Polar Bear dies from West Nile Virus
Pastor Dale Morgan
Polar Bear dies from West Nile Virus*
POSTED: 1742 GMT (0142 HKT), October 25, 2006
TORONTO, Ontario (Reuters) -- A polar bear at the Toronto zoo could be
the first of its kind to die of the mosquito-borne West Nile virus, and
zoo officials say the thick-skinned animal could have been bitten on the
nose.
"It is bizarre because [polar bears] have very thick fur and thick skin,
so a mosquito would have had to land on his nose or his eyeball or
somewhere where it could get through," Shanna Young, executive director
of communications at Toronto Zoo, said Wednesday.
She said the zoo believed it was the first time that a polar bear had
died of the tropical disease, although there has been evidence that the
virus has turned up in black bears.
The zoo euthanized the bear, named Kunik, last month after it had
trouble using its hind legs. The symptoms pointed to West Nile
encephalitis, an inflammation of the brain, and Young said postmortem
tests came up strongly positive.
A sample of the bear's brain tissue has been sent to Health Canada,
which is responsible for national public health, and a confirmation of
the cause of death is expected within weeks.
West Nile virus was first isolated nearly 70 years ago in Uganda. It is
mainly transmitted through the bite of an infected mosquito, which
itself became infected by feeding on the blood of infected birds.
Toronto has seen six human cases of West Nile this year, down from 38 in
2005. The zoo, Canada's biggest, conducts mosquito eradication programs
and tests vaccinations on its animals, but there is no vaccine for polar
bears, Young said.
Kunik was 26 years old and came to the zoo after it was orphaned in
Canada's Northwest Territories, Young said. "He was huge, over a
thousand pounds. He loved to swim and was very playful."
One polar bear remains at the zoo. Another died earlier this year of old
age.