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
Avian Influenza
Avian influenza is a viral disease caused by various strains of avian influenza viruses that can be classified as low pathogenic avian influenza (LPAI) or highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI). It remains a global disease with potential high consequence with the potential to threaten wildlife, agriculture, and human health.
Avian Influenza Surveillance
The USGS National Wildlife Health Center (NWHC) serves on the U.S. Interagency Steering Committee for Surveillance for Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza in Wild Birds to standardize surveillance for this disease and is a leading partner in conducting morbidity and mortality investigations in support of the Interagency Strategic Plan for Early Detection and Monitoring for Avian Influenzas of...
Vector-Borne Diseases
Vector-borne diseases are transmitted from one animal to another by vectors, including insects, such as mosquitoes or fleas, and arachnids, such as ticks. The USGS National Wildlife Health Center investigates wildlife diseases, including vector-borne diseases, such as West Nile virus and sylvatic plague.
Human Influenza Virus Infects Sea Otters
U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) scientists, in collaboration with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, have discovered evidence of the same influenza virus (H1N1) in sea otters living off the coast of Washington State that caused the 2009 "swine flu" pandemic in humans. During a sea otter health monitoring projectconducted in 2011, researchers discovered antibodies for the pandemic...
Diagnostic Virology Laboratory (DVL)
The USGS National Wildlife Health Center's Diagnostic Virology Laboratory (DVL) performs isolation and identification of common and novel viruses from diagnostic and research samples.
Pathology of Lagovirus europaeus GI.2/RHDV2/b (rabbit hemorrhagic disease virus 2) in native North American lagomorphs
Rabbit hemorrhagic disease, a notifiable foreign animal disease in the US, was reported for the first time in wild native North American lagomorphs in April 2020 in the southwestern US. Affected species included the desert cottontail (Sylvilagus audubonii), mountain cottontail (Sylvilagus nuttallii), black-tailed jackrabbit (Lepus californicus),...
Lankton, Julia S.; Knowles, Susan; Keller, Saskia; Shearn-Bochsler, Valerie I.; Ip, Hon S. Emergence and molecular characterization of pigeon Paramyxovirus-1 in non-native Eurasian collared doves (Streptopelia decaocto) in California, USA
Eurasian collared doves (Streptopelia decaocto) were introduced into Florida in the 1980s and have since established populations throughout the continental United States. Pigeon paramyxovirus-1 (PPMV-1), a species-adapted genotype VI Avian orthoavulavirus 1, has caused periodic outbreaks among collared doves in the U.S. since 2001 with...
Rogers, Krysta; Mete, Ash; Ip, Hon S.; Torchetti, Mia K.; Killian, Mary L.; Crossley, Beate SARS-CoV-2 exposure in escaped mink, Utah, USA
In August 2020, outbreaks of coronavirus disease were confirmed on mink farms in Utah, USA. We surveyed mammals captured on and around farms for evidence of infection or exposure. Free-ranging mink, presumed domestic escapees, exhibited high antibody titers, suggesting a potential severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 transmission...
Shriner, Susan A.; Ellis, Jeremeny E.; Root, J. Jeffrey; Roug, Annette; Stopak, Scott R.; Wiscomb, Gerald W.; Zierenberg, Jared R.; Ip, Hon S.; Torchetti, Mia K.; DeLiberto, Thomas J. Quarterly wildlife mortality report January 2021
The USGS National Wildlife Health Center (NWHC) Quarterly Mortality Report provides brief summaries of epizootic mortality and morbidity events by quarter. The write-ups, highlighting epizootic events and other wildlife disease topics of interest, are published in the Wildlife Disease Association quarterly newsletter. A link is provided in this...
Richards, Bryan J.; Bodenstein, Barbara; Grear, Daniel A.; Ip, Hon S.; Ballmann, Anne; Lankton, Julia S.; Shearn-Bochsler, Valerie I. Experimental challenge of a North American bat species, big brown bat (Eptesicus fuscus), with SARS-CoV-2
The recently emerged novel coronavirus, SARS‐CoV‐2, is phylogenetically related to bat coronaviruses (CoVs), specifically SARS‐related CoVs from the Eurasian bat family Rhinolophidae. As this human pandemic virus has spread across the world, the potential impacts of SARS‐CoV‐2 on native North American bat populations are unknown, as is the ability...
Hall, Jeffrey S.; Knowles, Susan; Nashold, Sean; Ip, Hon S.; Leon, Ariel Elizabeth; Rocke, Tonie E.; Keller, Saskia Annatina; Carossino, Mariano; Balasuriya, Udeni B.R.; Hofmeister, Erik K. Investigation of the 2018 thick-billed murre (Uria lomvia) die-off on St. Lawrence Island rules out food shortage as the cause
Die-offs of seabirds in Alaska have occurred with increased frequency since 2015. In 2018, on St. Lawrence Island, seabirds were reported washing up dead on beaches starting in late May, peaking in June, and continuing until early August. The cause of death was documented to be starvation, leading to the conclusion that a severe food shortage was...
Will, Alexis; Thiebot, Jean-Baptiste; Ip, Hon S.; Shoogukwruk, Panguk; Annogiyuk, Morgan; Takahashi, Akinori; Shearn-Bochsler, Valerie I.; Killian, Mary-Lea; Torchetti, Mia Kim; Kitaysky, Alexander Possibility for reverse zoonotic transmission of SARS-CoV-2 to free-ranging wildlife: A case study of bats
The COVID-19 pandemic highlights the substantial public health, economic, and societal consequences of virus spillover from a wildlife reservoir. Widespread human transmission of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) also presents a new set of challenges when considering viral spillover from people to naïve wildlife and...
Olival, Kevin J.; Cryan, Paul M.; Amman, Brian R.; Baric, Ralph S.; Blehert, David S.; Brook, Cara E.; Calisher, Charles H.; Castle, Kevin T.; Coleman, Jeremy TH; Daszak, Peter; Epstein, Jonathan H.; Field, Hume; Frick, Winifred F.; Gilbert, Amy T.; Hayman, David T.S.; Ip, Hon S.; Karesh, William B; Johnson, Christine K.; Kading, Rebekah C; Kingston, Tigga; Lorch, Jeffrey M.; Mendenhall, Ian H; Peel, Alison J.; Phelps, Kendra L; Plowright, Raina K.; Reeder, DeeAnn M; Reichard, Jonathan D.; Sleeman, Jonathan M.; Streicker, Daniel G.; Towner, Jonathan S.; Wang, Lin-Fa Genesis and spread of multiple reassortants during the 2016/2017 H5 avian influenza epidemic in Eurasia
Highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) viruses of the H5 A/goose/Guangdong/1/96 lineage can cause severe disease in poultry and wild birds, and occasionally in humans. In recent years, H5 HPAI viruses of this lineage infecting poultry in Asia have spilled over into wild birds and spread via bird migration to countries in Europe, Africa, and...
Palese, Peter; Lycett, Samantha; Pohlmann, Anne; Staubach, Christoph; Caliendo, Valentina; Woolhouse, Mark; Beer, Martin; Kuiken, Thijs; van Borm, Steven; Breed, Andrew; Briand, Francois-Xavier; Brown, Ian; Dan, Adam; DeLiberto, Thomas J.; von Dobschuetz, Sophie; Fouchier, Ron A. M.; Gilbert, Marius; Hill, Sarah; Hjulsager, Charlotte Kristiane; Ip, Hon S.; Koopmans, Marion; Larsen, Lars Erik; Lee, Dong-Hun; Naguib, Mahmoud Mohamed; Monne, I.; Pybus, Oliver; Ramey, Andrew M.; Savic, Vladmir; Sharshov, Kirill; Shestopalov, Alexander; Song, Chang-Seon; Steensels, Mieke; Swayne, David; Swieton, Edyta; Wan, Xiu-Feng; Zohari, Siamak Detection of SARS-CoV-2 by RNAscope® in situ hybridization and immunohistochemistry techniques
In situ hybridization (ISH) and immunohistochemistry (IHC) are essential tools to characterize SARS-CoV-2 infection and tropism in naturally and experimentally infected animals and also for diagnostic purposes. Here, we describe three RNAscope®-based ISH assays targeting the ORF1ab, spike, and nucleocapsid genes and IHC assays targeting the spike...
Carossino, Mariano; Ip, Hon S.; Richt, Jürgen a.; Schultz, Kendra; Harper, Kimberly; Loynachan, Alan T.; Del Piero, Fabio; Balasuriya, Udeni B.R. 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...
Alger, Katrina Elizabeth; Ip, Hon S.; Hall, Jeffrey S.; Nashold, Sean; Richgels, Katherine; Smith, Carrie Alison Artificial intelligence and avian influenza: Using machine learning to enhance active surveillance for avian influenza viruses
Influenza A viruses are one of the most significant viral groups globally with substantial impacts on human, domestic animal and wildlife health. Wild birds are the natural reservoirs for these viruses, and active surveillance within wild bird populations provides critical information about viral evolution forming the basis of risk assessments and...
Walsh, Daniel P.; Ma, Ting Fung; Ip, Hon S.; Zhu, Jun Lethal infection of wild raptors with highly pathogenic avian influenza H5N8 and H5N2 viruses in the USA, 2014–15
An outbreak of highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) led to heavy losses of poultry in commercial farms in North America in 2014–15. Enhanced surveillance by virologists and pathologists at the US Geological Survey National Wildlife Health Center and its partners resulted in the identification of lethal infections with clade 2.3.4.4 subgroup...
Knowles, Susan; Shearn-Bochsler, Valerie I.; Ip, Hon S.
New study finds SARS-CoV-2 infection in escaped mink in Utah
Evidence of infection with SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, has been found in escaped farmed mink in Utah, according to a new study published in Emerging Infectious Diseases.
Avian Flu From Abroad Can Spread in North American Poultry, Wild Birds
Some avian influenza, or bird flu, viruses that are able to enter North America from other continents through migrating birds can be deadly to poultry and can infect waterfowl populations, according to a recently published U.S. Geological Survey study.
Much Ado about Avian Flu
Highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI), commonly referred to as bird flu, is making its way across North America.
Circulation of Highly Pathogenic Avian Flu in North American Birds
Highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) H5 viruses of Eurasian origin continue to circulate and evolve in North American wild birds.
Highly Pathogenic H5 Avian Influenza Confirmed in Wild Birds in Washington State H5N2 Found in Northern Pintail Ducks & H5N8 Found in Captive Gyrfalcons
WASHINGTON, Dec. 17, 2014 — The United States Department of Agriculture's (USDA) Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) confirmed the presence of highly pathogenic (HPAI) H5 avian influenza in wild birds in Whatcom County, Washington.
Avian Flu in Seals Could Infect People
The avian flu virus that caused widespread harbor seal deaths in 2011 can easily spread to and infect other mammals and potentially humans.
Sea Otters Can Get the Flu, Too
Northern sea otters living off the coast of Washington state were infected with the same H1N1 flu virus that caused the world-wide pandemic in 2009, according to a new U.S. Geological Survey and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention study.
North Atlantic May Be a New Route for Spread of Avian Flu to North America
The North Atlantic region is a newly discovered important pathway for avian influenza to move between Europe and North America, according to a U.S. Geological Survey report published today.
Low Pathogenic Avian Influenza Transmitted During Summer in California Wetlands
Waterfowl in California can spread low pathogenic avian influenza viruses during summertime when wetland temperatures are warm and waterfowl densities are low, according to a recent U.S. Geological Survey study.
New Research Findings Can Improve Avian Flu Surveillance Programs
Genetic analyses of avian influenza in wild birds can help pinpoint likely carrier species and geographic hot spots where Eurasian viruses would be most likely to enter North America, according to new U.S. Geological Survey research.
North American Raptors Susceptible to Avian Influenza
American kestrels are extremely susceptible to highly pathogenic avian influenza, indicating that other endangered and threatened raptors may also be at risk if the virus reaches North America.
In a new U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) study, all kestrels inoculated with highly pathogenic avian influenza virus H5N1 died within seven days of inoculation, regardless of the virus dose.
Genetics Provide Evidence for the Movement of Avian Influenza Viruses from Asia to North America via Migratory Birds
Wild migratory birds may be more important carriers of avian influenza viruses from continent to continent than previously thought, according to new scientific research that has important implications for highly pathogenic avian influenza virus surveillance in North America.