Images

New World Screwworm is a fly (Cochliomyia hominivorax) that lays eggs in open wounds of warm-blooded animals. Once hatched, the larvae (maggots) consume the living tissues at the edge of the wound, leading to severe illness and death if left untreated. 

New World Screwworm is a fly (Cochliomyia hominivorax) that lays eggs in open wounds of warm-blooded animals. Once hatched, the larvae (maggots) consume the living tissues at the edge of the wound, leading to severe illness and death if left untreated. 

USGS is developing and testing a safe rabies vaccine for vampire bats and conducting field studies for a practical delivery of this vaccine to wild populations of bats in the future. 

Distribution of Chronic Wasting Disease in North America, updated July 23, 2025.

Distribution of Chronic Wasting Disease in North America, in Relation to Tribal Lands in the Conterminous United States. Updated on April 17, 2025.

Distribution of Chronic Wasting Disease in North America, updated April 11, 2025.

Animated GIF showing changes in distribution of chronic wasting disease in North America from 2000-2024 as documented at the end of each year. Individual files of yearly maps are available at https://doi.org/10.5066/P9HQKKFO.

Distribution of Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza H5 and H5N1 in wild birds the United States, by county, 2021-2025. Updated February 10, 2025.

The front elevation showcases a combination of glass and metal elements, reflecting a contemporary aesthetic. WHC will be a single, integrated, multistory, state-of-the-art building that will include offices, laboratories (BSL-2 and BSL-3), and vivarium
Picture provide by :Julia Lankton
Deputy Center Director

NWHC modernization overhead view, The image showcases an overhead view of the NWHC modernization project for the microsite homepage. Its highlighting the contemporary structures integrated into a vibrant landscape. Provided by: Lankton, Julia

Dr. LeAnn White has been selected as the new Center Director of the USGS National Wildlife Health Center (NWHC)

USGS is developing and testing a safe rabies vaccine for vampire bats and conducting field studies for a practical delivery of this vaccine to wild populations of bats in the future. 

Photographs from a mountainous star coral (Montastraea cavernosa) losing tissue to disease in Florida, USA.  (A) Colony in situ showing bare white, recently denuded skeleton with no turf algae growth (arrowheads) with dark discoloration along the active tissue loss margins (arrows).

Photomicrographs from a mountainous star coral (Montastraea cavernosa) in Florida, USA. (A) A large cluster of filamentous bacteria are within the gastrovascular space and gastrodermis (asterisk) and extending through mesoglea (arrow) with necrosis and loss of the surface gastrodermis (arrowheads). H&E stain.  Scale bar 200 μm.

Photomicrographs from a sea otter (Enhydra lutris) found dead in Washington State, USA.

Photographs from a Little Brown Bat (Myotis lucifugus) found dead in Montana, USA (A, B, D). (A) Multiple foci of depigmentation (arrowheads) measuring up to 3 mm in diameter are present on the patagia. (B) Under ultraviolet light, there is a single pinpoint focus of orange fluorescence (arrowhead) and multiple pinpoint foci of blue fluorescence (arrow).

Photomicrographs from an unaffected Little Brown Bat (M. lucifugus; A-B) and Little Brown Bat found dead in Montana, USA with the square-eared anomaly (C-E). Periodic Acid Schiff-Hematoxylin. (A) Pinna of an unaffected Little Brown Bat showing the epidermis (e and arrow), dermis (d) and central elastic cartilage plate (c).

Kisatchie National Forest Supervisor talks with U.S. Fish and Willdlife Service employees about a flatwoods project site in the forest May 7, 2024.

Photographs from a Western gull (Larus occidentalis) in California, USA. (A) On the intestinal serosa are multifocal 1-mm diameter firm white nodules (arrows). A white fungal plaque (white arrow) also overlies the serosa.

Photomicrographs of the small intestine from a Western gull (Larus occidentalis) from California, USA. H & E stain. (A) Expanding the small intestinal lumen and distorting intestinal villi are multiple adult metazoan parasites (arrow); similar parasites are within cavitations in the intestinal wall or serosa (arrowhead).

Photographs and photomicrographs from a Common Raccoon (Procyon lotor) found dead in Wisconsin, USA. (A) There is green-gray mucoid discharge around the eyes and the nasal planum is crusty (arrows).