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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

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: 1614

Limited evidence of intercontinental dispersal of avian paramyxovirus serotype 4 by migratory birds

Avian paramyxovirus serotype 4 (APMV-4) is a single stranded RNA virus that has most often been isolated from waterfowl. Limited information has been reported regarding the prevalence, pathogenicity, and genetic diversity of AMPV-4. To assess the intercontinental dispersal of this viral agent, we sequenced the fusion gene of 58 APMV-4 isolates collected in the United States, Japan and the Ukraine
Authors
Andrew B. Reeves, Rebecca L. Poulson, Denys Muzyka, Haruko Ogawa, Kunitoshi Imai, Vuong Nghia Bui, Jeffrey S. Hall, Mary Pantin-Jackwood, David E. Stallknecht, Andrew M. Ramey
By
Ecosystems Mission Area, National Wildlife Health Center, Alaska Science Center

Optimized methods for total nucleic acid extraction and quantification of the bat white-nose syndrome fungus, Pseudogymnoascus destructans, from swab and environmental samples

The continued spread of white-nose syndrome and its impacts on hibernating bat populations across North America has prompted nationwide surveillance efforts and the need for high-throughput, noninvasive diagnostic tools. Quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) analysis has been increasingly used for detection of the causative fungus, Pseudogymnoascus destructans, in both bat- and e
Authors
Michelle Verant, Elizabeth A. Bohuski, Jeffrey M. Lorch, David S. Blehert
By
Ecosystems Mission Area, National Wildlife Health Center

Highly pathogenic avian influenza viruses and generation of novel reassortants,United States, 2014–2015

Asian highly pathogenic avian influenza A(H5N8) viruses spread into North America in 2014 during autumn bird migration. Complete genome sequencing and phylogenetic analysis of 32 H5 viruses identified novel H5N1, H5N2, and H5N8 viruses that emerged in late 2014 through reassortment with North American low-pathogenicity avian influenza viruses.
Authors
Dong-Hun Lee, Justin Bahl, Mia Kim Torchetti, Mary Lea Killian, Hon S. Ip, David E Swayne
By
Ecosystems Mission Area, National Wildlife Health Center

Spatial variation in risk and consequence of Batrachochytrium salamandrivorans introduction in the USA

A newly identified fungal pathogen, Batrachochytrium salamandrivorans (Bsal), is responsible for mass mortality events and severe population declines in European salamanders. The eastern USA has the highest diversity of salamanders in the world and the introduction of this pathogen is likely to be devastating. Although data are inevitably limited for new pathogens, disease-risk assessments use bes
Authors
Katherine L. D. Richgels, Robin E. Russell, M. J. Adams, C. LeAnn White, Evan H. Campbell Grant
By
Ecosystems Mission Area, National Wildlife Health Center

Survival of female mallards along the Vermont-Quebec border region

Understanding effects of location and timing of harvest seasons on mortality of ducks and geese from hunting is important in forming regulations that sustain viable waterfowl populations throughout their range. During 1990 and 1991 we alternately marked 80 hatching year (HY), female mallards along the Vermont–Quebec border; half with radio-transmitters and bands and half with only aluminum leg ban
Authors
Jerry R. Longcore, Daniel G. McAuley, Dennis M. Heisey, Christine M. Bunck, David A. Clugston
By
Ecosystems Mission Area, Eastern Ecological Science Center, National Wildlife Health Center

USGS National Wildlife Health Center quarterly wildlife mortality report July 2015 to September 2015

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

Salamander chytrid fungus (Batrachochytrium salamandrivorans) in the United States—Developing research, monitoring, and management strategies

The recently (2013) identified pathogenic chytrid fungus, Batrachochytrium salamandrivorans (Bsal), poses a severe threat to the distribution and abundance of salamanders within the United States and Europe. Development of a response strategy for the potential, and likely, invasion of Bsal into the United States is crucial to protect global salamander biodiversity. A formal working group, led by A
Authors
Evan H. Campbell Grant, Erin L. Muths, Rachel A. Katz, Stefano Canessa, M. J. Adams, Jennifer R. Ballard, Lee Berger, Cheryl J. Briggs, Jeremy T. H. Coleman, Matthew J. Gray, M. Camille Harris, Reid N. Harris, Blake R. Hossack, Kathryn P. Huyvaert, Jonathan E. Kolby, Karen R. Lips, Robert E. Lovich, Hamish I. McCallum, Joseph R. Mendelson, Priya Nanjappa, Deanna H. Olson, Jenny G. Powers, Katherine L. D. Richgels, Robin E. Russell, Benedikt R. Schmidt, Annemarieke Spitzen-van der Sluijs, Mary Kay Watry, Douglas C. Woodhams, C. LeAnn White
By
Ecosystems Mission Area, Eastern Ecological Science Center, Forest and Rangeland Ecosystem Science Center, Fort Collins Science Center, National Wildlife Health Center, Northern Rocky Mountain Science Center

Concordance in diagnostic testing for respiratory pathogens of bighorn sheep

Reliable diagnostic tests are essential for disease investigation and management. This is particularly true for diseases of free-ranging wildlife where sampling is logistically difficult precluding retesting. Clinical assays for wildlife diseases frequently vary among laboratories because of lack of appropriate standardized commercial kits. Results of diagnostic testing may also be called into que
Authors
Daniel P. Walsh, E. Frances Cassirer, Michael D. Bonds, Daniel R. Brown, William H. Edwards, Glen C. Weiser, Mark L. Drew, Robert E. Briggs, Karen A. Fox, Michael W. Miller, Sudarvili Shanthalingam, Subramaniam Srikumaran, Thomas E. Besser
By
Ecosystems Mission Area, National Wildlife Health Center

Effects of wind energy generation and white-nose syndrome on the viability of the Indiana bat

Wind energy generation holds the potential to adversely affect wildlife populations. Species-wide effects are difficult to study and few, if any, studies examine effects of wind energy generation on any species across its entire range. One species that may be affected by wind energy generation is the endangered Indiana bat (Myotis sodalis), which is found in the eastern and midwestern United State
Authors
Richard A. Erickson, Wayne E. Thogmartin, James E. Diffendorfer, Robin E. Russell, Jennifer A. Szymanski
By
Ecosystems Mission Area, Species Management Research Program, Geosciences and Environmental Change Science Center, National Wildlife Health Center, Upper Midwest Environmental Sciences Center

Genetic structure of faucet snail, Bithynia tentaculata populations in North Americal based on microsattelite markers

Bithynia tentaculata is believed to have been extirpated from North America during the last glacial maximum. It was reintroduced into North America via the Great Lakes basin in the 1800’s and has recently been expanding its geographic range. This snail serves as intermediate host for three trematodes that cause extensive recurring morbidity and mortality events in migratory water birds along the M
Authors
Kathryn E. Perez, Rebecca L. Werren, Christopher A. Lynum, Levi A. Hartman, Gabor Majoros, Rebecca A. Cole
By
Ecosystems Mission Area, National Wildlife Health Center

Bald Eagle nestling mortality associated with Argas radiatus and Argas ricei tick infestation and successful management with nest removal in Arizona, USA

Eight Bald Eagle (Haliaeetus leucocephalus) nestlings heavily infested with larval ticks were found in or under a nest near the confluence of the Verde and Salt rivers in Arizona in 2009-11. The 8-12-wk-old nestlings were slow to respond to stimuli and exhibited generalized muscle weakness or paresis of the pelvic limbs. Numerous cutaneous and subcutaneous hemorrhages were associated with sites of
Authors
Anne Justice-Allen, Kathy Orr, Krysten L. Schuler, Kyle McCarty, Kenneth Jacobson, Carol U. Meteyer
By
Ecosystems Mission Area, Contaminant Biology, Environmental Health Program, National Wildlife Health Center

VNTR diversity in Yersinia pestis isolates from an animal challenge study reveals the potential for in vitro mutations during laboratory cultivation

Underlying mutation rates and other evolutionary forces shape the population structure of bacteria in nature. Although easily overlooked, similar forces are at work in the laboratory and may influence observed mutations. Here, we investigated tissue samples and Yersinia pestis isolates from a rodent laboratory challenge with strain CO92 using whole genome sequencing and multi-locus variable-number
Authors
Amy J. Vogler, Roxanne Nottingham, Joseph D. Busch, Jason W. Sahl, Megan M. Shuey, Jeffrey T. Foster, James M. Schupp, Susan Smith, Tonie E. Rocke, Paul Klein, David M. Wagner
By
Ecosystems Mission Area, National Wildlife Health Center