[Pollinator] [beemonitoring] Scare Tactics?

Tue Feb 9 09:50:28 PST 2016

We have also recently found DWV in Bumble bees (in VA) but as John P
comments, we cannot yet comment on pathogenicity. We are in the process of
the quantification now.

Lisa

On Tue, Feb 9, 2016 at 10:29 AM, John Purdy <johnrpurdy at gmail.com> wrote:

> It would be good if those who announce the finding of viruses that are new
> or in new species could hold to a standard of science reporting that
> includes confirmation of both replication and pathogenicity.  The first of
> these is easy once the RNA sequence is known but the second takes some
> effort. Viruses can be complicated. there is no merit in "crying wolf", but
> on the other hand we have experiences like Zika virus which was considered
> insignificant until the possibility of a major pathogenic outcome arose.
>
> The other problems in working with viruses is the lack of diagnostic
> symptoms and the lack of quantitative thresholds for the results of
> molecular methods of detection.
>
> For interest, I have attached a PDF of a USDA bulletin from 1914 that
> describes the symptoms of viruses. Viruses must have been a new phenomenon
> at the time,but the knowledge have been forgotten and rediscovered several
> times since then. Notice how similar they are to the symptoms described for
> pesticide poisoning.  A troubling ambiguity.
>
> John Purdy, PhD
>
>
>
>
>
>
> On Mon, Feb 8, 2016 at 8:54 AM, Stoner, Kimberly <Kimberly.Stoner at ct.gov>
> wrote:
>
>> Hi Russel and others,
>>
>> Deformed wing virus and black queen cell virus have been found in some
>> species of bumble bees here in the US.  We collected Bombus impatiens and
>> sent them off to John Burand at the University of Massachusetts as part of
>> a larger project and he found both of these viruses in our bumble bees from
>> several different locations (pumpkin/squash fields) around Connecticut.
>> Others have also found honey bee viruses in other bees.
>>
>>
>>
>> Finding these viruses with PCR is not the same as showing that they
>> replicate or are pathogenic in bumble bees.  That has been shown with DWV
>> and  B. terrestris in the UK, but not yet with US species, to my knowledge.
>>
>> Kim
>>
>>
>>
>> *From:* beemonitoring at yahoogroups.com [mailto:
>> beemonitoring at yahoogroups.com] *On Behalf Of *Russel Barsh
>> rlbarsh at gmail.com [beemonitoring]
>> *Sent:* Saturday, February 06, 2016 11:40 PM
>> *To:* Peter Bernhardt <bernhap2 at slu.edu>
>> *Cc:* Bee United <beemonitoring at yahoogroups.com>; Pollinator List-serv <
>> pollinator at lists.sonic.net>; Graham Pyke <Graham.Pyke at uts.edu.au>;
>> Gerardo Camilo <camilogr at slu.edu>; James Trager <James.Trager at mobot.org>
>> *Subject:* Re: [beemonitoring] Scare Tactics?
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> Peter --
>>
>> We read the underlying article in SCIENCE and yes, I think the press
>> story you cited is implying that DWV is the sole or principal cause of
>> colony collapse, and that its spread is a consequence of global
>> bee-keeping. The underlying article argues from phylogenetic data that DWV
>> is an ancestral disease of honeybees, but that its transmission has been
>> facilitated by Varroa mites as carriers. Living with a beekeeping and
>> honey-making family (my in-laws on the islands here), I hear stories all
>> the time about sloppy inexperienced beekeepers that don't take proper
>> measures to control mites. So the story may have been better titled "Sloppy
>> beekeeping facilitates transmission of DWV worldwide".
>>
>> I'm much more disturbed by the evidence published in NATURE in 2014 for
>> honeybee viruses jumping to bumblebees. We really need to do more
>> collecting of wild bees and genomic screening for viruses such as DWV that
>> could be spread by domesticated and commercialized bees to wild species.
>>
>> I've been collecting wild herring (a whole different side of my science
>> life) for colleagues at USGS here that are studying viral epidemics in fish
>> that may be transmitted up the food chain i.e. from small fish to their
>> predators. It's an angle I would like to help launch in the study of
>> pollinator networks.
>>
>> Thanks for throwing a spotlight on misleading reportage...
>>
>>
>>
>> Russel.
>>
>> Russel
>>
>> Russel Barsh
>>
>> Director, KWIAHT
>>
>> PO Box 415, Lopez Island WA 98261
>>
>>
>>
>> On Sat, Feb 6, 2016 at 3:18 AM, Peter Bernhardt bernhap2 at slu.edu
>> [beemonitoring] <beemonitoring-noreply at yahoogroups.com> wrote:
>>
>>
>>
>> Please go to the following link.  Do you think the media is overdoing it,
>> just a bit, or is the situation as grim as they make it?  Some sites are
>> referring to the virus as a man-made (vs. man spread) disease.
>>
>>
>>
>> http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2016/02/160204150617.htm
>>
>>
>>
>> __._,_.___
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>
> --
> John Purdy PhD
> Environmental Scientist
> Abacus Consulting Services Ltd
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-- 

Associate Professor
Dept of Biological Science
Old Dominion University
Norfolk, VA 23529
lhorth at odu.edu
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