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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

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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

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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: 1634

Endemic chronic wasting disease causes mule deer population decline in Wyoming

Chronic wasting disease (CWD) is a fatal transmissible spongiform encephalopathy affecting white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus), mule deer (Odocoileus hemionus), Rocky Mountain elk (Cervus elaphus nelsoni), and moose (Alces alces shirasi) in North America. In southeastern Wyoming average annual CWD prevalence in mule deer exceeds 20% and appears to contribute to regional population...
Authors
Melia DeVivo, David R. Edmunds, Matthew J. Kauffman, Brant A. Schumaker, Justin Binfet, Terry J. Kreeger, Bryan J. Richards, Hermann M. Schatzl, Todd Cornish
By
Ecosystems Mission Area, Cooperative Research Units, National Wildlife Health Center

Experimental infection of common eider ducklings with Wellfleet Bay virus, a newly characterized orthomyxovirus

Wellfleet Bay virus (WFBV), a novel orthomyxovirus in the genus Quaranjavirus, was first isolated in 2006 from carcasses of common eider (Somateria mollissima) during a mortality event in Wellfleet Bay (Barnstable County, Massachusetts, USA) and has since been repeatedly isolated during recurrent mortality events in this location. Hepatic, pancreatic, splenic, and intestinal necrosis...
Authors
Valerie I. Shearn-Bochsler, Hon S. Ip, Anne Ballmann, Jeffrey S. Hall, Andrew B. Allison, Jennifer R. Ballard, Julie C. Ellis, Robert Cook, Samantha E. J. Gibbs, Chris P. Dwyer
By
Ecosystems Mission Area, National Wildlife Health Center

Assessing monkeypox virus prevalence in small mammals at the human-animal interface in the Democratic Republic of the Congo

During 2012, 2013 and 2015, we collected small mammals within 25 km of the town of Boende in Tshuapa Province, the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The prevalence of monkeypox virus (MPXV) in this area is unknown; however, cases of human infection were previously confirmed near these collection sites. Samples were collected from 353 mammals (rodents, shrews, pangolins, elephant shrews...
Authors
Jeffrey B. Doty, Jean M. Malekani, Lem's N. Kalemba, William T. Stanley, Benjamin P. Monroe, Yoshinori J. Nakazawa, Matthew R. Mauldin, Trésor L. Bakambana, Tobit Liyandja Dja Liyandja, Zachary Braden, Ryan Wallace, Divin V. Malekani, Andrea M. McCollum, Nadia Gallardo-Romero, Ashley Kondas, A. Townsend Peterson, Jorge E. Osorio, Tonie E. Rocke, Kevin L. Karem, Ginny L. Emerson, Darin S. Carroll
By
Ecosystems Mission Area, National Wildlife Health Center

Protection of bats (Eptesicus fuscus) against rabies following topical or oronasal exposure to a recombinant raccoon poxvirus vaccine

Rabies is an ancient neglected tropical disease that causes tens of thousands of human deaths and millions of cattle deaths annually. In order to develop a new vaccine for potential use in bats, a reservoir of rabies infection for humans and animals alike, an in silico antigen designer tool was used to create a mosaic glycoprotein (MoG) gene using available sequences from the rabies...
Authors
Ben Stading, James A. Ellison, William C. Carson, Panayampalli Subbian Satheshkumar, Tonie E. Rocke, Jorge E. Osorio
By
Ecosystems Mission Area, National Wildlife Health Center

Emerging fungal pathogen Ophidiomyces ophiodiicola in wild European snakes

Snake fungal disease (SFD) is an emerging disease of conservation concern in eastern North America. Ophidiomyces ophiodiicola, the causative agent of SFD, has been isolated from over 30 species of wild snakes from six families in North America. Whilst O. ophiodiicola has been isolated from captive snakes outside North America, the pathogen has not been reported from wild snakes elsewhere...
Authors
Lydia H. V. Franklinos, Jeffrey M. Lorch, Elizabeth A. Bohuski, Julia Rodriguez-Ramos Fernandez, Owen Wright, Liam Fitzpatrick, Silviu Petrovan, Chris Durrant, Chris Linton, Vojtech Baláž, Andrew A Cunningham, Becki Lawson
By
Ecosystems Mission Area, National Wildlife Health Center

Identification of Chelonid herpesvirus 5 (ChHV5) in endangered green turtles (Chelonia mydas) with fibropapillomatosis in Asia

Fibropapillomatosis (FP), a debilitating tumor disease of sea turtles, was first identified in green turtles [Chelonia mydas (Linnaeus, 1758)] in Florida in 1938. In recent decades, FP has been observed globally and is an emerging panzootic disease in sea turtles. However, few reports of FP in Asia exist. Here, we provide the first evidence of Chelonid herpesvirus 5 (ChHV5) DNA...
Authors
Tsung-Hsien Li, Wei-Li Hsu, Yu-Ching Lan, George H. Balazs, Thierry M. Work, Cheng-Tsung Tseng, Chao-Chin Chang
By
Ecosystems Mission Area, National Wildlife Health Center

Semi-quantitative assessment of disease risks at the human, livestock, wildlife interface for the Republic of Korea using a nationwide survey of experts: A model for other countries

Wildlife-associated diseases and pathogens have increased in importance; however, management of a large number of diseases and diversity of hosts is prohibitively expensive. Thus, the determination of priority wildlife pathogens and risk factors for disease emergence is warranted. We used an online questionnaire survey to assess release and exposure risks, and consequences of wildlife...
Authors
Jusun Hwang, Kyunglee Lee, Daniel P. Walsh, SangWha Kim, Jonathan M. Sleeman, Hang Lee
By
Ecosystems Mission Area, Biological Threats and Invasive Species Research Program, National Wildlife Health Center

Burrow dusting or oral vaccination prevents plague-associated prairie dog colony collapse

Plague impacts prairie dogs (Cynomys spp.), the endangered black-footed ferret (Mustela nigripes) and other sensitive wildlife species. We compared efficacy of prophylactic treatments (burrow dusting with deltamethrin or oral vaccination with recombinant “sylvatic plague vaccine” [RCN-F1/V307]) to placebo treatment in black-tailed prairie dog (C. ludovicianus) colonies. Between 2013 and...
Authors
Daniel W. Tripp, Tonie E. Rocke, Jonathan P. Runge, Rachel C. Abbott, Michael W. Miller
By
Ecosystems Mission Area, National Wildlife Health Center

An examination of the effect of aerosolized permanone insecticide on zebra finch susceptibility to West Nile virus

West Nile virus is primarily maintained cryptically primarily in avian (Passerine) populations where it is transmitted by Culex spp. mosquitoes. Mosquito control measures currently include physical activities to reduce mosquito breeding sites, the application of mosquito larvicides, or aerosolized insecticides to kill adults (adulticides) when arboviral diseases such as West Nile virus...
Authors
Mark D. Jankowski, E. Moore Murray, Erik K. Hofmeister
By
Ecosystems Mission Area, National Wildlife Health Center

Green tree frog (Hyla cinerea) and ground squirrel (Xerospermophilus spilosoma) mortality attributed to inland brevetoxin transportation at Padre Island National Seashore, Texas, 2015

On 16 September 2015, a red tide (Karenia brevis) bloom impacted coastal areas of Padre Island National Seashore Park. Two days later and about 0.9 km inland, 30–40 adult green tree frogs (Hyla cinerea) were found dead after displaying tremors, weakness, labored breathing, and other signs of neurologic impairment. A rainstorm, accompanied by high winds, rough surf, and high tides, which...
Authors
Danielle E. Buttke, Alicia Walker, I-Shuo Huang, Leanne Flewelling, Julia S. Lankton, Anne E. Ballmann, Travis Clapp, James Lindsay, Paul V. Zimba
By
Ecosystems Mission Area, National Wildlife Health Center

Stress hormones predict a host superspreader phenotype in the West Nile virus system

Glucocorticoid stress hormones, such as corticosterone (CORT), have profound effects on the behaviour and physiology of organisms, and thus have the potential to alter host competence and the contributions of individuals to population- and community-level pathogen dynamics. For example, CORT could alter the rate of contacts among hosts, pathogens and vectors through its widespread...
Authors
Stephanie Gervasi, Sarah Burgan, Erik K. Hofmeister, Thomas R. Unnasch, Lynn B. Martin
By
Ecosystems Mission Area, National Wildlife Health Center

Pathogenic lineage of Perkinsea associated with mass mortality of frogs across the United States

Emerging infectious diseases such as chytridiomycosis and ranavirus infections are important contributors to the worldwide decline of amphibian populations. We reviewed data on 247 anuran mortality events in 43 States of the United States from 1999–2015. Our findings suggest that a severe infectious disease of tadpoles caused by a protist belonging to the phylum Perkinsea might represent...
Authors
Marcos Isidoro Ayza, Jeffrey M. Lorch, Daniel A. Grear, Megan Winzeler, Daniel L. Calhoun, William J. Barichivich
By
Ecosystems Mission Area, National Wildlife Health Center, Wetland and Aquatic Research Center
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