Terrestrial Wildlife Diseases

White-nose syndrome (WNS), caused by the fungus Pseudogymnoascus destructans (Pd), continues to decimate bat populations in North America, and efforts to develop treatment options have intensified. One potential method for controlling WNS is vaccination of bats with specific antigens to elicit a protective immune response.

Eastern Ecological Science Center adds the decision analytical skill set to the existing body of USGS expertise on Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD), in support of our sister DOI agencies.

WARC scientists are testing and developing methods for the isolation of cervid exosomes from blood samples, followed by microRNA extraction and next generation sequencing.

Chronic wasting disease (CWD) is a fatal disease of deer, elk, and moose and has been spreading in North America for the past two decades. The disease is spread by infected body fluids. Animals can become infected by coming into direct contact with a CWD-infected animal, or an infected animal can leave behind fluids (e.g., saliva, urine) that an uninfected animal will come into contact later...

The SARS-CoV-2 virus is known to infect and cause severe disease, such as respiratory distress and death, in mustelids, including farm-raised mink ( Mustela  lutreola and  Neovison  vison) and domestic ferrets ( M. putorius). This raised concern that the virus may also pose a threat to endangered black-footed ferrets ( Mustela nigripes) managed in captivity for breeding and recovery purposes.

Chronic wasting disease (CWD) is a fatal disease that impacts populations of deer, elk, moose, and other cervid species caused by an infectious protein called a prion.

Chronic wasting disease (CWD) is an emerging infectious disease that is fatal to free-ranging and captive animals in Cervidae, the deer family. The development of the real-time quaking-induced conversion (RT-QuIC) assay has the potential to transform laboratory research of prions and provide new opportunities for improved surveillance and management.

USGS Researchers are collaborating to study avian and mammalian cells to detect sublethal toxin effects following exposure to harmful algal blooms.

WARC researchers used visual encounter surveys to determine prevalence rates of snake fungal disease in south-central Louisiana.

White-nose syndrome (WNS) caused by the fungal pathogen Pseudogymnoascus destructans (Pd) has decimated hibernating bat populations across North America since it emerged 10 years ago in New York. As Pd has spread across North America, infection dynamics and mortality from WNS have varied among species and across sites. The mechanisms behind vulnerability of species across the current and expanding...

Bat Research Research collaboration: Winifred Frick (Bat Conservation International), Theodore Weller (U.S. Forest Service), Wayne Thogmartin (UMESC), Craig Willis (University of Winnipeg), and Brian Reichert (FORT) White-nose Syndrome (WNS) has caused severe declines in bat populations over the past 10 years and colony sizes at winter hibernacula have decreased on average by >90% for three...

Bat Research Research collaboration: Brian Reichert (FORT), Wayne Thogmartin (UMESC), Winifred Frick (Bat Conservation International), Tina Cheng (Bat Conservation International) The northern long-eared bat ( Myotis septentrionalis) was listed as Threatened on the Endangered Species Act in 2014 due to rapid declines in numbers of observed hibernating bats at winter roosting sites after the arrival...