National Wildlife Health Center Newsletter - Spring 2024
Stay up-to-date on our wildlife health research and activities.
Stay up-to-date on our wildlife health research and activities.
Planning underway for a new NWHC Facility
Learn more about the process and how to get involved.
Learn more about the process and how to get involved.
Wildlife Health Information Sharing Partnership event reporting system
View current and historic information on wildlife morbidity and mortality events in North America.
View current and historic information on wildlife morbidity and mortality events in North America.
Expanding Distribution of Chronic Wasting Disease
Track the spread of chronic wasting disease in North America.
Track the spread of chronic wasting disease in North America.
Pathology Case of the Month
Notable wildlife mortality cases at the NWHC are highlighted in the Pathology Case of the Month series.
Notable wildlife mortality cases at the NWHC are highlighted in the Pathology Case of the Month series.
National Wildlife Health Center
Welcome to the National Wildlife Health Center! Our mission is to advance wildlife health science for the benefit of animals, humans, and the environment.
Explore SCIENCE to learn more about wildlife diseases, ongoing projects, the Honolulu Field Station, and our services.
Explore WEB TOOLS to access WHISPers, wildlife health bulletins, our field manual, and more.
Honolulu Field Station
Honolulu Field Station
The NWHC HFS provides support to the natural resource communities of Hawaii and the Pacific Basin in the investigation of wildlife diseases.
News
Pathology Case of the Month - Mountainous Star Coral
Pathology Case of the Month - Mountainous Star Coral
Pathology Case of the Month - Sea Otter
Pathology Case of the Month - Sea Otter
Pathology Case of the Month - Little Brown Bat
Pathology Case of the Month - Little Brown Bat
Publications
Climate-related drivers of migratory bird health in the south-central USA
Migratory birds are species of concern that play important ecological roles while also supporting recreational opportunities for the hunting and birdwatching public. Direct and indirect effects of climate variability, extremes, and change on migratory bird health manifest at the individual, population, species, and community levels. This review focuses on the effects of climate on...
Fungal impacts on Earth’s ecosystems
Over the past billion years, the fungal kingdom has diversified to more than two million species, with over 95% still undescribed. Beyond the well-known macroscopic mushrooms and microscopic yeast, fungi are heterotrophs that feed on almost any organic carbon, recycling nutrients through the decay of dead plants and animals and sequestering carbon into Earth’s ecosystems. Human-directed...
An enigmatic wild passerine mortality event in the eastern United States
The ability to rapidly respond to wildlife health events is essential. However, such events are often unpredictable, especially with anthropogenic disturbances and climate-related environmental changes driving unforeseen threats. Many events also are short-lived and go undocumented, making it difficult to draw on lessons learned from past investigations. We report on the response to a...
Science
Avian Influenza Surveillance
The USGS National Wildlife Health Center (NWHC) conducts surveillance in wild birds to facilitate early detection and situational awareness for high consequence pathogens, including highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) viruses.
Expanding Distribution of Chronic Wasting Disease
Chronic wasting disease (CWD) has been detected in 36 US states and five Canadian provinces in free-ranging cervids and/or commercial captive cervid facilities. CWD has been detected in free-ranging cervids in 36 states and four provinces and in captive cervid facilities in 22 states and three provinces.
Diagnostic Case Submission Guidelines
Standard submission criteria for federal, state, and tribal natural resource agency partners The National Wildlife Health Center (NWHC) conducts laboratory diagnostics to determine causes of wildlife morbidity and mortality events. The following guidelines are used to determine which cases we accept for diagnostic evaluation. NWHC only accepts submissions from, or in coordination with, federal...