Wildlife Disease

This project seeks to improve our understanding of how domestic ducks move throughout the market chain in China and the role this may play in the amplification and spread of avian influenza viruses.

Mallard duck as such as this pair may be reservoirs of Type A influenza viruses, which under some circumstances may potentially become pathogenic to waterfowl, other wildlife and even humans.

Striped bass ( Morone saxatilis ) displaying ulcerative skin lesions and chronic wasting, both typical clinical signs of mycobacteriosis, a bacterial disease that is problematic among many types of fishes around the world.

The image is an investigator performing venipuncture for blood collection for health analysis of a northern snakehead fish collected from a Potomac River tributary in northern Virginia.

Streamside salamanders such as this one are susceptible to invasive fungal pathogens of the genus Batrachochytrium . Two types of emerging fungal agents, B. dendrobatidis and B. salamandrivorans have been identified as serious risks to our amphibian populations.

This rainbow trout is displaying clinical signs of enteric redmouth disease caused by a systemic bacterial infection.

The Challenge: The field of decision analysis is a rich and mature discipline that provides robust methods for helping decision makers understand the nature of their decisions, involve stakeholders and scientists in appropriate steps of the process, and develop transparent records for the public. The use of these structured approaches is emerging in natural resource management, and there is strong...