Fish and Wildlife Disease
Fish and Wildlife Disease
Chronic wasting disease and cervid health—2025 highlights
White-Nose Syndrome and Bat Health: 2025 Year in Review
Batrachochytrium salamandrivorans (Bsal) Surveillance
Tackling avian influenza with automated detection for an early warning system
Distribution of CWD Expanding
Chronic Wasting Disease continues to spread across North America
Chronic Wasting Disease continues to spread across North America
What is Avian Influenza (AI)?
USGS is the lead Federal agency for free-ranging wildlife disease research and surveillance. Our capabilities enhance the understanding of wildlife disease ecology and epidemiology as well as inform the development of decision-support and control tools. USGS wildlife disease experts provide technical assistance as needed to manage wildlife disease and conduct cause-of-death investigations.
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Toxoplasmosis
Toxoplasmosis is caused by a microscopic parasites called a protozoan. The specific name of the protozoan that causes toxoplasmosis is Toxoplasma gondii. T. gondii reproduces in the gut of cats (all members of the Felidae are susceptible). Cats shed the parasite in their feces, and the parasite is ingested by other animals (intermediate hosts) causing disease. Cats can acquire the parasite from...
Disease Ecology and Modeling
The USGS National Wildlife Health Center (NWHC) provides quantitative support and technical assistance to state and federal wildlife managers and partners to better understand or predict the impact of disease on wildlife populations.
Vaccines
The USGS National Wildlife Health Center (NWHC) works on developing various disease management tools, including the development of vaccines. Our current work focuses on vaccines for sylvatic plague, white-nose syndrome, and rabies as disease control strategies.
Technology Development and Innovation
To provide the next generation of wildlife disease tools, that can move past detection and documentation and towards solutions for wildlife disease problems, the National Wildlife Health Center (NWHC) is developing a suite of new or adapted technology. Primarily, these technologies focus on three areas of improvement in the realm of wildlife disease: prediction and prevention, surveillance for...
Diagnostic Services
The USGS National Wildlife Health Center (NWHC) conducts laboratory investigations to determine the causes of wildlife mortality events, especially large-scale die-offs or those that are otherwise unusual.
White-Nose Syndrome Surveillance
The USGS National Wildlife Health Center (NWHC) assists State, Federal, and Tribal wildlife agencies nationwide with early detection of Pseudogymnoascus destructans ( Pd), and addresses specific research priorities identified by partners in conjunction with the White-Nose Syndrome National Plan.
Vector-borne Disease Research
Lyme disease is the most prevalent vector-borne disease in North America, with about 300,000 cases per year in the U.S. We are studying transmission of the spirochete that causes this disease among wild animals and the blacklegged tick vectors, to determine why Lyme disease is common in the northeast and northern Midwest but rare in the south, even though blacklegged ticks are present in all of...
Assessing Amphibian Disease Risk in the Northeast
Disease in amphibian populations can have a range of effects, from devastating declines following introduction of a novel pathogen to recurring breakout events on a landscape. Elucidating mechanisms underlying the effects of diseases on amphibian populations is crucial to help managers make appropriate decisions to achieve management goals for amphibians.
Tracking Domestic Ducks through the Market Chain in China via Telemetry
This project seeks to improve our understanding of how domestic ducks move throughout the market chain in China and the role this may play in the amplification and spread of avian influenza viruses.
Marine Invertebrate Diseases
Coral reefs worldwide are under tremendous stress primarily due to human activities along the coasts. While climate change, over fishing, and coastal development have been implicated as a major cause of coral reef decline, diseases seem to play an increasing role.
Sea Turtle Diseases
Sea turtles are one of the oldest groups of reptiles and are found worldwide. There are seven species of sea turtles in the world, and Hawaii has two of them, the hawksbill and the far more numerous green turtle. Threats to turtles include by-catch from fisheries activity, over harvesting of eggs on nesting beaches, and disease. Of the latter, the most significant disease of sea turtles is called...
Snake Fungal Disease
Snake fungal disease is an infectious disease confirmed in numerous species of snakes caused by the fungus Ophidiomyces ophidiicola.