National Wildlife Health Center
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Welcome to the National Wildlife Health Center! Our mission is to advance wildlife health science for the benefit of animals, humans, and the environment.
Explore Science to learn more about wildlife diseases, ongoing projects, the Honolulu Field Station, and services.
Explore Data and Tools to use WHISPers, wildlife bulletins, our field manual, CWD surveillance app, and more.
Science Spotlight - Chronic Wasting Disease
Chronic wasting disease (CWD) is an emerging infectious disease that is fatal to free-ranging and captive animals in Cervidae, the deer family.
Learn MoreHonolulu Field Station
The NWHC HFS provides support to the natural resource communities of Hawaii and the Pacific Basin in the investigation of wildlife diseases.
Learn MoreNews
Pathology Case of the Month - Muskrats
Case History: Over a two-week period in November 2017, approximately 20 muskrats (Ondatra zibethicus) were found dead in a managed wetland in Ohio, USA.
Pathology Case of the Month - Gyrfalcon
Case History: A captive, adult male, 930-g Gyrfalcon (Falco rusticolus) was found dead in its enclosure on December 8, 2014.
National Wildlife Health Center Newsletter December 2019
View and download the newsletter (PDF).
Publications
Extreme mortality and reproductive failure of common murres resulting from the northeast Pacific marine heatwave of 2014-2016
About 62,000 dead or dying common murres (Uria aalge), the trophically dominant fish-eating seabird of the North Pacific, washed ashore between summer 2015 and spring 2016 on beaches from California to Alaska. Most birds were severely emaciated and, so far, no evidence for anything other than starvation was found to explain this mass mortality....
Piatt, John F.; Parrish, Julia K.; Renner, Heather M.; Schoen, Sarah K.; Jones, Timothy; Arimitsu, Mayumi L.; Kuletz, Kathy J.; Bodenstein, Barbara; Garcia-Reyes, Marisol; Duerr, Rebecca; Corcoran, Robin; Kaler, Robb S.A.; McChesney, Gerard J.; Golightly, Richard T.; Coletti, Heather A.; Suryan, Robert M.; Burgess, Hillary K.; Lindsey, Jackie; Lindquist, Kirsten; Warzybok, Peter; Jahncke, Jaime; Roletto, Jan; Sydeman, William J. Successful molecular detection studies require clear communication among diverse research partners
Molecular detection techniques are powerful tools used in ecological applications ranging from diet analyses to pathogen surveillance. Research partnerships that use these tools often involve collaboration among professionals with expertise in field biology, laboratory techniques, quantitative modeling, wildlife disease, and natural resource...
Mosher, B. A.; Bernard, R. F.; Lorch, Jeffrey M.; Miller, D. A. W.; Richgels, Katherine L. D.; White, C. LeAnn; Campbell Grant, Evan H. Rabies outbreak in captive big brown bats (Eptesicus fuscus) used in white-nose syndrome vaccine trial
An outbreak of rabies occurred in a captive colony of wild-caught big brown bats (Eptesicus fuscus). Five of 27 bats exhibited signs of rabies virus infection 22–51 d after capture or 18–22 d after contact with the index case. Rabid bats showed weight loss, aggression, increased vocalization, hypersalivation, and refusal of food. Antigenic typing...
Abbott, Rachel C.; Saindon, L.G.; Falendysz, Elizabeth; Greenberg, Lauren; Orciari, L.A.; Satheshkumar, Panayampalli Subbian; Rocke, Tonie E.