Category: Research Results

In the first few months of 2016 more birds of prey with oral inflammation were submitted to the DWHC than in previous years. The inflammation appeared to be caused by parasitic worms and cause difficulty with consuming prey, leading to energy shortage and ultimately death. A case report about buzzards in the

The green finch was selected as the focus species of the Dutch Wildlife Health Centre (DWHC) for 2016.

In 2015, 11 dead mute swans were submitted to the Dutch Wildlife Health Centre (DWHC) for post-mortem investigation. Whilst the cause of death of these birds varied, they were all negative for avian influenza virus.

The DWHC will continue to monitor the health status, and in particular, the occurrence of toxoplasmosis in the Dutch squirrel population and you can help by reporting finding a dead squirrel via the submission form on our website.

The DWHC regularly receives reports of or questions about deer with ‘bald spots’ (alopecia) or even almost entirely bald animals. This February two such animals were submitted to the DWHC for post-mortem exam.

In mid-March two buzzards from the Broekpolder were delivered to the bird sanctuary in Delft with signs of regurgitation; one died shortly after and the other, which developed seizures,  was euthanized; both were submitted to the DWHC for post-mortem exam. Although poisoning was suspected based on the clinical

A hare submitted to the Dutch Wildlife Health Centre (DWHC) for post-mortem investigation was suspected of having tularemia based on changes seen in the tissues under the microscope. Infection with Francisella tularensis, the causative agent of tularemia, was confirmed by molecular testing performed at the Central

This week the type 2 form of the lethal RHD virus  was confirmed in wild rabbits in the Netherlands. The virus, first encountered in France in 2010, was found in three wild rabbits from the Dutch provinces of Utrecht, Gelderland and South Holland that were submitted to the DWHC for post-mortem exam. Another

Despite their legendary reproductive capabilities, rabbit populations can nonetheless be decimated by the spread of rabbit hemorrhagic disease virus (also known as viral hemorrhagic disease, VHD). RHD (type 1) was first reported in the Netherlands in the 1990s when it caused a massive dent in some wild rabbit

In November 2015 a fox was submitted to the DWHC for post-mortem exam. The fox came from an area in which numerous foxes with mange-like signs had been seen  including five others in 2015 alone. A case of scabies (mange caused by the Sarcoptes mite) had been confirmed in a fox from this area in 2014.