The Rural Voice, 1995-07, Page 13Scrap Book
Some wildlife
diseases risky
for humans
Farmers and other rural
people, since they are most in
touch with nature, are also most
susceptible to diseases that can
be transmitted from animals to
people (zoonotic diseases). The
Canadian Co-operative Wildlife
Health Centre (CCWHC) at the
University of Guelph is tracking
several of these diseases.
Hantavirus, the cause of
"Four Corners Disease" is
carried in the urine and feces of
deer mice which are found in
the woodlands throughout much
of Canada and the U.S. There
have been seven cases, several
of them fatal, of hantavirus in
the past few years in British
Columbia and Alberta. Ian
Barker, co-ordinator of
CCWHC says mouse -proofing
of dwellings and using care in
the handling and disposing of
dead mice and droppings will
reduce the risk of exposure.
The CCWHC is also monitor-
ing tularemia, a bacterial infect-
ion that affects aquatic rodents
such as beaver and muskrat.
People like trappers who handle
the animals can pick up the dis-
ease with its flu-like symptoms.
It is treatable with antibiotics
and is rarely fatal in Canada.
Tularemia has long-term cycles
and the last major outbreak was
in the 1980s, when thousands of
beaver died in Ontario.
Eastern Equine Encephalitis is
a virus transmitted among wild
birds by mosquitoes in swampy
areas. If the virus gets into an
abnormal host such as a horse or
human, it causes disease.
Although there had been no
recognized cases in Ontario for
many years, outbreaks near
Woodstock and Muskoka in
1992 and 1994 killed several
horses, but no human cases
occurrcd.0
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