E-DRUG: Diclofenac residues killing Asian vultures
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[not really a defined topic in E-drug, but maybe we should think a bit more
about medicines entering our ecosystem, and doing lots of harm. This story
about veterinary diclofenac (do they need it so much!) killing asian
viltures seems odd, but remember: antibiotics on apples, antibiotics in
chicken, growth hormones in US cattle... WB]
dear E-druggers,
Forwarded from an international health list.
We can't forget that we are part of an eco-system.
Joana Ramos, MSW
Cancer Resources & Advocacy
7303 23rd Ave. NE
Seattle WA 98115
206-229-2420
joaninha@comcast.net
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It has been some 10 years since the vulture numbers starting to decline and
yes they have nearly vanished.
Here is an interesting article with url.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/3437583.stm
Vet drug 'killing Asian vultures'
G. bengalensis is now critically endangered.
Scientists believe they have identified the main cause behind the
catastrophic decline seen in Asian vulture numbers.
In the past 10 years, population losses of more than 95% have been reported
in three raptor species across many areas of the Indian sub-continent.
Lindsay Oaks' research team has now shown the birds are dying after eating
the carcasses of livestock treated with the common veterinary drug
diclofenac.
Dr Oaks, backed by The Peregrine Fund, reports her work in Nature magazine.
"This discovery is significant in that it is the first known case of a
pharmaceutical causing major ecological damage over a huge geographic area
and threatening three species with extinction," the US researcher from
Washington State University said.
The three species are the Oriental white-backed vulture (Gyps bengalensis),
the long-billed vulture (Gyps indicus) and the slender-billed vulture (Gyps
tenuirostris).
All three are now classed as critically endangered.
Experimental work
The birds succumb to kidney failure and visceral gout. Early signs that the
raptors are affected can be seen from the way they hang their heads down to
their feet for long periods.
Such has been the alarming decline in bird numbers that international
organisations have pumped hundreds of thousands of pounds into research to
track down the cause of all the deaths.
Now, Dr Oaks and colleagues have found high residues diclofenac in dead
vultures in the field.
They have also been able produce similar patterns of disease in experimental
vulture colonies fed the drug either directly or via carcasses of buffalo or
goat that had been treated with diclofenac.
Other possible causes of death, such as poisoning by mercury or arsenic or
infection by viruses, have been investigated and ruled out.
Diclofenac is a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug that has been in human
use for pain and inflammation for decades. The veterinary use of diclofenac
on livestock in South Asia has grown in the past decade.
Pivotal role
The Nature report has led ornithological and other conservation groups to
call for the immediate withdrawal of diclofenac from use.
"Vultures have an important ecological role in the Asian environment, where
they have been relied upon for millennia to clean up and remove dead
livestock and even human corpses," said Dr Munir Virani, a biologist for
US-based Peregrine Fund, and who coordinated the massive field
investigations across Nepal, India, and Pakistan.
"Their loss has important economic, cultural, and human health
consequences."
One immediate impact has been the explosion in feral dog populations which
have moved into areas no longer scavenged by vultures.
Britain has invested significant research time and money on the vulture
problem through its Darwin Initiative for the Survival of Species.
Dr Debbie Pain, a research scientist at the Royal Society for the Protection
of Birds, said: "In the 1980s, [Gyps bengalensis] was thought to be the most
abundant large bird of prey in the world, but in little over a decade, the
population has crashed by more than 99%, with the loss of tens of millions
of birds.
"The decline of Asian vultures is one of the steepest declines experienced
by any bird species, and is certainly faster than that suffered by the dodo
before its extinction. If nothing is done these vulture species will become
extinct."
--
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