Tuesday, August 22, 2006

Typhoid Rocky

The News & Star reports on the danger posed to native British red squirrels by American grey squirrels who carry parapoxvirus:

A deadly squirrel disease which only affects reds could see the species disappear from some of its last remaining English strongholds within a decade, new research revealed today.
Previously scientists believed that grey squirrels were wiping out native reds simply by taking over their habitats, but an international study has blamed a virus which they transmit to the red population, killing them within a fortnight.

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