO-KNAW, Vogelbescherming
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Usutu virus in the Netherlands

Usutu virus was recently detected for the first time in the Netherlands but has been circulating in Europe for some time. To-date it has been identified in captive great grey owls (Strix nebulosa) and in living and dead blackbirds (Turdus merula).
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