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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: 1620

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...
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...
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...
Authors
Elizabeth Falendysz, Juan G. Lopera, Tonie E. Rocke, Jorge E. Osorio
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...
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...
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

Rapid prototyping for quantifying belief weights of competing hypotheses about emergent diseases

Emerging diseases can have devastating consequences for wildlife and require a rapid response. A critical first step towards developing appropriate management is identifying the etiology of the disease, which can be difficult to determine, particularly early in emergence. Gathering and synthesizing existing information about potential disease causes, by leveraging expert knowledge or...
Authors
Ellen Padgett Robertson, Daniel P. Walsh, Julien Martin, Thierry M. Work, Christina A. Kellogg, James S. Evans, Aine C. Hawthorn, Greta Aeby, Valerie J. Paul, Brian Walker, Yasu Kiryu, Cheryl M. Woodley, Julie L. Meyer, Stephanie M. Rosales, Michael S. Studivan, Jennifer Moore, Marilyn E. Brandt, Andrew Bruckner
By
Ecosystems Mission Area, Coastal and Marine Hazards and Resources Program, Cooperative Research Units, Wetland and Aquatic Research Center , Eastern Ecological Science Center, National Wildlife Health Center, St. Petersburg Coastal and Marine Science Center

Environmental transmission of Pseudogymnoascus destructans to hibernating little brown bats

Pathogens with persistent environmental stages can have devastating effects on wildlife communities. White-nose syndrome (WNS), caused by the fungus Pseudogymnoascus destructans, has caused widespread declines in bat populations of North America. In 2009, during the early stages of the WNS investigation and before molecular techniques had been developed to readily detect P. destructans...
Authors
Alan C. Hicks, Scott Darling, Joel Flewelling, Ryan von Linden, Carol Meteyer, Dave Redell, J. Paul White, Jennifer A. Redell, Ryan Smith, David S. Blehert, Noelle L. Rayman-Metcalf, Joseph R. Hoyt, Joseph C. Okoniewski, Kate E. Langwig
By
Ecosystems Mission Area, National Wildlife Health Center

An evaluation of avian influenza virus whole-genome sequencing approaches using nanopore technology

As exemplified by the global response to the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic, whole-genome sequencing played an important role in monitoring the evolution of novel viral variants and provided guidance on potential antiviral treatments. The recent rapid and extensive introduction and spread of highly pathogenic avian influenza virus in Europe, North America, and elsewhere raises the need for...
Authors
Hon S. Ip, Sarah Uhm, Mary Lea Killian, Mia K. Torchetti
By
Ecosystems Mission Area, National Wildlife Health Center

Mass mortality of collector urchins Tripneustes gratilla in Hawai`i

As grazers, sea urchins are keystone species in tropical marine ecosystems, and their loss can have important ecological ramifications. Die-offs of urchins are frequently described, but their causes are often unclear, in part because systematic examinations of animal tissues at gross and microscopic level are not done. In some areas, urchins are being employed to control invasive marine...
Authors
Thierry M. Work, Julie Dagenais, Robert Rameyer, Renee Breeden, Tina Weatherby
By
Ecosystems Mission Area, National Wildlife Health Center

Wild rodents harbor high diversity of Arthroderma

Arthroderma is the most diverse genus of dermatophytes, and its natural reservoir is considered to be soil enriched by keratin sources. During a study on the diversity of dermatophytes in wild small rodents in the Czech Republic, we isolated several strains of Arthroderma. To explore the diversity and ecological significance of these isolates from rodents (n = 29), we characterised the...
Authors
Štěpánka Moulíková, Miroslav Kolařík, Jeffrey M. Lorch, Daniela Kolarczyková, Vit Hubka, Adéla Čmoková
By
Ecosystems Mission Area, National Wildlife Health Center

Chapter 5: Health and diseases

Health and diseases are integral parts of the life of seabirds that merit attention if we expect to truly understand, protect, and conserve them. Diseases such as avian influenza, avian pox, pasteurellosis, and paralytic shellfish poisoning have a proven history of decreasing the survival or breeding success of seabirds. However, each host-pathogen-environment system is unique, and our...
Authors
Ralph Vanstreels, Marcella Uhart, Thierry M. Work
By
Ecosystems Mission Area, National Wildlife Health Center
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