Hon Ip
Hon Ip is a Diagnostic and Research Virologist at the National Wildlife Health Center.
As a Diagnostic and Research Virologist, I am interested in the emergence and spread of novel, introduced, and endemic viral diseases of wildlife. For example, through the National Wildlife Health Center’s long-standing program to investigate wildlife mortality events in the United States, our Diagnostic Virology Laboratory was first to detect introductions of West Nile Virus (in 1999) and Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza H5N8 (in 2014). Both of these introductions resulted in large-scale monitoring efforts that provided real-time and actionable intelligence to state and federal partners for disease response. We have also investigated periodic recurrence of Newcastle Disease in cormorants, geographic expansion of Eurasian collared doves and associated spread of pigeon paramyxovirus, and applied phylogenetic approaches to understand the diversity and transmission of viral diseases on the landscape. Since 2008 we have been studying viruses in North American bats, including coronaviruses. Following the recent emergence of COVID-19, this work provides a highly relevant framework for investigating possible impacts of the SARS-CoV-2 virus on native, North American bat species, and for more broadly characterizing the diversity of coronaviruses in North American wildlife.
Professional Experience
Diagnostic and Research Virologist at the National Wildlife Health Center
Education and Certifications
Ph. D. Molecular Parasitology. The Rockefeller University, New York, NY.
M. Sc. Microbiology and Parasitology. University of Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
B. Sc. Microbiology and Parasitology. University of Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
Affiliations and Memberships*
Honorary Associate Fellow. Department of Pathobiological Sciences, School of Veterinary Medicine, University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Adjunct Assistant Professor. Department of Population Health Sciences, School of Medicine and Public Health, University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Science and Products
An opportunistic survey reveals an unexpected coronavirus diversity hotspot in North America
Interlaboratory comparison of SARS-CoV2 molecular detection assays in use by U.S. veterinary diagnostic laboratories
Pathology of Lagovirus europaeus GI.2/RHDV2/b (rabbit hemorrhagic disease virus 2) in native North American lagomorphs
Emergence and molecular characterization of pigeon Paramyxovirus-1 in non-native Eurasian collared doves (Streptopelia decaocto) in California, USA
SARS-CoV-2 exposure in escaped mink, Utah, USA
Quarterly wildlife mortality report January 2021
Experimental challenge of a North American bat species, big brown bat (Eptesicus fuscus), with SARS-CoV-2
Investigation of the 2018 thick-billed murre (Uria lomvia) die-off on St. Lawrence Island rules out food shortage as the cause
Possibility for reverse zoonotic transmission of SARS-CoV-2 to free-ranging wildlife: A case study of bats
Genesis and spread of multiple reassortants during the 2016/2017 H5 avian influenza epidemic in Eurasia
Detection of SARS-CoV-2 by RNAscope® in situ hybridization and immunohistochemistry techniques
Inactivation of viable surrogates for the select agents virulent Newcastle disease virus and highly pathogenic avian influenza virus using either commercial lysis buffer or heat
Science and Products
An opportunistic survey reveals an unexpected coronavirus diversity hotspot in North America
Interlaboratory comparison of SARS-CoV2 molecular detection assays in use by U.S. veterinary diagnostic laboratories
Pathology of Lagovirus europaeus GI.2/RHDV2/b (rabbit hemorrhagic disease virus 2) in native North American lagomorphs
Emergence and molecular characterization of pigeon Paramyxovirus-1 in non-native Eurasian collared doves (Streptopelia decaocto) in California, USA
SARS-CoV-2 exposure in escaped mink, Utah, USA
Quarterly wildlife mortality report January 2021
Experimental challenge of a North American bat species, big brown bat (Eptesicus fuscus), with SARS-CoV-2
Investigation of the 2018 thick-billed murre (Uria lomvia) die-off on St. Lawrence Island rules out food shortage as the cause
Possibility for reverse zoonotic transmission of SARS-CoV-2 to free-ranging wildlife: A case study of bats
Genesis and spread of multiple reassortants during the 2016/2017 H5 avian influenza epidemic in Eurasia
Detection of SARS-CoV-2 by RNAscope® in situ hybridization and immunohistochemistry techniques
Inactivation of viable surrogates for the select agents virulent Newcastle disease virus and highly pathogenic avian influenza virus using either commercial lysis buffer or heat
*Disclaimer: Listing outside positions with professional scientific organizations on this Staff Profile are for informational purposes only and do not constitute an endorsement of those professional scientific organizations or their activities by the USGS, Department of the Interior, or U.S. Government