Swedish experts baffled by 'mystery' elk illness
Published: 10 Aug 12 09:47 CET | Print version
Online: http://www.thelocal.se/42530/20120810/
A unexplained illness has been plaguing the elk community of southern Sweden, with experts perplexed as to why so many are being found dead or dying.
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14 adult elk have recently been found in the woods in severe states of paralysis, emaciation and blindness.
The blindness has resulted in some falling victim to traffic accidents; however experts have been left scratching their heads at to what is actually causing the illness.
“There is no scientific explanation,” said Lennart Balk of the Stockholm University to the Aftonbladet newspaper.
Balk has been researching the mortality of elk, and has pointed to the tens of thousands of wild birds that have also died in the area by a lack of thiamine, or vitamine B1, as a possible link.
“We see that the elk are infected with the same clinical symptomatology, but it is too early to say whether it's the same disease,” he said.
Meanwhile, the National Veterinary Institute (Statens veterinärmedicinska anstalt, SVA) is making an investigation into the deaths, but is yet to find any concrete results.
Viral and parasitic infections have been ruled out, and so have possible contaminants in the environment.
“It’s a mystery. These are animals that are in good condition. They are confused, and the one bull we had in was emaciated. We don’t know what’s causing it,” said Torsten Mörner of the SVA to the paper, adding that it’s “strange” that something would stop an elk from eating over the summer.
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The method of transmission is not fully understood. Evidence suggests the disease is spread through either direct animal-to-animal contact or indirect exposure to prions in the environment such as in contaminated feed or water sources. The local outbreak suggests a local source.
Moose is the American term. Elk is a different creature in N. America.
Check the wikipedia article here
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moose