AIDS-like retrovirus threatens Australia's koalas with extinction

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	AIDS-like retrovirus threatens Australia's koalas with extinction

tabsey

9-22-2009 9:12 AM

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extinction

tabsey says:

Together with loss of habitat, inbreeding etc, it is no wonder that this pic was taken at a sanctuary.

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9-22-2009 10:36 AM

Kelika

Horrible news! When populations (animals or human) get stressed, it seems to open up the way for infections to develop rapidly.

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<div style="margin: 12px 0px; font-family: arial; color: #333333; background: #ffffff; border: solid 4px #e5e5e5; width: 100%; clear: left;"><div class="CM_CTB_Content_Wrap" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;background-color: #ffffff;"><div style="border-bottom: solid 1px #dcdcdc; white-space: nowrap; margin-bottom: 8px; background-color: #eeeeee ;background-image: url(http://clipmarks.com/images/source-bg.gif); background-repeat: repeat-x; height: 24px; line-height: 24px; vertical-align: middle; padding-bottom: 4px; color: #666666; font-size: 10px;" ><a href="http://clipmarks.com/clip-to-blog/" title="see clips that are hot right now"><img src="http://content.clipmarks.com/blog_embed/13b91c8b-017b-4cd3-b0d2-47d5ac10ad8c/E4EC55EA-F3D2-4555-B06F-B09BA69FF6F0/" alt="" width="19" height="19" border="0" style="vertical-align: middle; margin: 0px 4px; display: inline; border: none; float:none;" /></a>clipped from <a title="http://www.scientificamerican.com/blog/60-second-science/post.cfm?id=aids-like-retrovirus-threatens-aust-2009-09-21" href="http://www.scientificamerican.com/blog/60-second-science/post.cfm?id=aids-like-retrovirus-threatens-aust-2009-09-21" style="font-size: 11px;">www.scientificamerican.com</a></div><blockquote style="text-align: left; padding: 0px 8px; margin: 4px 0px 8px 0px; background: transparent; border: none;" cite="http://www.scientificamerican.com/blog/60-second-science/post.cfm?id=aids-like-retrovirus-threatens-aust-2009-09-21"><DIV>Koalas (<EM>Phascolarctos cinereus</EM>) may be one of the world's cuter critters, but that doesn't mean they have it easy. Not only have koala populations become heavily fragmented due to habitat loss, they face numerous threats that they never encountered before: <A href="http://www.goldcoast.com.au/article/2009/09/13/136425_gold-coast-news.html">household cats and dogs</A> frequently kill koalas; hundreds die every year after being run over by cars and trucks; and now a deadly virus is spreading to koalas throughout Australia.</DIV>
</blockquote><div style="height: 2px; font-size: 2px; background: #dcdcdc; border-bottom: solid 1px #f5f5f5; margin: 2px 4px;"></div><blockquote style="text-align: left; padding: 0px 8px; margin: 4px 0px 8px 0px; background: transparent; border: none;" cite="http://www.scientificamerican.com/blog/60-second-science/post.cfm?id=aids-like-retrovirus-threatens-aust-2009-09-21">The <A href="http://genomebiology.com/2006/7/11/241">koala retrovirus</A>, which infects and alters the animal's DNA, has been linked to a variety of diseases and medical problems, including leukemia, bone marrow failure, cancer and AIDS-like immune deficiencies. First found in 2000, <A href="http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=experts-where-did-viruses-come-fr">the retrovirus</A> is already forcing some smaller koala populations into extinction, says Jon Hanger, director of research and ecological services at the <A href="http://www.wildlifewarriors.org.au/wildlife_hospital/">Australian Wildlife Hospital</A>. Hanger was the first person to genetically sequence the koala retrovirus after its discovery.</blockquote><div style="height: 2px; font-size: 2px; background: #dcdcdc; border-bottom: solid 1px #f5f5f5; margin: 2px 4px;"></div><blockquote style="text-align: left; padding: 0px 8px; margin: 4px 0px 8px 0px; background: transparent; border: none;" cite="http://www.scientificamerican.com/blog/60-second-science/post.cfm?id=aids-like-retrovirus-threatens-aust-2009-09-21"><div align="center"><img src="http://content9.clipmarks.com/blog_cache/www.scientificamerican.com/img/DFA8BC6D-B4F6-4805-B37F-D863972B6CBB" alt="Australian koala" /></div></blockquote></div><div style="margin: 0px 6px 6px 4px;"><table style="font-size: 11px;border-spacing: 0px;padding: 0px;" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="100%"><tr><td style="background:transparent;border-width:0px;padding:0px;">&nbsp;</td><td align="right" style="background:transparent;border-width:0px;padding:0px;width:107px" width="107"><a href="http://clipmarks.com/share/E4EC55EA-F3D2-4555-B06F-B09BA69FF6F0/blog/" title="blog or email this clip"><img src="http://content6.clipmarks.com/images/c2b-foot.png" border="0" alt="blog it" width="107" height="17" style="border-width:0px;padding:0px;margin:0px;" /></a></td></tr></table></div></div>

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