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Publications

View citations of publications by National Wildlife Health Center scientists since our founding in 1975.  Access to full-text is provided where possible.

Wildlife Health Bulletins

Sanderling on sand.

Wildlife Health Bulletins are distributed to natural resource/conservation agencies to provide and promote information exchange about significant wildlife health threats.

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Wildlife Disease Case Definitions

Lesser black-backed gull

Case definitions provide a standardized, science-based set of criteria for diagnosing disease and pathogens. This manual provides case definitions for selected diseases of importance to wildlife in Canada and the United States.

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Additional Resources

Filter Total Items: 1605

Are we working towards global research priorities for management and conservation of sea turtles?

In 2010, an international group of 35 sea turtle researchers refined an initial list of more than 200 research questions into 20 metaquestions that were considered key for management and conservation of sea turtles. These were classified under 5 categories: reproductive biology, biogeography, population ecology, threats and conservation strategies. To obtain a picture of how research is being focu
Authors
A.F. Rees, J. Alfaro-Shigueto, P.C.R. Barata, K.A. Bjorndal, A.B. Bolten, J. Bourjea, A.C. Broderick, L.M. Campbell, L. Cardona, C. Carreras, P. Casale, S.A. Ceriani, P.H. Dutton, T. Eguchi, A. Formia, M.M.P.B. Fuentes, W.J. Fuller, M. Girondot, M.H. Godfrey, M. Hamann, Kristen M. Hart, G.C. Hays, S. Hochscheid, Y. Kaska, M.P. Jensen, J.C. Mangel, J.A. Mortimer, E. Naro-Maciel, C.K.Y. Ng, W.J. Nichols, A.D. Phillott, R.D. Reina, O. Revuelta, G. Schofield, J.A. Seminoff, K. Shanker, J. Tomás, J.P. van de Merwe, K.S. Van Houtan, H.B. Vander Zanden, B.P. Wallace, K.R. Wedemeyer-Strombel, Thierry M. Work, B.J. Godley
By
Ecosystems Mission Area, National Wildlife Health Center, Wetland and Aquatic Research Center

White-nose syndrome in North American bats - U.S. Geological Survey updates

White-nose syndrome is a devastating wildlife disease that has killed millions of hibernating bats. This disease first appeared in New York during 2007 and has continued to spread at an alarming rate from the northeastern to the central United States and throughout eastern Canada. The disease is named for the fungus Pseudogymnoascus destructans, which often appears white when it infects the skin o
Authors
Emily W. Lankau, Gail Moede Rogall
By
Ecosystems Mission Area, National Wildlife Health Center

Quarterly wildlife mortality report January 2016 to March 2016

No abstract available
Authors
Anne E. Ballmann, Barbara L. Bodenstein, Robert J. Dusek, Daniel R. Grear, Jennifer Chipault
By
Ecosystems Mission Area, National Wildlife Health Center

Organic contamination in tree swallow (Tachycineta bicolor) nestlings at United States and binational great Lakes Areas of Concern

Contaminant exposure of tree swallows, Tachycineta bicolor, nesting in 27 Areas of Concern (AOCs) in the Great Lakes basin was assessed from 2010 to 2014 to assist managers and regulators in their assessments of Great Lakes AOCs. Contaminant concentrations in nestlings from AOCs were compared with those in nestlings from nearby non-AOC sites. Polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB) and polybrominated diphe
Authors
Thomas W. Custer, Christine M. Custer, Paul Dummer, Diana R. Goldberg, J. Christian Franson, Richard A. Erickson
By
Ecosystems Mission Area, National Wildlife Health Center, Upper Midwest Environmental Sciences Center

A framework for modeling emerging diseases to inform management

The rapid emergence and reemergence of zoonotic diseases requires the ability to rapidly evaluate and implement optimal management decisions. Actions to control or mitigate the effects of emerging pathogens are commonly delayed because of uncertainty in the estimates and the predicted outcomes of the control tactics. The development of models that describe the best-known information regarding the
Authors
Robin E. Russell, Rachel A. Katz, Katherine L. D. Richgels, Daniel P. Walsh, Evan H. Campbell Grant
By
Ecosystems Mission Area, John Wesley Powell Center for Analysis and Synthesis, National Wildlife Health Center

Anti-dog IgG secondary antibody successfully detects IgG in a variety of aquatic mammals

Serological tests play an important role in the detection of wildlife diseases. However, while there are many commercial assays and reagents available for domestic species, there is a need to develop efficient serological assays for wildlife. In recent years, marine mammals have represented a wildlife group with emerging infectious diseases, such as influenza, brucellosis, and leptospirosis. Howev
Authors
Katherine Roehl, Mark D. Jankowski, Erik K. Hofmeister
By
Ecosystems Mission Area, National Wildlife Health Center

Snake fungal disease: An emerging threat to wild snakes

Since 2006, there has been a marked increase in the number of reports of severe and often fatal fungal skin infections in wild snakes in the eastern USA. The emerging condition, referred to as snake fungal disease (SFD), was initially documented in rattlesnakes, where the infections were believed to pose a risk to the viability of affected populations. The disease is caused byOphidiomyces ophiodii
Authors
Jeffrey M. Lorch, Susan Knowles, Julia S. Lankton, Kathy Michell, Jaime L. Edwards, Joshua M. Kapfer, Richard A. Staffen, Erik R. Wild, Katie Z. Schmidt, Anne Ballmann, Doug Blodgett, Terence M. Farrell, Brad M. Glorioso, Lisa A. Last, Steven J. Price, Krysten L. Schuler, Christopher Smith, James F. X. Wellehan, David S. Blehert
By
Ecosystems Mission Area, Biological Threats and Invasive Species Research Program, National Wildlife Health Center, Wetland and Aquatic Research Center

Retrospective analysis of the epidemiologic literature, 1990–2015, on wildlife-associated diseases from the Republic of Korea

To assess the status of research on wildlife diseases in the Republic of Korea (ROK) and to identify trends, knowledge gaps, and directions for future research, we reviewed epidemiologic publications on wildlife-associated diseases in the ROK. We identified a relatively small but rapidly increasing body of literature. The majority of publications were focused on public or livestock health and rela
Authors
Jusun Hwang, Kyunglee Lee, Young-Jun Kim, Jonathan M. Sleeman, Hang Lee
By
Ecosystems Mission Area, Biological Threats and Invasive Species Research Program, National Wildlife Health Center

When can the cause of a population decline be determined?

Inferring the factors responsible for declines in abundance is a prerequisite to preventing the extinction of wild populations. Many of the policies and programmes intended to prevent extinctions operate on the assumption that the factors driving the decline of a population can be determined. Exogenous factors that cause declines in abundance can be statistically confounded with endogenous factors
Authors
Trevor J. Hefley, Mevin Hooten, John M. Drake, Robin E. Russell, Daniel P. Walsh
By
Ecosystems Mission Area, Cooperative Research Units, National Wildlife Health Center

Infectivity of attenuated poxvirus vaccine vectors and immunogenicity of a raccoonpox vectored rabies vaccine in the Brazilian Free-tailed bat (Tadarida brasiliensis)

Bats (Order Chiroptera) are an abundant group of mammals with tremendous ecological value as insectivores and plant dispersers, but their role as reservoirs of zoonotic diseases has received more attention in the last decade. With the goal of managing disease in free-ranging bats, we tested modified vaccinia Ankara (MVA) and raccoon poxvirus (RCN) as potential vaccine vectors in the Brazilian Free
Authors
Benjamin Stading, Jorge E. Osorio, Andres Velasco-Villa, Michael Smotherman, Brock Kingstad-Bakke, Tonie E. Rocke
By
Ecosystems Mission Area, National Wildlife Health Center

Gut content analysis of Lake Michigan waterbirds in years with avian botulism type E mortality, 2010–2012

Waterbird die-offs caused by Clostridium botulinum neurotoxin type E (BoNT/E) have occurred sporadically in the Great Lakes since the late 1960s, with a recent pulse starting in the late 1990s. In recent die-offs, round gobies (Neogobius melanostomus) have been implicated as vectors for the transfer of BoNT/E to fish-eating birds due to the round goby invasion history and their importance as prey.
Authors
David A. Essian, Jennifer G. Chipault, Brenda M. Lafrancois, Jill B.K. Leonard
By
Ecosystems Mission Area, National Wildlife Health Center

No evidence of infection or exposure to Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenzas in peridomestic wildlife on an affected poultry facility

We evaluated the potential transmission of avian influenza viruses (AIV) in wildlife species in three settings in association with an outbreak at a poultry facility: 1) small birds and small mammals on a poultry facility that was affected with highly pathogenic AIV (HPAIV) in April 2015; 2) small birds and small mammals on a nearby poultry facility that was unaffected by HPAIV; and 3) small birds,
Authors
Daniel A. Grear, Robert J. Dusek, Daniel P. Walsh, Jeffrey S. Hall
By
Ecosystems Mission Area, National Wildlife Health Center
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