CITIZEN SCIENTISTS MONITOR A DEADLY FUNGUS THREATENING AMPHIBIAN COMMUNITIES IN NORTHERN COASTAL CALIFORNIA, USA.

Ecoclub youth and supervising family members conducted citizen science to assess regional prevalence and distribution of Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis (Bd) among amphibians at Humboldt Bay National Wildlife Refuge (Refuge) and Redwood National and State Parks (Parks), Humboldt County, California, US, May 2013 through December 2014. Using quantitative real-time PCR, 26 (17%) of 155 samples were positive for Bd. Positive samples occurred in four frog and toad species: foothill yellow-legged frog ( Rana boylii ), northern red-legged frog ( Rana aurora ), Pacific chorus frog ( Pseudacris regilla ), and western toad (Anaxyrus [Bufo] boreas); no salamanders or anuran larvae were positive.

Ecology of Anaplasma phagocytophilum infection in gray foxes (Urocyon cinereoargenteus) in northwestern California.

Although granulocytic anaplasmosis, caused by infection of Anaplasma phagocytophilum, is an emerging human and domestic animal disease, the ecology and natural history of the parasite is not well understood. Gray foxes (Urocyon cinereoargenteus) are relatively common, occasionally peri-urban mesocarnivores whose geographic distribution overlaps the reported distribution of granulocytic anaplasmosis in humans and domestic animals in North America. We evaluated the potential of foxes as hosts and reservoirs of A.

Prevalences of zoonotic bacteria among seabirds in rehabilitation centers along the Pacific Coast of California and Washington, USA.

Many seabirds are rehabilitated annually by wildlife rehabilitation centers along the Pacific Coast, USA. Although various strains of zoonotic bacteria have been isolated from seabirds, risks to rehabilitators at these centers have not been well documented. From November 2001 through January 2003, we determined the prevalence of detectable enteric fauna by isolation and characterization of Gram-negative bacteria from cloacal swabs taken from 26 common murres (Uria aalge), 49 gulls (Larus spp.

Associations between water quality, Pasteurella multocida, and avian cholera at Sacramento National Wildlife Refuge.

We studied patterns in avian cholera mortality, the presence of Pasteurella multocida in the water or sediment, and water chemistry characteristics in 10 wetlands at the Sacramento National Wildlife Refuge Complex (California, USA), an area of recurrent avian cholera epizootics, during the winters of 1997 and 1998. Avian cholera outbreaks (>or=50 dead birds) occurred on two wetlands during the winter of 1997, but no P. multocida were recovered from 390 water and 390 sediment samples from any of the 10 wetlands.

Avian cholera on north coast California: distinctive epizootiological features.

Between 1945 and 2001, avian cholera (Pasteurella multocida infection) was confirmed at 27 epizootics in 18 different years on northcoastal California. Estimated mortality ranged from 1 to 6750 birds per site, with a median total mortality of about 1000 birds per year. Eight epizootics involved < 150 birds; thus, minor epizootics were common.