National Wildlife Health Center
Home
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: Rabbit Hemorrhagic Disease Virus 2
Rabbit hemorrhagic disease virus 2 (RHDV2) has been confirmed for the first time in wild rabbits in the United States.
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 - California Newt
History: In May 2021, a morbidity and mortality event involving California newts (Taricha torosa) was reported at a national park in California, USA.
New enhancements to WHISPers made possible by partnership with SGCI
The USGS National Wildlife Health Center is excited to announce usability enhancements to WHISPers, the Wildlife Health Information Sharing Partnership – event reporting system. The enhancements include a more secure and streamlined registration process and a re-envisioned home page with an integrated search and...
Pathology Case of the Month - Sandhill Crane
Case History: Approximately 30 sandhill cranes (Antigone canadensis) were found dead during a winter cold snap in Indiana, U.S.A. One bird was noted to have a mass on its leg.
Publications
Outside the box: Working with wildlife in biocontainment
Research with captive wildlife in Animal Biosafety Level 2 (ABSL2) and 3 (ABSL3) facilities is becoming increasingly necessary as emerging and re-emerging diseases involving wildlife have increasing impacts on human, animal, and environmental health. Utilizing wildlife species in a research facility often requires outside the box thinking with...
Falendysz, Elizabeth; Calhoun, Dana Marie; Smith, Carrie Alison; Sleeman, Jonathan M. Genetic sequencing of Attwater's prairie chicken avian poxvirus and evaluation of its potential role in reticuloendotheliosis virus outbreaks
Efforts to breed Attwater's prairie chickens (APC; Tympanuchus cupido attwateri) in captivity to supplement wild populations of this endangered bird have been negatively affected by infections with Avipoxvirus and reticuloendotheliosis virus (REV). Because REV can be integrated into the genome of fowlpox virus (FPV) and may be...
Hofmeister, Erik K.; Georgousi, Fiona Antigoni; Lund, Melissa; Ferro, Pam; Flanagan, Joe; Haefele, Holly; Morrow, Mike Diplotriaena obtusa (Nematoda: Diplotriaenidae) from barn swallows (Hirundo rustica) and cliff swallows (Petrochelidon pyrrhonota) collected during mortality events in the Upper Midwest, USA
Several mortality events involving barn swallows (Hirundo rustica) and cliff swallows (Petrochelidon pyrrhonota) were reported in the Upper Midwestern states in 2017 and 2018. Barn swallow mortality followed unseasonal cold snaps, with the primary cause of death being emaciation with concurrent air sac nematodiasis. Lesions in cliff swallows were...
Michalski, Michelle; Kadolph, Emily; Roderick, Constance; Lankton, Julia S.; Cole, Rebecca A.