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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: 1613

The USGS National Wildlife Health Center: Advancing wildlife and ecosystem health

In 1975, the Federal government responded to the need for establishing national expertise in wildlife health by creating the National Wildlife Health Center (NWHC), a facility within the Department of the Interior; the NWHC is the only national center dedicated to wildlife disease detection, control, and prevention. Its mission is to provide national leadership to safeguard wildlife and ecosystem
Authors
Gail Moede Rogall, Jonathan M. Sleeman
By
Ecosystems Mission Area, National Wildlife Health Center

The Bayesian group lasso for confounded spatial data

Generalized linear mixed models for spatial processes are widely used in applied statistics. In many applications of the spatial generalized linear mixed model (SGLMM), the goal is to obtain inference about regression coefficients while achieving optimal predictive ability. When implementing the SGLMM, multicollinearity among covariates and the spatial random effects can make computation challengi
Authors
Trevor J. Hefley, Mevin Hooten, Ephraim M. Hanks, Robin E. Russell, Daniel P. Walsh
By
Ecosystems Mission Area, Cooperative Research Units, National Wildlife Health Center

Prevalence and distribution of Wellfleet Bay virus exposure in the Common Eider (Somateria mollissima)

Between 1998 and 2014, recurrent mortality events were reported in the Dresser's subspecies of the Common Eider (Somateria mollissima dresseri) on Cape Cod, Massachusetts, USA near Wellfleet Harbor. The early die-offs were attributed to parasitism and emaciation, but beginning in 2006 a suite of distinct lesions was observed concomitant with the isolation of a previously unknown RNA virus. This no
Authors
Jennifer R. Ballard, Randall M. Mickley, Samantha E. J. Gibbs, Chris P. Dwyer, Catherine Soos, N. Jane Harms, H. Grant Gilchrist, Jeffrey S. Hall, J. Christian Franson, G. Randy Milton, Glen Parsons, Brad Allen, Jean-Francois Giroux, Stéphane Lair, Daniel G. Mead, John R. Fischer
By
Ecosystems Mission Area, National Wildlife Health Center

Susceptibility and antibody response of the laboratory model zebra finch (Taeniopygia guttata) to West Nile Virus

Since the introduction of West Nile virus (WNV) into North America in 1999 a number of passerine bird species have been found to play a role in the amplification of the virus. Arbovirus surveillance, observational studies and experimental studies have implicated passerine birds (songbirds, e.g., crows, American robins, house sparrows, and house finches) as significant reservoirs of WNV in North Am
Authors
Erik K. Hofmeister, Melissa Lund, Valerie I. Shearn-Bochsler, Christopher N. Balakrishnan
By
Ecosystems Mission Area, National Wildlife Health Center

Host susceptibility to snake fungal disease is highly dispersed across phylogenetic and functional trait space

Emerging infectious diseases (EIDs) reduce host population sizes, cause extinction, disassemble communities, and have indirect negative effects on human well-being. Fungal EIDs have reduced population abundances in amphibians and bats across many species over large areas. The recent emergence of snake fungal disease (SFD) may have caused declines in some snake populations in the Eastern United Sta
Authors
Frank T. Burbrink, Jeffrey M. Lorch, Karen R. Lips
By
Ecosystems Mission Area, Biological Threats and Invasive Species Research Program, National Wildlife Health Center

Reference intervals for serum biochemistries of molting Pacific Black Brant (Branta bernicla nigricans) in Northern Alaska, USA

We determined reference intervals for nine serum biochemistries in samples from 329 molting, after-hatch-year, Pacific Black Brant (Branta bernicla nigricans) in Alaska, US. Cholesterol and nonesterified fatty acids differed by sex, but no other differences were noted.
Authors
J. Christian Franson, Paul L. Flint, Joel A. Schmutz
By
Ecosystems Mission Area, National Wildlife Health Center

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