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Fish and Wildlife Disease

Ecology of fish and wildlife diseases, impact of diseases on wild populations with emphasis on Federally-listed species, development of surveillance, control, and risk-assessment tools, and decision support science to management agencies

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Photo of a bull elk with chronic wasting disease.

Effects of population density on prevalence of chronic wasting disease, physical condition, and vital rates of elk at Wind Cave National Park, South Dakota

CWD is a degenerative neurological disease caused by infectious proteins called prions. Although documented cases are invariably fatal, infected elk commonly survive for several months or longer, passing prions directly to other individuals and into the environment, where they bind to surfaces or soils and can persist for years. CWD reached Wind Cave National Park about 1997 and rapidly became the...
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Ecosystems Mission Area, Biological Threats and Invasive Species Research Program, Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center
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Effects of population density on prevalence of chronic wasting disease, physical condition, and vital rates of elk at Wind Cave National Park, South Dakota

CWD is a degenerative neurological disease caused by infectious proteins called prions. Although documented cases are invariably fatal, infected elk commonly survive for several months or longer, passing prions directly to other individuals and into the environment, where they bind to surfaces or soils and can persist for years. CWD reached Wind Cave National Park about 1997 and rapidly became the...
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Image: Wolf in Yellowstone National Park

Yellowstone wolf restoration

The National Park Service and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service reintroduced wolves into Yellowstone National Park in 1995 and 1996. This study helps assess that population’s recovery and determine factors that affect the population, including diseases, intraspecific strife, and interactions with prey. The restoration has been very successful, and the population has persisted for more than 20 years...
By
Ecosystems Mission Area, Species Management Research Program, Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center
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Yellowstone wolf restoration

The National Park Service and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service reintroduced wolves into Yellowstone National Park in 1995 and 1996. This study helps assess that population’s recovery and determine factors that affect the population, including diseases, intraspecific strife, and interactions with prey. The restoration has been very successful, and the population has persisted for more than 20 years...
Learn More
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Candling a red-winged blackbird egg to determine incubation stage

Immune components in eggs of New World blackbirds

Interest in the immune systems of wild birds has increased as public health authorities have recognized that many emerging infectious diseases of wildlife can be transmitted to humans (i.e., zoonoses). Eco-immunology is an emerging field that characterizes how immune adaptations of wild species vary as a result of evolution in different habitats and niches. Present understanding of the influence...
By
Ecosystems Mission Area, Biological Threats and Invasive Species Research Program, Species Management Research Program, Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center
link

Immune components in eggs of New World blackbirds

Interest in the immune systems of wild birds has increased as public health authorities have recognized that many emerging infectious diseases of wildlife can be transmitted to humans (i.e., zoonoses). Eco-immunology is an emerging field that characterizes how immune adaptations of wild species vary as a result of evolution in different habitats and niches. Present understanding of the influence...
Learn More