Hon Ip
Biography
As a Diagnostic and Research Virologist, I am interested in the emergence and spread of novel, introduced, and endemic viral diseases of wildlife. For example, through the National Wildlife Health Center’s long-standing program to investigate wildlife mortality events in the United States, our Diagnostic Virology Laboratory was first to detect introductions of West Nile Virus (in 1999) and Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza H5N8 (in 2014). Both of these introductions resulted in large-scale monitoring efforts that provided real-time and actionable intelligence to state and federal partners for disease response. We have also investigated periodic recurrence of Newcastle Disease in cormorants, geographic expansion of Eurasian collared doves and associated spread of pigeon paramyxovirus, and applied phylogenetic approaches to understand the diversity and transmission of viral diseases on the landscape. Since 2008 we have been studying viruses in North American bats, including coronaviruses. Following the recent emergence of COVID-19, this work provides a highly relevant framework for investigating possible impacts of the SARS-CoV-2 virus on native, North American bat species, and for more broadly characterizing the diversity of coronaviruses in North American wildlife.
Education
- Ph. D. Molecular Parasitology. The Rockefeller University, New York, NY.
- M. Sc. Microbiology and Parasitology. University of Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
- B. Sc. Microbiology and Parasitology. University of Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
Affiliations
- Honorary Associate Fellow. Department of Pathobiological Sciences, School of Veterinary Medicine, University of Wisconsin-Madison.
- Adjunct Assistant Professor. Department of Population Health Sciences, School of Medicine and Public Health, University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Science and Products
Migratory flyway and geographical distance are barriers to the gene flow of influenza virus among North American birds
Despite the importance of migratory birds in the ecology and evolution of avian influenza virus (AIV), there is a lack of information on the patterns of AIV spread at the intra‐continental scale. We applied a variety of statistical phylogeographic techniques to a plethora of viral genome sequence data to determine the strength, pattern and...
Lam, Tommy Tsan-Yuk; Ip, Hon S.; Ghedin, E.; Wentworth, David E.; Halpin, Rebecca A.; Stockwell, T. B.; Dusek, Robert J.; Bortner, James B.; Hoskins, Jenny; Bales, Bradley D.; Yparraguirre, Daniel R.; Holmes, E. C. Emergence of fatal avian influenza in New England harbor seals
From September to December 2011, 162 New England harbor seals died in an outbreak of pneumonia. Sequence analysis of postmortem samples revealed the presence of an avian H3N8 influenza A virus, similar to a virus circulating in North American waterfowl since at least 2002 but with mutations that indicate recent adaption to mammalian hosts. These...
Anthony, S.J.; St. Leger, J. A.; Pugliares, K.; Ip, Hon S.; Chan, J.M.; Carpenter, Z.W.; Navarrete-Macias, I.; Sanchez-Leon, M.; Saliki, J.T.; Pedersen, J.; Karesh, W.; Daszak, P.; Rabadan, R.; Rowles, T.; Lipkin, W.I. Migratory flyway and geographical distance are barriers to the gene flow of influenza virus among North American birds
Despite the importance of migratory birds in the ecology and evolution of avian influenza virus (AIV), there is a lack of information on the patterns of AIV spread at the intra-continental scale. We applied a variety of statistical phylogeographic techniques to a plethora of viral genome sequence data to determine the strength, pattern and...
Lam, Tommy Tsan-Yuk; Ip, Hon S.; Ghedin, Elodie; Wentworth, David E.; Halpin, Rebecca A.; Stockwell, Timothy B.; Spiro, David J.; Dusek, Robert J.; Bortner, James B.; Hoskins, Jenny; Bales, Bradley D.; Yparraguirre, Dan R.; Holmes, Edward C. The effect of swab sample choice on the detection of avian influenza in apparently healthy wild ducks
Historically, avian influenza viruses have been isolated from cloacal swab specimens, but recent data suggest that the highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) H5N1 virus can be better detected from respiratory tract specimens. To better understand how swab sample type affects the detection ability of low pathogenic avian influenza (LPAI) viruses...
Ip, Hon S.; Dusek, Robert J.; Heisey, Dennis M. Presence of avian influenza viruses in waterfowl and wetlands during summer 2010 in California: Are resident birds a potential reservoir?
Although wild waterfowl are the main reservoir for low pathogenic avian influenza viruses (LPAIv), the environment plays a critical role for the circulation and persistence of AIv. LPAIv may persist for extended periods in cold environments, suggesting that waterfowl breeding areas in the northern hemisphere may be an important reservoir for AIv...
Henaux, V.; Samuel, M.D.; Dusek, Robert J.; Fleskes, J.P.; Ip, Hon S. Experimental challenge and pathology of highly pathogenic avian influenza virus H5N1 in dunlin (Calidris alpina), an intercontinental migrant shorebird species
Background Shorebirds (Charadriiformes) are considered one of the primary reservoirs of avian influenza. Because these species are highly migratory, there is concern that infected shorebirds may be a mechanism by which highly pathogenic avian influenza virus (HPAIV) H5N1 could be introduced into North America from Asia. Large numbers of dunlin (...
Hall, Jeffrey S.; Franson, J. Christian; Gill, Robert E.; Meteyer, Carol U.; TeSlaa, Joshua L.; Nashold, Sean W.; Dusek, Robert J.; Ip, Hon S. Influence of body condition on influenza A virus infection in mallard ducks: Experimental infection data
Migrating waterfowl are implicated in the global spread of influenza A viruses (IAVs), and mallards (Anas platyrhynchos) are considered a particularly important IAV reservoir. Prevalence of IAV infection in waterfowl peaks during autumn pre-migration staging and then declines as birds reach wintering areas. Migration is energetically costly and...
Arsnoe, Dustin M.; Ip, Hon S.; Owen, Jennifer C. Evidence for limited exchange of avian influenza viruses between seaducks and dabbling ducks at Alaska Peninsula coastal lagoons
Avian influenza virus (AIV) prevalence and sequence data were analyzed for Steller's eiders (Polysticta stelleri) to assess the role of this species in transporting virus genes between continents and maintaining a regional viral reservoir with sympatric northern pintails (Anas acuta). AIV prevalence was 0.2% at Izembek Lagoon and 3.9% at Nelson...
Ramey, Andrew M.; Pearce, John M.; Reeves, Andrew B.; Franson, J. Christian; Petersen, Margaret R.; Ip, Hon S. Evidence for limited exchange of avian influenza viruses between seaducks and dabbling ducks at Alaska Peninsula coastal lagoons
Avian influenza virus (AIV) prevalence and sequence data were analyzed for Steller’s eiders (Polysticta stelleri) to assess the role of this species in transporting virus genes between continents and maintaining a regional viral reservoir with sympatric northern pintails (Anas acuta). AIV prevalence was 0.2% at Izembek Lagoon and 3.9% at Nelson...
Ramey, Andrew M.; Pearce, John M.; Reeves, Andrew B.; Franson, J. C.; Petersen, Margaret R.; Ip, Hon S. Experimental challenge and pathology of highly pathogenic avian influenza virus H5N1 in dunlin (Calidris alpina), an intercontinental migrant shorebird species
Experimental challenge and pathology of highly pathogenic avian influenza virus H5N1 in dunlin (Calidris alpina), an intercontinental migrant shorebird species. Influenza and Other Respiratory Viruses 5(5), 365–372. Background Shorebirds (Charadriiformes) are considered one of the primary reservoirs of avian influenza. Because these species are...
Hall, Jeffrey S.; Franson, J. Christian; Gill, Robert E.; Meteyer, Carol U.; Teslaa, Joshua L.; Nashold, Sean W.; Dusek, Robert J.; Ip, Hon S. Interspecific exchange of avian influenza virus genes in Alaska: The influence of trans-hemispheric migratory tendency and breeding ground sympatry
The movement and transmission of avian influenza viral strains via wild migratory birds may vary by host species as a result of migratory tendency and sympatry with other infected individuals. To examine the roles of host migratory tendency and species sympatry on the movement of Eurasian low-pathogenic avian influenza (LPAI) genes into North...
Pearce, John M.; Reeves, Andrew B.; Ramey, Andrew M.; Hupp, Jerry W.; Ip, Hon S.; Bertram, M.; Petrula, M.J.; Scotton, B.D.; Trust, K.A.; Meixell, Brandt W.; Runstadler, J.A. Evaluation of Nobuto filter paper strips for the detection of avian influenza virus antibody in waterfowl
The utility of using Nobuto paper strips for the detection of avian influenza antibodies was examined in mallards (Anas platyrhynchos) experimentally infected with low pathogenic avian influenza viruses. Blood was collected 2 wk after infection and was preserved either as serum or whole blood absorbed onto Nobuto strips. Analysis of samples using...
Dusek, Robert J.; Hall, Jeffrey S.; Nashold, Sean W.; Teslaa, Joshua L.; Ip, Hon S.