Publications
View citations of publications by National Wildlife Health Center scientists since our founding in 1975. Access to full-text is provided where possible.
Wildlife Health Bulletins
Wildlife Health Bulletins
Wildlife Health Bulletins are distributed to natural resource/conservation agencies to provide and promote information exchange about significant wildlife health threats.
Wildlife Disease Case Definitions
Wildlife Disease Case Definitions
Case definitions provide a standardized, science-based set of criteria for diagnosing disease and pathogens. This manual provides case definitions for selected diseases of importance to wildlife in Canada and the United States.
Filter Total Items: 1653
Extreme mortality and reproductive failure of common murres resulting from the northeast Pacific marine heatwave of 2014-2016 Extreme mortality and reproductive failure of common murres resulting from the northeast Pacific marine heatwave of 2014-2016
About 62,000 dead or dying common murres (Uria aalge), the trophically dominant fish-eating seabird of the North Pacific, washed ashore between summer 2015 and spring 2016 on beaches from California to Alaska. Most birds were severely emaciated and, so far, no evidence for anything other than starvation was found to explain this mass mortality. Three-quarters of murres were found in the...
Authors
John F. Piatt, Julia K. Parrish, Heather M. Renner, Sarah K. Schoen, Timothy Jones, Mayumi L. Arimitsu, Kathy J. Kuletz, Barbara Bodenstein, Marisol Garcia-Reyes, Rebecca Duerr, Robin Corcoran, Robb S.A. Kaler, Gerard J. McChesney, Richard T. Golightly, Heather A. Coletti, Robert M. Suryan, Hillary K. Burgess, Jackie Lindsey, Kirsten Lindquist, Peter Warzybok, Jaime Jahncke, Jan Roletto, William J. Sydeman
Standardized guide to the examination and necropsy of the horseshoe crab using Limulus polyphemus as Limulidae prototype Standardized guide to the examination and necropsy of the horseshoe crab using Limulus polyphemus as Limulidae prototype
The Atlantic, or American, horseshoe crab (Limulus polyphemus) has existed largely unchanged for over 100 million years. Millions of individuals are commonly observed ashore in spring and summer months during spawning events along the entire North American coastline expanding from the East to the Gulf coasts of the United States and Mexico. Other species can be found in the Indian and...
Authors
Katie Roorda, Jill Arnold, Carol Meteyer, Brent Whitaker
Outside the box: Working with wildlife in biocontainment Outside the box: Working with wildlife in biocontainment
Research with captive wildlife in Animal Biosafety Level 2 (ABSL2) and 3 (ABSL3) facilities is becoming increasingly necessary as emerging and re-emerging diseases involving wildlife have increasing impacts on human, animal, and environmental health. Utilizing wildlife species in a research facility often requires outside the box thinking with specialized knowledge, practices, facilities...
Authors
Elizabeth Falendysz, Dana Marie Calhoun, Carrie Alison Smith, Jonathan M. Sleeman
Contrasting demographic responses of toad populations to regionally synchronous pathogen (Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis) dynamics Contrasting demographic responses of toad populations to regionally synchronous pathogen (Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis) dynamics
Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis (Bd), a fungal pathogen that causes amphibian chytridiomycosis, has been implicated in population declines globally. To better understand how Bd affects survival and how threats vary spatially and temporally, we conducted long-term (range: 9–13 yrs) capture-recapture studies of boreal toads (Anaxyrus boreas) from three similar communities in western Montana...
Authors
Blake R. Hossack, Robin E. Russell, Rebecca M. McCaffery
Postmortem evaluation of reintroduced migratory whooping cranes (Grus americana) in eastern North America Postmortem evaluation of reintroduced migratory whooping cranes (Grus americana) in eastern North America
We reviewed necropsy records of 124 Whooping Cranes (Grus americana) recovered following reintroduction of 268 individuals from 2001 to 2016 in the eastern US. Causes of death were determined in 62% (77/124) of cases facilitated by active monitoring that limited decomposition and scavenging artifact. The greatest proportions of mortality were caused by predation (0.468; 95% confidence...
Authors
Taylor J. Yaw, Kimberli J.G. Miller, Julia S. Lankton, Barry K. Hartup
Inactivation of viable surrogates for the select agents virulent Newcastle disease virus and highly pathogenic avian influenza virus using either commercial lysis buffer or heat Inactivation of viable surrogates for the select agents virulent Newcastle disease virus and highly pathogenic avian influenza virus using either commercial lysis buffer or heat
Introduction: Federal Select Agent Program regulations require laboratories to document a validated procedure for inactivating select agents prior to movement outside registered space. Avian influenza viruses and virulent Newcastle disease virus (vNDV) are cultured in chicken amnio-allantoic fluid (AAF), but the efficacy of commercial lysis buffers to inactivate viruses in protein-rich...
Authors
Katrina E. Alger, S. Ip, Jeffrey S. Hall, Sean Nashold, Katherine Richgels, Carrie Alison Smith
Successful molecular detection studies require clear communication among diverse research partners Successful molecular detection studies require clear communication among diverse research partners
Molecular detection techniques are powerful tools used in ecological applications ranging from diet analyses to pathogen surveillance. Research partnerships that use these tools often involve collaboration among professionals with expertise in field biology, laboratory techniques, quantitative modeling, wildlife disease, and natural resource management. However, in many cases, each of...
Authors
B. A. Mosher, R. F. Bernard, Jeffrey M. Lorch, D. A. W. Miller, Katherine L. D. Richgels, C. LeAnn White, Evan H. Campbell Grant
Avian influenza virus prevalence in marine birds is dependent on ocean temperatures Avian influenza virus prevalence in marine birds is dependent on ocean temperatures
Waterfowl and shorebirds are the primary hosts of influenza A virus (IAV), however, in most surveillance efforts, large populations of birds are not routinely examined; specifically marine ducks and other birds that reside predominately on or near the ocean. We conducted a long-term study sampling sea ducks and gulls in coastal Maine for IAV and found a virus prevalence (1.7%) much lower...
Authors
Jeffrey S. Hall, Robert J. Dusek, Sean Nashold, Joshua L. TeSlaa, Bradford R. Allen, Daniel A. Grear
The ecology of chronic wasting disease in wildlife The ecology of chronic wasting disease in wildlife
Prions are misfolded infectious proteins responsible for a group of fatal neurodegenerative diseases termed transmissible spongiform encephalopathy or prion diseases. Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD) is the prion disease with the highest spillover potential, affecting at least seven Cervidae (deer) species. The zoonotic potential of CWD is inconclusive and cannot be ruled out. A risk of...
Authors
Luis E. Escobar, Sandra Pritzkow, Steven N Winter, Daniel A. Grear, Megan S. Kirchgessner, Ernesto Dominguez-Villegas, Gustavo Machado, A Townsend Peterson, Claudio Soto
Chronic wasting disease—Research by the U.S. Geological Survey and partners Chronic wasting disease—Research by the U.S. Geological Survey and partners
Introduction Chronic wasting disease (CWD) is the only transmissible spongiform encephalopathy, a class of invariably fatal neurodegenerative mammalian diseases associated with a misfolded cellular prion protein found in wild free-ranging animals. Because it has a long incubation period, affected animals in Cervidae (the deer family; referred to as “cervids”) may not show signs of...
Authors
M. Camille Hopkins, Christina M. Carlson, Paul C. Cross, Christopher J. Johnson, Bryan J. Richards, Robin E. Russell, Michael D. Samuel, Glen A. Sargeant, Daniel P. Walsh, W. David Walter
Fluorescent biomarkers demonstrate prospects for spreadable vaccines to control disease transmission in wild bats Fluorescent biomarkers demonstrate prospects for spreadable vaccines to control disease transmission in wild bats
Vaccines that autonomously transfer among individuals have been proposed as a strategy to control infectious diseases within inaccessible wildlife populations. However, rates of vaccine spread and epidemiological efficacy in real-world systems remain elusive. Here, we investigate whether topical vaccines that transfer among individuals through social contacts can control vampire bat...
Authors
Kevin M. Bakker, Tonie E. Rocke, Jorge E. Osorio, Rachel C. Abbott, Carlos Tello, Jorge Carerra, William Valderrama, Carlos Shiva, Nestor Falcon, Daniel G. Streicker
Caryospora-like coccidia infecting green turtles (Chelonia mydas): An emerging disease with evidence of interoceanic dissemination Caryospora-like coccidia infecting green turtles (Chelonia mydas): An emerging disease with evidence of interoceanic dissemination
Protozoa morphologically consistent with Caryospora sp. are one of the few pathogens associated with episodic mass mortality events involving free-ranging sea turtles. Parasitism of green turtles (Chelonia mydas) by these coccidia and associated mortality was first reported in maricultured turtles in the Caribbean during the 1970s. Years later, epizootics affecting wild green turtles in...
Authors
Brian A. Stacy, Phoebe A. Chapman, Heather Stockdale-Walden, Thierry M. Work, Julie Dagenais, Allen M. Foley, Morgan Wideroff, Wellehan, April L. Childress, Charles A. Manire, Mya Rodriguez, Trevor T. Zachariah, Lydia Staggs, Bette Zirkelbach, Nina Nahvi, Whitney Crowder, Shane M. Boylan, Shelly Marquardt, Craig Pelton, Terry M. Norton