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
Experimental challenge and pathology of highly pathogenic avian influenza virus H5N1 in dunlin (Calidris alpina), an intercontinental migrant shorebird species
Evaluation of Nobuto filter paper strips for the detection of avian influenza virus antibody in waterfowl
Influence of body condition on influenza A virus infection in mallard ducks: Experimental infection data
Prevalence and pathology of West Nile virus in naturally infected house sparrows, western Nebraska, 2008
Pathology and virus detection in tissues of nestling house sparrows naturally infected with Buggy Creek virus (Togaviridae).
Intercontinental reassortment and genomic variation of low pathogenic avian influenza viruses isolated from northern pintails (Anas acuta) in Alaska: examining the evidence through space and time
Transmission and reassortment of avian influenza viruses at the Asian-North American interface
Limited evidence of trans-hemispheric movement of avian influenza viruses among contemporary North American shorebird isolates
Validation of a real-time reverse transcriptase-PCR assay for the detection of H7 avian influenza virus
Occurrence of viable avian influenza viruses in water and bed sediments from selected water bodies along the Atlantic Flyway, February and May 2006 and January 2007
Avian influenza at both ends of a migratory flyway: characterizing viral genomic diversity to optimize surveillance plans for North America
Experimental infection of a North American raptor, American kestrel (Falco sparverius), with highly pathogenic avian influenza virus (H5N1)
Science and Products
Experimental challenge and pathology of highly pathogenic avian influenza virus H5N1 in dunlin (Calidris alpina), an intercontinental migrant shorebird species
Evaluation of Nobuto filter paper strips for the detection of avian influenza virus antibody in waterfowl
Influence of body condition on influenza A virus infection in mallard ducks: Experimental infection data
Prevalence and pathology of West Nile virus in naturally infected house sparrows, western Nebraska, 2008
Pathology and virus detection in tissues of nestling house sparrows naturally infected with Buggy Creek virus (Togaviridae).
Intercontinental reassortment and genomic variation of low pathogenic avian influenza viruses isolated from northern pintails (Anas acuta) in Alaska: examining the evidence through space and time
Transmission and reassortment of avian influenza viruses at the Asian-North American interface
Limited evidence of trans-hemispheric movement of avian influenza viruses among contemporary North American shorebird isolates
Validation of a real-time reverse transcriptase-PCR assay for the detection of H7 avian influenza virus
Occurrence of viable avian influenza viruses in water and bed sediments from selected water bodies along the Atlantic Flyway, February and May 2006 and January 2007
Avian influenza at both ends of a migratory flyway: characterizing viral genomic diversity to optimize surveillance plans for North America
Experimental infection of a North American raptor, American kestrel (Falco sparverius), with highly pathogenic avian influenza virus (H5N1)
*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