Data
Access scientific datasets from the USGS National Wildlife Health Center below. Wildlife morbidity and mortality event data can be accessed through WHISPers. If you can't find the data you are looking for, contact whispers@usgs.gov.
Filter Total Items: 108
Pseudogymnoascus destructans detections by US county (2008-2012)
This data represents the number of positive and negative Pd (Pseudogymnoascus destructans) detections by county over the sampling period 2008-2012. Pd is the fungus that is the causative agent of white-nose syndrome.
Evaluating regulations and surveillance as risk-mitigation to the emerging amphibian pathogen Bsal- Data release
Results of a literature search performed December 1, 2020. The tables in this document summarize the publications fitting in this search criteria and are split into the publications that update the list of international species that could carry Bsal (Appendix 1 Table S1). Number of individual live amphibians imported in categories of urodelan (salamander, newt, and related taxa) species...
Tracking the growth of Ophidiomyces ophidiicola over time in natural and sterile soils using quantitative PCR
Wildlife diseases pose an ever-growing threat to global biodiversity. Understanding how wildlife pathogens are distributed in the environment and the ability of pathogens to form environmental reservoirs is critical to understanding and predicting disease dynamics within host populations. Snake fungal disease (SFD) is an emerging conservation threat to North American snake populations...
Data from pathology of Lagovirus europaeus GI.2/RHDV2/b (rabbit hemorrhagic disease virus 2) in native North American lagomorphs
Rabbit hemorrhagic disease, a notifiable foreign animal disease in the USA, was reported for the first time in wild native North American rabbits and hares in April 2020 in the southwestern USA. Affected species included the Desert Cottontail (Sylvilagus audubonii), Mountain Cottontail (S. nutallii), Black-tailed Jackrabbit (Lepus californicus), and Antelope Jackrabbit (L. alleni)...
Confirmed cases of snake fungal disease in historical museum specimens
Snake fungal disease (SFD) represents a conservation threat to wild snake populations. The disease was reported in North America early in the 21st century, but the history of SFD has not been investigated. We examined museum specimens and confirmed cases of SFD based on clinical signs, histopathologic lesions, and detection of the causative agent Ophidiomyces ophidiicola. The first...
Domoic acid and saxitoxin in seabirds from California and Rhode Island 2015-2017
As harmful algal blooms (HABs) increase in magnitude and duration worldwide, they are becoming an expanding threat to marine wildlife. Over the past decade, domoic acid (DA) and saxitoxin (STX) have been increasingly problematic bicoastally in the United States. We investigated pooled seabird mortality data from opportunistic sampling events between 2007-2018, across three states, to...
Sea star wasting disease pathology
Sea star wasting disease (SSWD) is a suite of poorly described non-specific clinical signs including abnormal posture, epidermal ulceration, and limb autotomy (sloughing) causing mortalities of over 20 species of sea stars and subsequent ecological shifts throughout the northeastern Pacific. While SSWD is widely assumed to be infectious with environmental conditions facilitating disease...
Immunological histopathology of American kestrels (Falco sparverius) exposed to the flame retardant isopropyl triphenyl phosphate
This work is part of a study of the immunological effects of exposure to alternative flame retardants in avian species. For the pathology portion of the study, hatchling American kestrels (Falco sparverius) were exposed to the flame retardant isopropyl triphenyl phosphate (ITP) and then challenged with a synthetic analogue of viral double-stranded RNA, polyinosinic:polycytidylic acid...
Immunological histopathology of American kestrels (Falco sparverius) exposed in ovo to two persistent organic pollutants -- SCCPs and TBBPA-BDBPE
This work is part of a study of the immunological effects of exposure to alternative flame retardants in avian species. For the pathology portion of the study, spleens and bursas from American kestrels (Falco sparverius) exposed by egg injection to varying doses of short-chain chlorinated paraffins (SCCPs) and the flame retardant TBBPA-BDBPE were examined microscopically for...
Necropsy reference number and summary collection information for Washington state population of northern sea otters examined during 1989-2010
Morbillivirus epidemics in marine mammals first gained prominence in 1988 when an outbreak of phocine distemper virus (PDV) occurred in European harbor seals (Phoca vitulina vitulina). Prior to 2001, all serosurveys for morbilliviruses in sea otters (Enhydra lutris) in California, Washington and Alaska documented a 0% seroprevalence. The first published serodetections of morbillivirus in...
Mouse predation on Laysan albatross
Invasive rodents on islands have adverse impacts on native birds in island ecosystems, and rats are the most common culprits. Recently, house mice (Mus musculus) in the South Atlantic were found preying on three species of albatross chicks. Here, we show that house mice can also prey on nesting adult Laysan albatross (Phoebastrea immutabilis) on Midway Atoll National Wildlife Refuge (USA...
Data on blood cells of the collector urchin, Tripneustes gratilla
Echinoderms such as urchins are important in marine ecosystems, particularly as grazers, and unhealthy urchins can have important ecological implications. For instance, unexplained mortalities of Diadema sp. in the Caribbean were followed by algal overgrowth and subsequent collapse of coral reef ecosystems. Unfortunately few tools exist to evaluate echinoderm health making management of...