Publications

Southern sea otters (Enhydra lutris nereis) from the California coast continue to exhibit a slower population regrowth rate than the population in Alaska. Infectious diseases have been identified as a frequent cause of death. Infectious diseases caused by varied pathogens including bacteria, fungi, and parasites were suggestive of compromised immunological health of mature animals in...

No abstract available.

No abstract available.

Protozoal meningoencephalitis is considered to be an important cause of mortality in the California sea otter (Enhydra lutris). Thirty nine of 344 (11.3%) California (CA) and Washington state (WA) sea otters examined from 1985 to 2004 had histopathological evidence of significant protozoal meningoencephalitis. The aetiological agents and histopathological changes associated with these...

The Laysan duck (Anas laysanensis), also known as the Laysan teal because of its small size, is a critically endangered waterfowl species that once occurred widely across the Hawaiian Archipelago. For the past 150 years, however, it was restricted to a single population on Laysan, a 4-square-kilometer (1.5-square-mile) island with a hypersaline shallow lake. Laysan is part of the...

No abstract available.

Following the Louisiana landfalls of Katrina on August 29 and Rita on September 24, 2005, the local population and the American public were concerned about the effects the hurricanes might have on water quality in Lake Pontchartrain. The lake is a major recreational resource for the region and an important fishery. Contamination carried by the storm surge—along with runoff and water...

No abstract available.

We examined the role that predation of infected conspecific fish and postcyclic transmission might play in the life cycle of the Asian fish tapeworm, Bothriocephalus acheilognathi (Cestoda: Pseudophyllidea) Yamaguti, 1934. Young-of-the-year (YOY) bonytail chub (Gila elegans) were exposed to copepods infected with B. acheilognathi and subsequently fed to subadult bonytail chub. Within 1...

This chapter contains section titled: Introduction Synonyms History Distribution Host Range Etiology Epizootiology Clinical Signs Pathogenesis Pathology Diagnosis Immunity Public Health Concerns Domestic Animal Health Concerns Wildlife Population Impacts Treatment and Control Management Implications Unpublished Data Literature Cited

Chronic wasting disease (CWD) is an always-fatal, neurological illness occurring in North American cervids (members of the deer family), including white-tailed deer, mule deer, elk and moose. Since its discovery in 1967, CWD has spread geographically and increased in prevalence locally. CWD is contagious; it can be transmitted freely within and among free-ranging populations. It is...

In 2005, the USGS National Wildlife Health Center entered into an agreement with the Wyoming Game and Fish Department and the Department of Veterinary Sciences at the University of Wyoming to produce a collection of positive tissues from cervids intentionally infected with chronic wasting disease. This agreement was facilitated through the University of Wyoming Cooperative Fish and...