Below are the USGS 2020 Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act (CARES Act) research projects related to tracking bats and coronaviruses. Select tabs above for related items.
National Wildlife Health Center (NWHC)
The NWHC has a national-scale surveillance program for high-priority diseases in wildlife. CARES Act funds have been used to extend this program and to cover surveillance for coronaviruses. NWHC scientists have worked with partners to collect over 1,000 samples from across the country for coronavirus surveillance and diagnostic characterization in bats, wild mammals (mustelids, felids, canids, cervids and other ungulates, marine mammals, bears) as well as various domesticated species (cats, dogs).
The NWHC is also working to fill a current critical technical gap in the detection and identification of emerging or introduced viral pathogens of wildlife. Through ongoing wildlife disease biosurveillance efforts, NWHC’s laboratories investigate approximately 400 wildlife mortality cases per year in support of wildlife conservation partners within the U.S. Department of Interior. However, identification of novel wildlife pathogens using currently available culture- and molecular biology-based techniques is time- and labor-intensive, and no USGS laboratory routinely utilizes next generation sequencing (NGS) based techniques for de novo discovery of novel wildlife pathogens when more traditional laboratory techniques are not successful. Through this project, NWHC will develop standardized procedures to utilize NGS to characterize unknown pathogens in samples collected during wildlife disease investigations.
The NWHC is tracking bats and conducting surveillance for coronaviruses across the country including rapid detection of emerging infectious diseases in wildlife and improving the ability to predict the behavior and dynamics of the disease from its emergence through endemicity by developing a computational model. This computational model can be applied not only in coronavirus diffusion but also for zoonotic disease surveillance and management. To demonstrate the flexibility of the model, researchers from the NWHC have integrated data from bat White Nose Syndrome (WNS) studies to forecast where the disease may be heading next. This information has been used to set annual surveillance goals for WNS and to monitor its spread.
Fort Collins Science Center (FORT)
The COVID-19 pandemic has brought stark attention to the need to adopt a One Health approach to wildlife monitoring and natural resource management efforts by recognizing that human health, animal health, and ecosystem health are inextricably linked. There is growing evidence that some mammals such as mink, white-tailed deer, and wild cats (at zoos) are susceptible to SARS-CoV-2 when exposed to humans shedding the virus, and there are concerns about the potential for North American bats to be vulnerable to infection from SARS-CoV-2. If bats are susceptible to SARS-CoV- 2, the potential for bat population impacts from infection would have far-reaching implications for wildlife health and conservation efforts.
The NABat program was established in 2015 to provide reliable information on where North American bats occur and how their populations respond to current and future threats. Now in 2022, the NABat human infrastructure has grown to include a network of more than 160 partnering organizations including Federal, State, Tribal, and non-governmental organizations, community scientists and private industry collecting and submitting data across 49 US States and 8 Canadian provinces. NABat Monitoring Hubs help coordinate regional data collection efforts, provide technical assistance, and actionable science to local partners. The goal of this project is to expand the North American Bat Monitoring Program’s capacity to conduct bat health surveillance and inform wildlife management. We aim to leverage the NABat sampling framework to monitor the health of North American bat species across the Continental U.S. and ensure that bats are not getting exposed to SARS-CoV-2 from people.
A human dimension component of FORT’s work funded by the CARES Act is assessing nuisance wildlife control operators in the northeast to conduct paired guano sampling with surveys to understand the perception of risk of human proximity to bats. FORT researchers also are investigating the potential for environmental guano sampling to better understand viruses of potential human health concern.
Western Ecological Research Center (WERC)
Despite these recent increases in viral surveillance efforts, many questions about viral ecology in bats remain unanswered and much of the North American bat virome has yet to be described. WERC research complements FORT’s work by examining the virus genomes (viromes) of western bats. They are further exploring the relationship between bat viromes and their ecology, including roosting behavior and sociality, and population genetic structure and connectivity. They will also examine the utility of environmental samples, which are much easier to obtain than samples from individual bats, to serve as a viral surveillance tool.
The USGS Ecosystems Mission Area provides support for the Institutional Animal Care and Use Committees (IACUCs) at EMA science centers across the nation. For ore visit our Animal Welfare Assurance website.
SARS-CoV-2 in Wildlife
Decision Science Support for SARS-CoV-2 Risk to North American Bats
Development of SARS-CoV-2 vaccine to support black-footed ferret conservation
Below are the USGS 2020 Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act (CARES Act) research projects related to tracking bats and coronaviruses. Select tabs above for related items.
National Wildlife Health Center (NWHC)
The NWHC has a national-scale surveillance program for high-priority diseases in wildlife. CARES Act funds have been used to extend this program and to cover surveillance for coronaviruses. NWHC scientists have worked with partners to collect over 1,000 samples from across the country for coronavirus surveillance and diagnostic characterization in bats, wild mammals (mustelids, felids, canids, cervids and other ungulates, marine mammals, bears) as well as various domesticated species (cats, dogs).
The NWHC is also working to fill a current critical technical gap in the detection and identification of emerging or introduced viral pathogens of wildlife. Through ongoing wildlife disease biosurveillance efforts, NWHC’s laboratories investigate approximately 400 wildlife mortality cases per year in support of wildlife conservation partners within the U.S. Department of Interior. However, identification of novel wildlife pathogens using currently available culture- and molecular biology-based techniques is time- and labor-intensive, and no USGS laboratory routinely utilizes next generation sequencing (NGS) based techniques for de novo discovery of novel wildlife pathogens when more traditional laboratory techniques are not successful. Through this project, NWHC will develop standardized procedures to utilize NGS to characterize unknown pathogens in samples collected during wildlife disease investigations.
The NWHC is tracking bats and conducting surveillance for coronaviruses across the country including rapid detection of emerging infectious diseases in wildlife and improving the ability to predict the behavior and dynamics of the disease from its emergence through endemicity by developing a computational model. This computational model can be applied not only in coronavirus diffusion but also for zoonotic disease surveillance and management. To demonstrate the flexibility of the model, researchers from the NWHC have integrated data from bat White Nose Syndrome (WNS) studies to forecast where the disease may be heading next. This information has been used to set annual surveillance goals for WNS and to monitor its spread.
Fort Collins Science Center (FORT)
The COVID-19 pandemic has brought stark attention to the need to adopt a One Health approach to wildlife monitoring and natural resource management efforts by recognizing that human health, animal health, and ecosystem health are inextricably linked. There is growing evidence that some mammals such as mink, white-tailed deer, and wild cats (at zoos) are susceptible to SARS-CoV-2 when exposed to humans shedding the virus, and there are concerns about the potential for North American bats to be vulnerable to infection from SARS-CoV-2. If bats are susceptible to SARS-CoV- 2, the potential for bat population impacts from infection would have far-reaching implications for wildlife health and conservation efforts.
The NABat program was established in 2015 to provide reliable information on where North American bats occur and how their populations respond to current and future threats. Now in 2022, the NABat human infrastructure has grown to include a network of more than 160 partnering organizations including Federal, State, Tribal, and non-governmental organizations, community scientists and private industry collecting and submitting data across 49 US States and 8 Canadian provinces. NABat Monitoring Hubs help coordinate regional data collection efforts, provide technical assistance, and actionable science to local partners. The goal of this project is to expand the North American Bat Monitoring Program’s capacity to conduct bat health surveillance and inform wildlife management. We aim to leverage the NABat sampling framework to monitor the health of North American bat species across the Continental U.S. and ensure that bats are not getting exposed to SARS-CoV-2 from people.
A human dimension component of FORT’s work funded by the CARES Act is assessing nuisance wildlife control operators in the northeast to conduct paired guano sampling with surveys to understand the perception of risk of human proximity to bats. FORT researchers also are investigating the potential for environmental guano sampling to better understand viruses of potential human health concern.
Western Ecological Research Center (WERC)
Despite these recent increases in viral surveillance efforts, many questions about viral ecology in bats remain unanswered and much of the North American bat virome has yet to be described. WERC research complements FORT’s work by examining the virus genomes (viromes) of western bats. They are further exploring the relationship between bat viromes and their ecology, including roosting behavior and sociality, and population genetic structure and connectivity. They will also examine the utility of environmental samples, which are much easier to obtain than samples from individual bats, to serve as a viral surveillance tool.
The USGS Ecosystems Mission Area provides support for the Institutional Animal Care and Use Committees (IACUCs) at EMA science centers across the nation. For ore visit our Animal Welfare Assurance website.