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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: 1613

Invasive corallimorpharians at Palmyra Atoll National Wildlife Refuge are no match for lye and heat

Invasive marine species are well documented but options to manage them are limited. At Palmyra Atoll National Wildlife Refuge (Central North Pacific), native invasive corallimorpharians, Rhodactis howesii, have smothered live native corals since 2007. Laboratory and field trials were conducted evaluating two control methods to remove R. howesii overgrowing the benthos at Palmyra Atoll (Palmyra): 1
Authors
Thierry M. Work, Renee Breeden, Robert Rameyer, Vernon Born, Tim Clark, Jeremy Rainal, Chris Gillies, Julia Rose, Alex Wegmann, Stefan Kropidlowski
By
Ecosystems Mission Area, National Wildlife Health Center

Review of harmful algal blooms effects on birds with implications for avian wildlife in the Chesapeake Bay region

The Chesapeake Bay, along the mid-Atlantic coast of North America, is the largest estuary in the United States and provides critical habitat for wildlife. In contrast to point and non-point source release of pesticides, metals, and industrial, personal care and household use chemicals on biota in this watershed, there has only been scant attention to potential exposure and effects of algal toxins
Authors
Barnett A. Rattner, Catherine E. Wazniak, Julia S. Lankton, Peter C. McGowan, Serguei Vyacheslavovich Drovetski, Todd A. Egerton
By
Ecosystems Mission Area, Chesapeake Bay Activities, Eastern Ecological Science Center, National Wildlife Health Center

Ophidiomycosis is related to seasonal patterns of reproduction, ecdysis, and thermoregulatory behavior in a free-living snake species

Informed and effective management of emerging infectious diseases can be improved by a clear understanding of host–pathogen–environment interactions. Impacts of the seasonal environment on pathogen dynamics and host responses are poorly described in most reptile host–fungal pathogen systems. Here, we describe seasonal patterns of ophidiomycosis, a disease caused by the fungus Ophidiomyces ophidiic
Authors
C. M. Lind, J. Agugliaro, Jeffrey M. Lorch, T. M. Farrell
By
Ecosystems Mission Area, National Wildlife Health Center

Global dissemination of Influenza A virus is driven by wild bird migration through arctic and subarctic zones

Influenza A viruses (IAV) circulate endemically among many wild aquatic bird populations that seasonally migrate between wintering grounds in southern latitudes to breeding ranges along the perimeter of the circumpolar arctic. Arctic and subarctic zones are hypothesized to serve as ecologic drivers of the intercontinental movement and reassortment of IAVs due to high densities of disparate populat
Authors
Jonathan D. Jr. Gass, Robert J. Dusek, Jeffrey S. Hall, Gunnar Thor Hallgrimsson, Halldór Pálmar Halldórsson, Solvi Runar Vignisson, Sunna Bjork Ragnarsdottir, Jón Einar Jónsson, Scott Krauss, Wong. Sook-San, Xiu-Feng Wan, Sadia Akter, Srinand Sreevatsan, Nidia S. Trovão, Felicia B. Nutter, Jonathan A. Runstadler, Nichola J. Hill
By
Ecosystems Mission Area, National Wildlife Health Center

Advances in coral immunity ‘omics in response to disease outbreaks

Coral disease has progressively become one of the most pressing issues affecting coral reef survival. In the last 50 years, several reefs throughout the Caribbean have been severely impacted by increased frequency and intensity of disease outbreaks leading to coral death. A recent example of this is stony coral tissue loss disease which has quickly spread throughout the Caribbean, devastating cora
Authors
Nikki Traylor-Knowles, Andrew C. Baker, Kelsey M. Beavers, Neha Garg, Jeffrey R. Guyon, Aine C. Hawthorn, Nicholas J. MacKnight, Mónica Medina, Laura D. Mydlarz, Esther C. Peters, Julia Marie Stewart, Michael S. Studivan, Joshua D. Voss
By
Ecosystems Mission Area, National Wildlife Health Center

Immunogenicity, safety, and anti-viral efficacy of a subunit SARS-CoV-2 vaccine candidate in captive black-footed ferrets (Mustela nigripes) and their susceptibility to viral challenge

A preliminary vaccination trial against the emergent pathogen, SARS-CoV-2, was completed in captive black-footed ferrets (Mustela nigripes; BFF) to assess safety, immunogenicity, and anti-viral efficacy. Vaccination and boosting of 15 BFF with purified SARS-CoV-2 S1 subunit protein produced a nearly 150-fold increase in mean antibody titers compared to pre-vaccination titers. Serum antibody respon
Authors
Ariel Elizabeth Leon, Della Garelle, Airn Hartwig, Elizabeth Falendysz, Hon S. Ip, Julia S. Lankton, Tyler Tretten, Terry Spraker, Richard Bowen, Tonie E. Rocke
By
Ecosystems Mission Area, National Wildlife Health Center

The future of fungi: Threats and opportunities

The fungal kingdom represents an extraordinary diversity of organisms with profound impacts across animal, plant, and ecosystem health. Fungi simultaneously support life, by forming beneficial symbioses with plants and producing life-saving medicines, and bring death, by causing devastating diseases in humans, plants, and animals. With climate change, increased antimicrobial resistance, global tra
Authors
Nicola T. Case, Judith Berman, David S. Blehert, Robert A. Cramer, Christina A. Cuomo, Cameron R. Currie, Iuliana V. Ene, Matthew C. Fisher, Lillian K. Fritz-Laylin, Aleeza C. Gerstein, N. Louise Glass, Neil A. R. Gow, Sarah J. Gurr, Chris Todd Hittinger, Tobias M. Hohl, Iliyan D. Iliev, Timothy Y. James, Hailing Jin, Bruce S. Klein, James W. Kronstad, Jeffrey M. Lorch, Victoria McGovern, Aaron P. Mitchell, Julia A. Segre, Rebecca S. Shapiro, Donald C. Sheppard, Anita Sil, Jason E. Stajich, Eva E. Stukenbrock, John W. Taylor, Dawn Thompson, Gerard D. Wright, Joseph Heitman, Leah E. Cowen
By
Ecosystems Mission Area, National Wildlife Health Center

Potential effects of environmental conditions on prairie dog flea development and implications for sylvatic plague epizootics

Fleas are common ectoparasites of vertebrates worldwide and vectors of many pathogens causing disease, such as sylvatic plague in prairie dog colonies. Development of fleas is regulated by environmental conditions, especially temperature and relative humidity. Development rates are typically slower at low temperatures and faster at high temperatures, which are bounded by lower and upper thresholds
Authors
Michael D. Samuel, Julia E. Poje, Tonie E. Rocke, Marco E. Metzger
By
Ecosystems Mission Area, National Wildlife Health Center

Biosafety practices when working with bats: A guide to field research considerations

Introduction: Field work with bats is an important contribution to many areas of research in environmental biology and ecology, as well as microbiology. Work with bats poses hazards such as bites and scratches, and the potential for exposure to infectious pathogens such as rabies virus. It also exposes researchers to many other potential hazards inherent to field work, such as environmental condit
Authors
Alvaro Aguilar-Setién, Nidia Aréchiga-Ceballos, Gary A. Balsamo, Amy J. Behrman, Hannah K. Frank, Gary R. Fujimoto, Elizabeth Gilman Duane, Thomas Warner Hudson III, Shelley M. Jones, Luis A. Ochoa Carrera, Gregory L. Powell, Carrie Alison Smith, Joni Triantis Van Sickle, Susan E. Vleck
By
Ecosystems Mission Area, National Wildlife Health Center

Social effects of rabies infection in male vampire bats (Desmodus rotundus)

Rabies virus (RABV) transmitted by the common vampire bat (Desmodus rotundus) poses a threat to agricultural development and public health throughout the Neotropics. The ecology and evolution of rabies host-pathogen dynamics are influenced by two infection-induced behavioral changes. RABV-infected hosts often exhibit increased aggression which facilitates transmission, and rabies also leads to red
Authors
Elsa M. Cárdenas-Canales, Sebastian Stockmaier, Eleanor Cronin, Tonie E. Rocke, Jorge E. Osorio, Gerald G. Carter
By
Ecosystems Mission Area, Biological Threats and Invasive Species Research Program, Species Management Research Program, National Wildlife Health Center

Evaluating the effect of nuclear inclusion X (NIX) infections on Pacific razor clam populations

ABSTRACT: Nuclear inclusion X (NIX), the etiological agent of bacterial gill disease in Pacific razor clams Siliqua patula, was associated with host mortality events in coastal Washington State, USA, during the mid-1980s. Ongoing observations of truncated razor clam size distributions in Kalaloch Beach, Washington, raised concerns that NIX continues to impact populations. We conducted a series of
Authors
Maya Groner, Paul Hershberger, Steven C. Fradkin, Carla M. Conway, Aine C. Hawthorn, Maureen K. Purcell
By
Ecosystems Mission Area, National Wildlife Health Center, Western Fisheries Research Center, Fish Health Program (FHP), Marrowstone Marine Field Station (MMFS)

A recombinant rabies vaccine that prevents viral shedding in rabid common vampire bats (Desmodus rotundus)

Vampire bat transmitted rabies (VBR) is a continuing burden to public health and agricultural sectors in Latin America, despite decades-long efforts to control the disease by culling bat populations. Culling has been shown to disperse bats, leading to an increased spread of rabies. Thus, non-lethal strategies to control VBR, such as vaccination, are desired. Here, we evaluated the safety and effic
Authors
Elsa M. Cárdenas-Canales, Andres Velasco-Villa, James A. Ellison, Panayampalli S. Satheshkumar, Jorge E. Osario, Tonie E. Rocke
By
Ecosystems Mission Area, Biological Threats and Invasive Species Research Program, National Wildlife Health Center