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
Surveillance for highly pathogenic avian influenza virus in wild birds during outbreaks in domestic poultry, Minnesota, 2015
Highly pathogenic avian influenza viruses and generation of novel reassortants,United States, 2014–2015
Role for migratory wild birds in the global spread of avian influenza H5N8
Fluid spatial dynamics of West Nile virus in the USA: Rapid spread in a permissive host environment
Discovery of a novel hepatovirus (Phopivirus of seals) related to human hepatitis A virus
Demographic and spatiotemporal patterns of avian influenza infection at the continental scale, and in relation to annual life cycle of a migratory host
Global trends in emerging viral diseases of wildlife origin
The dynamics of avian influenza in western Arctic snow geese: implications for annual and migratory infection patterns
Intercontinental spread of asian-origin H5N8 to North America through Beringia by migratory birds
Total protein concentration and diagnostic test results for gray wolf (Canis lupus) serum using Nobuto filter paper strips
Novel H5 clade 2.3.4.4 reassortant (H5N1) virus from a green-winged teal in Washington, USA
Novel Eurasian highly pathogenic avian influenza A H5 viruses in wild birds, Washington, USA, 2014
Science and Products
Surveillance for highly pathogenic avian influenza virus in wild birds during outbreaks in domestic poultry, Minnesota, 2015
Highly pathogenic avian influenza viruses and generation of novel reassortants,United States, 2014–2015
Role for migratory wild birds in the global spread of avian influenza H5N8
Fluid spatial dynamics of West Nile virus in the USA: Rapid spread in a permissive host environment
Discovery of a novel hepatovirus (Phopivirus of seals) related to human hepatitis A virus
Demographic and spatiotemporal patterns of avian influenza infection at the continental scale, and in relation to annual life cycle of a migratory host
Global trends in emerging viral diseases of wildlife origin
The dynamics of avian influenza in western Arctic snow geese: implications for annual and migratory infection patterns
Intercontinental spread of asian-origin H5N8 to North America through Beringia by migratory birds
Total protein concentration and diagnostic test results for gray wolf (Canis lupus) serum using Nobuto filter paper strips
Novel H5 clade 2.3.4.4 reassortant (H5N1) virus from a green-winged teal in Washington, USA
Novel Eurasian highly pathogenic avian influenza A H5 viruses in wild birds, Washington, USA, 2014
*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