Terrestrial Wildlife Diseases

USGS researchers are developing novel methods to improve our understanding of waterfowl distributions and abundance across the United States to inform a variety of ongoing disease studies. Understanding the distribution of wild waterfowl is a critical component to assessing avian influenza transmission risks across the landscape.

Chronic wasting disease (CWD) is a growing management issue in the U.S. and has been detected in 36 states as of April 2025, including many western states. There is no cure or vaccine for CWD, and the disease threatens economically important animals like elk and deer. NOROCK scientists have taken a multi-pronged approach to develop actionable science including 1) evaluating CWD management options...

Over the past 20 years, chronic wasting disease (CWD) in Wyoming has been spreading slowly outward from the southeastern corner of the state into the Greater Yellowstone Area and Wyoming's elk feed grounds. CWD detections have been getting closer to the National Elk Refuge, which provides supplemental feeding to approximately 8,000 elk and 500 bison each winter. NOROCK scientists have been...

Chronic wasting disease (CWD) has been detected in 36 US states and five Canadian provinces in free-ranging cervids and/or captive cervid facilities.

Some locations on the landscape can aggregate animals of multiple species and could become hotspots of disease transmission. One example of this are areas of localized concentrations of minerals that animals like deer, elk, bighorn sheep, and mountain goats use and diseases like chronic wasting disease or respiratory diseases could spread among or within species who use natural mineral licks...

Recent outbreaks of highly pathogenic avian influenza have impacted a dramatically wider range of bird hosts than ever before. USGS researchers are working to identify which bird species have been exposed, which have developed immune responses, and how these species may influence viral ecology to inform risk management activities.

USGS researchers are using telemetry to improve our understanding of how wild birds move throughout their environments and the potential implications for disease transmission within and to domestic poultry.

Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD) infects and kills ungulates (deer, elk, moose), and has been spreading across North America for the past 20 years. Some ungulate populations have declined because of CWD and there are no viable vaccines or treatments for this disease. Therefore, tools that assist wildlife managers in preventing and mitigating CWD can be powerful assets in protecting our nation’s big...

In early 2006, an Alaska Interagency Avian Influenza Working Group was formed to develop a ranking matrix for selecting priority species to be sampled within Alaska. Most wild bird species with populations that utilize areas of both Alaska and Asia were identified and considered in the ranking exercise. Based on scoring criteria, 28 target species were chosen for sampling. Alaska is a...

The movement and transmission of avian influenza viruses in wild birds may differ by the migratory nature of each host species.

Many of Hawai‘i’s forest birds have shown significant declines in the past 200 years, with many currently listed as endangered species. Multiple threats have been identified as contributing to declines, including disease, invasive species, habitat loss, and decreased survivorship and productivity caused by introduced predators. Through a combination of demographic information, population modeling...

Chronic wasting disease (CWD) affects cervids (elk, moose, mule deer, and white-tailed deer) throughout the U.S. CWD affects the nervous system in these animals and creates distinctive brain lesions. At this time, we have no treatment for CWD and it is fatal to the animals who contract it. CWD is caused by an infectious, irregular form of cellular prion protein. CWD can be directly and indirectly...