Veterinary use of diclofenac in livestock linked to increased rabies outbreaks

[Emily]

http://news.sciencemag.org/environment/2014/03/scientists-call-spain-ban-vulture-killing-drug

Scientists Call on Spain to Ban Vulture-Killing Drug
By
Chelsea Biondolillo
Friday, March 28, 2014 - 10:45am

The Spanish government should rescind approval of a veterinary drug that threatens Europe?s largest population of wild vultures, researchers argue in a letter published online yesterday in Conservation Biology. The drug, diclofenac, is commonly used to treat pain in livestock. It has already caused the decline of nearly 99% of India?s vultures, which ingested the drug while feeding on carcasses. It has also triggered an ecological chain reaction there, resulting in, among other impacts, record numbers of rabies cases...