Emerging Wildlife Diseases
Emerging Wildlife Diseases
The effects of emerging wildlife diseases are global and profound, often resulting in the loss of human lives, economic and agricultural impacts, declines in wildlife populations, and ecological disturbance. The USGS National Wildlife Health Center (NWHC) works to safeguard our Nation’s wildlife from diseases by studying the causes and drivers of these threats and by developing strategies to prevent and manage them.
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Understanding and Containing Chronic Wasting Disease
Chronic wasting disease (CWD) is a contagious and fatal neurodegenerative disease affecting cervids (deer, elk, caribou, and moose) that is threatening the health and sustainability of cervid populations across North America. CWD is caused by misfolded proteins known as prions, which can be transmitted by direct contact or environmental exposure. The USGS National Wildlife Health Center conducts...
Tracking Chronic Wasting Disease Strains to Understand Transmission and Detect Emerging Threats
At least ten distinct chronic wasting disease (CWD) prion strains with unique biochemical properties affect disease transmission and host range, prompting development and validation of biochemical assays to surveil and track these strains in endemic regions like Wisconsin, with ongoing efforts to standardize these methods for epidemiological tracking and management of CWD variants .
White-nose syndrome: Uncovering fungal mechanisms and unique bat adaptations
White-nose syndrome (WNS) has killed millions of hibernating bats across North America, causing severe population declines and even local extinctions. Caused by the cold-loving fungus Pseudogymnoascus destructans, this disease behaves unlike typical wildlife pathogens, making it especially hard to control. Researchers at the USGS National Wildlife Health Center, with partners at the University of...
Responding to New World Screwworm in the U.S.
The USGS National Wildlife Health Center (NWHC) is supporting the Department of the Interior’s (DOI) preparedness planning and response for New World screwworm (NWS), an invasive parasitic fly detected in the U.S. in June 2026 after its northward spread from Central America.
Dynamics of Rabies Transmission in Vampire Bats and Potential for Control Through Vaccination
Vampire bats are the primary spreader of rabies, a lethal disease that harms livestock and people across Latin America. Growth of the livestock industry and environmental changes in this region are leading to the expansion of vampire bats’ habitat range, and it is considered likely this species will move into the southern United States.
Batrachochytrium salamandrivorans (Bsal)
Batrachochytrium salamandrivorans ( Bsal ) is an emerging pathogen capable of causing significant morbidity and mortality in salamanders.
Wildlife Disease Management Tools
The USGS National Wildlife Health Center works with federal, state, Tribal, and other partners to develop practical scientific tools and information to help wildlife managers and other decision-makers prevent, prepare for, and respond to wildlife disease threats. These tools range from direct disease-management interventions—such as vaccines and treatment approaches for invasive species—to...
White-nose syndrome diagnostic harmonization
The USGS National Wildlife Health Center, in partnership with the White-nose Syndrome (WNS) National Response Team Diagnostic Working Group, has developed the White-Nose Syndrome Diagnostic Laboratory Network Handbook to harmonize WNS diagnostics.
SARS-CoV-2 in Wildlife
As SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19 in humans, continues to spread globally, questions have emerged about the potential for humans to transmit the virus to North American wildlife, its potential effects on native wildlife populations, and the resultant possibility and consequences of establishing a persistent wildlife reservoir. Recent studies have detected SARS-CoV-2 in escaped or wild...
Native Freshwater Mussel Health
Native freshwater mussels are a keystone species and are considered both ecosystem engineers, improving habitat for other species, and indicator species important in assessing the health of the ecosystem.
Algal Toxins and Wildlife Health
Harmful algal blooms (HABs) have the potential to harm fish and wildlife, domestic animals, livestock, and humans through toxin production or ecological disturbances such as oxygen depletion and blockage of sunlight.
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. CWD is one member of a family of diseases called transmissible spongiform encephalopathies (TSEs), and is thought to be caused by prions. CWD is the only TSE known to affect free-ranging wildlife.