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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: 1613

Prevalence of Ophidiomyces ophidiicola and epizootiology of snake fungal disease in free-ranging Northern Pine Snakes (Pituophis melanoleucus melanoleucus) in New Jersey

Snake fungal disease, caused by Ophidiomyces ophidiicola, is recognized as a potential concern for North American snakes. We tested skin swabs from Northern Pine Snakes (Pituophis melanoleucus melanoleucus) in the New Jersey pinelands for the presence of O. ophidiicola before emergence from hibernation. We used qPCR to test the collected swabs for the presence of O. ophidiicola, then determined pa
Authors
Joanna Burger, Michael Gochfeld, Robert T. Zappalorti, John F. Bunnell, Christian Jeitner, David Schneider, Kelly Ng, Emile DeVito, Jeffrey M. Lorch
By
Ecosystems Mission Area, National Wildlife Health Center

Comparison of magnetic bead and rapid swab RNA extraction methods for detecting rabbit hemorrhagic disease virus 2 in rabbit liver samples

We compared a bead RNA extraction method with a one-tube method that required only a heat block and ice. RNA was first extracted from liver samples from nine rabbits dying from rabbit hemorrhagic disease virus 2 (RHDV2) using magnetic beads, and RT-PCR was used to detect RHDV2 sequence. Following freezing, RNA was extracted a second time using the SwiftX™ Swabs Viral RNA Extraction Reagent. RHDV2
Authors
Erik K. Hofmeister, Kathryn M. Griffin, Hon S. Ip
By
Ecosystems Mission Area, National Wildlife Health Center

A cross inoculation experiment reveals Ophidiomyces ophiodiicola and Nannizziopsis guarroi can each infect both snakes and lizards

Host range and specificity are key concepts in the study of infectious diseases. However, both concepts remain largely undefined for many influential pathogens, including many fungi within the Onygenales order. This order encompasses reptile-infecting genera (Nannizziopsis, Ophidiomyces, and Paranannizziopsis) formerly classified as the Chrysosporium anamorph of Nannizziopsis vriesii (CANV). The r
Authors
Savannah L Gentry, Jeffrey M. Lorch, Julia S. Lankton, Anne Pringle
By
Ecosystems Mission Area, National Wildlife Health Center

Management of vampire bats and rabies: Past, present, and future

Rabies virus transmitted via the bite of common vampire bats (Desmodus rotundus) has surpassed canine-associated cases as the predominant cause of human rabies in Latin America. Cattle, the preferred prey of D. rotundus, suffer extensive mortality from vampire bat associated rabies, with annual financial losses estimated in the tens of millions of dollars. Organized attempts to manage or curtail v
Authors
Tonie E. Rocke, Daniel G. Streicker, Ariel Elizabeth Leon
By
Ecosystems Mission Area, National Wildlife Health Center

Haliaeetus leucocephalus (bald eagle) and Aquila chrysaetos (golden eagle) mortality and exposure to lead, mercury, and anticoagulant rodenticides in eight western and midwestern States, 2014–17

The U.S. Geological Survey National Wildlife Health Center measured environmental contaminants in Haliaeetus leucocephalus (bald eagles) and Aquila chrysaetos (golden eagles) to evaluate dietary exposure to lead, mercury, and anticoagulant rodenticides (AR), all of which were identified by U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service as a priority issue of concern for Mountain Prairie Region 6. Data were needed
Authors
Barbara L. Bodenstein, Julia S. Lankton, Robin E. Russell, Matthew S. Schwarz
By
Ecosystems Mission Area, National Wildlife Health Center

Population Monitoring

No abstract available.
Authors
J. Joshua Nowak, Mark A. Hurley, Paul M Lukacs, Daniel P. Walsh, C. LeAnn White
By
Ecosystems Mission Area, National Wildlife Health Center

A scuticociliate causes mass mortality of Diadema antillarum in the Caribbean Sea

Echinoderm mass mortality events shape marine ecosystems by altering the dynamics among major benthic groups. The sea urchin Diadema antillarum, virtually extirpated in the Caribbean in the early 1980s by an unknown cause, recently experienced another mass mortality beginning in January 2022. We investigated the cause of this mass mortality event through combined molecular biological and veterinar
Authors
Ian Hewson, Isabella T. Ritchie, James S. Evans, Ashley Altera, Donald Behringer, Erin Bowman, Marilyn E. Brandt, Kayla A. Budd, Ruleo A. Camacho, Tomas O. Cornwell, Peter D. Countway, Aldo Croquer, Gabriel A. Delgado, Christopher M. DeRito, Elizabeth Duermit-Moreau, Ruth Francis-Floyd, Samuel Gittens Jr., Leslie Henderson, Alwin Hylkema, Christina A. Kellogg, Yasu Kiryu, Kimani A. Kitson-Walters, Patricia Kramer, Judith C. Lang, Harilaos Lessios, Lauren Liddy, David Marancik, Stephen Nimrod, Joshua T. Patterson, Marit Pistor, Isabel C. Romero, Rita Sellares-Blasco, Moriah L. B. Sevier, William C. Sharp, Matthew Souza, Andreina Valdez-Trinidad, Marijn van der Laan, Brayan Vilanova-Cuevas, Maria Villalpando, Sarah D. Von Hoene, Matthew Warham, Tom Wijers, Stacey M. Williams, Thierry M. Work, Roy P. Yanong, Someira Zambrano, Alizee Zimmermann, Mya Breitbart
By
Ecosystems Mission Area, National Wildlife Health Center, St. Petersburg Coastal and Marine Science Center

Community for data integration 2019 project report

The U.S. Geological Survey Community for Data Integration annually supports small projects focusing on data integration for interdisciplinary research, innovative data management, and demonstration of new technologies. This report provides a summary of the 14 projects supported in fiscal year 2019 and outlines their goals, activities, and accomplishments. Proposals in 2019 were encouraged to addre
Authors
Amanda N. Liford, Caitlin M. Andrews, Aparna Bamzai, Joseph A. Bard, David S. Blehert, John B. Bradford, Wesley M. Daniel, Sara L. Caldwell Eldridge, Frank Engel, Jason A. Ferrante, Amy K. Gilmer, Margaret E. Hunter, Jeanne M. Jones, Benjamin Letcher, Frances L. Lightsom, Richard R. McDonald, Leah E. Morgan, Sasha C. Reed, Leslie Hsu
By
Ecosystems Mission Area, Water Resources Mission Area, Science Synthesis, Analysis and Research Program, Science Analytics and Synthesis (SAS) Program, Volcano Hazards Program, Community for Data Integration (CDI), Geology, Geophysics, and Geochemistry Science Center, Geosciences and Environmental Change Science Center, National Wildlife Health Center, Oklahoma-Texas Water Science Center, Southwest Biological Science Center, Volcano Science Center, Western Geographic Science Center, Wetland and Aquatic Research Center , Woods Hole Coastal and Marine Science Center, Science Data Management

Monkeypox virus in animals: Current knowledge of viral transmission and pathogenesis in wild animal reservoirs and captive animal models

Mpox, formerly called monkeypox, is now the most serious orthopoxvirus (OPXV) infection in humans. This zoonotic disease has been gradually re-emerging in humans with an increasing frequency of cases found in endemic areas, as well as an escalating frequency and size of epidemics outside of endemic areas in Africa. Currently, the largest known mpox epidemic is spreading throughout the world, with
Authors
Elizabeth Falendysz, Juan G. Lopera, Tonie E. Rocke, Jorge E. Osorio
By
Ecosystems Mission Area, National Wildlife Health Center

Update for the North American Wildlife and Natural Resources Conference from the USGS National Wildlife Health Center

Report of NWHC research and activities, March 2023.
Authors
Abigail M. Ward
By
Ecosystems Mission Area, National Wildlife Health Center

Further bacteriological analysis of annual Pheasantshell (Actinonaias pectorosa) mussel mortality events in the Clinch River (Virginia/Tennessee), USA, reveals a consistent association with Yokenella Regensburgei

Pheasantshell (Actinonaias pectorosa) mussels in the Clinch River (Tennessee/Virginia, USA) have declined dramatically in recent years. The bacterium Yokenella regensburgei was first isolated with high prevalence from Pheasantshells during the peak of a 2017 mortality event, but it was not identified after mortality subsided a few months later. Since 2017, Pheasantshell mortality in the Clinch Riv
Authors
Eric Leis, Sara Dziki, Jordan Richard, Rose Agbalog, Diane L. Waller, Joel G. Putnam, Susan Knowles, Tony Goldberg
By
Ecosystems Mission Area, National Wildlife Health Center, Upper Midwest Environmental Sciences Center

Sex-biased infections scale to population impacts for an emerging wildlife disease

Demographic factors are fundamental in shaping infectious disease dynamics. Aspects of populations that create structure, like age and sex, can affect patterns of transmission, infection intensity and population outcomes. However, studies rarely link these processes from individual to population-scale effects. Moreover, the mechanisms underlying demographic differences in disease are frequently un
Authors
Macy J. Kailing, Joseph R. Hoyt, J. Paul White, Heather M. Kaarakka, Jennifer A. Redell, Ariel Elizabeth Leon, Tonie E. Rocke, John E. DePue, William H. Scullon, Katy L. Parise, Jeffrey T. Foster, A. Marm Kilpatrick, Kate E. Langwig
By
Ecosystems Mission Area, National Wildlife Health Center