Archive: 2017

Meningitis cause of abnormal behaviour in Roe deer

At the beginning of June 2017 a roebuck in the province of Utrecht was spotted behaving oddly; the animal showed no flight response and stood still rather than fleeing when approached. The animal was euthanised by a nature warden and submitted to the DWHC for post-mortem exam.
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Interim report: Greenfinch, DWHC focus species, 2016

The greenfinch and other species of finch were the focus species of the Dutch Wildlife Health Centre DWHC in 2016. These species were chosen in order to shed light on the presence of trichomonas infection in greenfinches and other finch sorts in the Netherlands.
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Animal found on the A28 motorway was a wild wolf

The wolf found dead along the A28 at the beginning of March belonged to a pack of wolves in Germany. DNA testing has shown that the healthy male wolf of about 1.5 years old was a member of the Cuxhaven pack based north of the town of Bremen in Lower Saxony. This is approximately 200 km from the place where the
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Skin lesions in a red deer

In October 2016 the cadaver of a red deer stag with extensive damage to the skin of the back was submitted to the DWHC. Investigations revealed a severe chronic-active dermatitis (inflammation of the skin) which was possibly a result of self-trauma due to itchiness caused by the large number of deer keds (biting
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Distemper in a stone marten

Distemper was detected in a stone marten (Martes foina) from the Enschede area in the Dutch province of Overijssel. The animal was seen to be behaving oddly for several days before being found dead in a pond in December 2016.
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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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Stoat and weasel: DWHC focus species 2017

Two small mustelid species that are found in the Netherlands, the stoat (Mustela erminea) and the weasel (Mustela nivalis), have been chosen as the Dutch Wildlife Health Centre’s focus species for 2017. These species were chosen as relatively little is known about their distribution and disease status in the
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