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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.

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

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

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

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

Science

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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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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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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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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...
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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...
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