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Distribution of Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza in North America, 2021/2022

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Status and Response to Detections of Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza H5N1 in North America

New Wildlife Health Bulletin Released

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SARS-CoV-2 and North American Wildlife

In partnership with CDC, we are working to assess the prevalence of SARS-CoV-2 and the diversity of other coronaviruses in North American wildlife.

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Expanding Distribution of Chronic Wasting Disease

Track the spread of chronic wasting disease in North America.

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Wildlife Health Information Sharing Partnership event reporting system

View current and historic information on wildlife morbidity or mortality events in North America.

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Pathology Case of the Month

Notable wildlife mortality cases at the NWHC are highlighted in the Pathology Case of the Month series.

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National Wildlife Health Center

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 WEB TOOLS to access WHISPers, wildlife health bulletins, our field manual, and more.

Index of Wildlife Disease Information Resources

Disease Investigation Services

Red-winged blackbird necropsy

Report mortality events and submit specimens.

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Wildlife Health Research Highlights

NDV Study in cormorants

Learn more about our current research projects.

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Honolulu Field Station

Hawaiian green sea turtle, Chelonia mydas

The NWHC HFS provides support to the natural resource communities of Hawaii and the Pacific Basin in the investigation of wildlife diseases.

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News

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Pathology Case of the Month - Common Grackle

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Pathology Case of the Month - Fisher

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Pathology Case of the Month - Bald Eagle

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Publications

Successful detection of Delta and Omicron Variants of SARS-CoV-2 by veterinary diagnostic laboratory participants in an interlaboratory comparison exercise

BackgroundThroughout the COVID-19 pandemic, veterinary diagnostic laboratories have tested diagnostic samples for SARS-CoV-2 both in animals and over 6 million human samples. An evaluation of the performance of those laboratories is needed using blinded test samples to ensure that laboratories report reliable data to the public. This interlaboratory comparison exercise (ILC3) builds on 2 prior exe
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Kaiping Deng, Sarah M. Nemser, Kirstin Frost, Laura B. Goodman, Hon S. Ip, Mary Lea Killian, Jodie Ulaszek, Shannon Kiener, Matthew Kmet, Steffen Uhlig, Karina Hettwer, Bertrand Colson, Kapil Nichani, Anja Schlierf, Andriy Tkachenko, Megan R. Miller, Ravinder Reddy, Gregory H. Tyson
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Ecosystems Mission Area, National Wildlife Health Center

A bacteriological comparison of the hemolymph from healthy and moribund unionid mussel populations in the upper Midwestern U.S.A. prompts the development of diagnostic assays to detect Yokenella regensburgei

Recent bacteriological investigations of freshwater mussel mortality events in the southeastern United States have identified a variety of bacteria and differences in bacterial communities between sick and healthy mussels. In particular, Yokenella regensburgei and Aeromonas spp. have been shown to be associated with moribund mussels, although it remains unclear whether these bacteria are causes or
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Eric Leis, Sara Dziki, Isaac Standish, Diane L. Waller, Jordan Richard, Jesse Weinzinger, Cleyo Harris, Susan Knowles, Tony Goldberg
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Ecosystems Mission Area, National Wildlife Health Center, Upper Midwest Environmental Sciences Center

Management of vampire bats and rabies: Past, present, and future

Rabies virus transmitted via the bite of common vampire bats (Desmodus rotundus) has surpassed canine-associated cases as the predominant cause of human rabies in Latin America. Cattle, the preferred prey of D. rotundus, suffer extensive mortality from vampire bat associated rabies, with annual financial losses estimated in the tens of millions of dollars. Organized attempts to manage or curtail v
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Tonie E. Rocke, Daniel G. Streicker, Ariel Elizabeth Leon
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Ecosystems Mission Area, National Wildlife Health Center
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Science

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Boulder brain coral with signs of stony coral tissue loss disease

Integrating Science and Management to Assist with the Response to Stony Coral Tissue Loss Disease

A USGS multi-disciplinary team will use laboratory and modeling approaches to investigate the cause of stony coral tissue loss disease.
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Eastern Ecological Science Center, National Wildlife Health Center, St. Petersburg Coastal and Marine Science Center, Wetland and Aquatic Research Center
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Integrating Science and Management to Assist with the Response to Stony Coral Tissue Loss Disease

A USGS multi-disciplinary team will use laboratory and modeling approaches to investigate the cause of stony coral tissue loss disease.
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Map of North America showing locations where chronic wasting disease has been detected.

Expanding Distribution of Chronic Wasting Disease

Chronic wasting disease (CWD) has been detected in 30 US states and four Canadian provinces in free-ranging cervids and/or commercial captive cervid facilities. CWD has been detected in free-ranging cervids in 29 states and three provinces and in captive cervid facilities in 18 states and three provinces.
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Ecosystems Mission Area, Biological Threats and Invasive Species Research Program, National Wildlife Health Center
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Expanding Distribution of Chronic Wasting Disease

Chronic wasting disease (CWD) has been detected in 30 US states and four Canadian provinces in free-ranging cervids and/or commercial captive cervid facilities. CWD has been detected in free-ranging cervids in 29 states and three provinces and in captive cervid facilities in 18 states and three provinces.
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male mallard in flight

Distribution of Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza in North America, 2021/2022

The first 2021/2022 detection of Eurasian strain (EA) highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) H5N1 in North America occurred in December 2021 in Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada. Subsequently, HPAI EA H5 and EA H5N1 viruses have been confirmed in wild birds, backyard flocks, commercial poultry facilities, and wild mammals in both Canada and the United States. This HPAI distribution map will be...
By
Ecosystems Mission Area, Biological Threats and Invasive Species Research Program, National Wildlife Health Center
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Distribution of Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza in North America, 2021/2022

The first 2021/2022 detection of Eurasian strain (EA) highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) H5N1 in North America occurred in December 2021 in Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada. Subsequently, HPAI EA H5 and EA H5N1 viruses have been confirmed in wild birds, backyard flocks, commercial poultry facilities, and wild mammals in both Canada and the United States. This HPAI distribution map will be...
Learn More
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