Dangers of mercury in whale meat highlighted by new treaty

New mercury treaty to flag threats to human health of toxic whale & dolphin meat

October 2013. As the world's first legally binding international treaty to curb the release of mercury into the environment has been signed, a coalition of NGOs urged countries to take immediate steps to address communities at particular risk of contamination from the consumption of whale and dolphin products.

Mercury contaminated meat

"For far too long, coastal communities around the world have been allowed to consume the mercury-contaminated meat of whales, dolphins and porpoises, many in ignorance of the risks involved," said Clare Perry, Senior Campaigner at the UK-and US-based Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA).

"Now signatories to the new treaty must make communities in places as far afield as Japan and the Faroe Islands properly aware of the very serious risks to human health that come from eating the meat of toothed cetaceans."

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Bats Host More Than 60 Human-Infecting Viruses

Joseph Castro, LiveScience Contributor

Date: 06 February 2013 Time: 09:25 AM ET

Many animals harbor viruses that can jump to other species, but bats may be in a class of their own when it comes to carrying zoonotic (human-infecting) viruses. Bats are reservoirs for more than 60 viruses that can infect humans, and host more viruses per species than even rodents do, new research shows.

"There seems to be something different about bats in terms of being able to host zoonotic infections," study researcher David Hayman, a wildlife epidemiologist at Colorado State University (CSU), told LiveScience.

In recent years, bats have received a lot of attention for their virus-hosting abilities. They've been shown to carry a number of harmful infections, including rabies and viruses related to SARS (severe acute respiratory syndrome). Moreover, research suggests bats may be the original hosts of nasty viruses such as Ebola and Nipah, which causes deadly brain fevers in people.

Continued:  http://www.livescience.com/26898-bats-host-human-infecting-viruses.html

Health risk from handling captive sea turtles identified

Potential exposure to septicaemia, pneumonia, meningitis and acute renal failure

February 2013. Tourists coming into contact with sea turtles at holiday attractions face a risk of health problems, according to research published by the Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine (JRSM) Short Reports. Encountering free-living sea turtles in nature is quite safe, but contact with wild-caught and captive-housed sea turtles, typically through handling turtles in confined pools or through consuming turtle products, carries the risk of exposure to toxic contaminants and to zoonotic (animal to human) pathogens such as bacteria, viruses, fungi and parasites. Symptoms, which may take some time to emerge, can resemble gastrointestinal disorders or flu but people more severely affected can suffer septicaemia, pneumonia, meningitis and acute renal failure.

The biggest bacterial culprits are E.Coli and Salmonella, although there are some lower infection threats from viruses such as Vibrio. Fungi and parasites represent the area of least concern. 

Continued:  http://www.wildlifeextra.com/go/news/sea-turtle-health.html