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Foot and Mouth Disease in Europe - Fact Sheet (Wildlife Health Bulletin number 01-01)

The ongoing pandemic of Foot-and-Mouth Disease (FMD) in Europe and other parts of the world is of great concern to the North American Agriculture Community. FMD may also pose a significant threat to North American wildlife, including white-tailed deer, other deer species, feral pigs, bison, moose, antelope, peccaries, musk ox, caribou, sheep and More...

  • Elk

USGS National Wildlife Health Center - Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD)

Chronic wasting disease (CWD) is a disease of the nervous system in deer and elk that results in distinctive brain lesions. It continues to be a major issue for wildlife scientists throughout the Nation, and a key focus for research at the USGS National Wildlife Health Center (NWHC). Research is focused on understanding how the disease is More...

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Development of a Serological Test for Avian Malaria

Scientists in Hawaii are using genetic and molecular techniques to better screen Hawaiian forest birds for chronic avian malaria infections. Chronically-infected birds may hold the key to identifying disease resistance genes, and may be good candidates for forest bird restoration efforts.

  • Giemsa-stained blood smear. Photo credit: PIERC

Bat White-Nose Syndrome: An Emerging Fungal Pathogen?

The condition in bats known as "white-nose syndrome" (WNS) was first noted among dead and hibernating bats found in caves near Albany, New York, by the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation beginning in February 2007. Affected bats appeared to have a white substance on their heads and wings. In early 2008, "white-nosed" bats were More...

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Flying by Night: USGS Scientists Put Technology to Work on Bats

How do you study something that flies under cover of darkness? This question persistently troubles scientists investigating the mysterious lives of bats. The 45 bat species that occur in the continental United States play important roles in U.S. ecosystems as major predators of flying insects and pollinators of desert plants. Bats also play an More...

  • gloved hands holding bat that has radio transmitter attached to its back

Reducing Pesticide Pollution of Aquatic Ecosystems

In an attempt to decrease pesticide pollution of aquatic ecosystems, we have begun a project to develop biological control agents to protect plants against fungal diseases. This study has three objectives: (1) understanding how fungi cause disease; (2) understanding how plants that are symbiotic with certain fungi are resistant to fungal diseases; More...

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Assess Current and Potential Salmonid Production in Rattlesnake Creek

With the proposed removal or laddering of Condit Dam scheduled for 2006, Rattlesnake Creek has high potential to support reintroduced or naturally colonizing populations of salmon and steelhead. Research on resident trout populations will serve as a surrogate for an initial evaluation of limiting factors to salmon and steelhead production in the More...

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Heritability of Disease Resistance and Immune Function in Chinook Salmon, with Special Emphasis on Broodstock Culling to Control Bacterial Kidney Disease

Many diseases of trout and salmon persist in our cultured fish stocks today, despite improvements in fish culture practices and years of research on vaccines and chemotherapeutants. An excellent example is bacterial kidney disease (BKD), caused by the bacterium Renibacterium salmoninarum. Infections by R. salmoninarum are considered by many to be More...

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Studies on the Detection, Transmission, and Development of Renibacterium Salmoninarum Infections in Great Lakes Salmonid Fishes

Bacterial kidney disease (BKD) caused by Renibacterium salmoninarum has been implicated as a significant factor in the 5-year decline of the chinook salmon populations in Lake Michigan that began during 1988. In 1999, researchers at the WFRC began a multi-year study in coordination with Great Lakes fishery biologists to examine the role of BKD in More...

  • Scientist with toolbox of immunological assays

Effects of Swimming and Exhaustive Stress in Pacific Lamprey (Lampetra tridentata)

A management decision was made in 1994 to increase survival of migrating juvenile salmon by increasing the proportion of river water and fish passed via spill at Snake and Columbia river dams. One result of this action was an increase in dissolved gas supersaturation, which can lead to gas bubble disease in fish. This disease can lead to More...

  • Image of as bubbles in gill filaments.

Using Parasites to Monitor Ecosystem Health

Parasites can play a positive role in ecosystems. The USGS Western Ecological Research Center is working with the Channel Islands National Park in California to better understand how bacterial epidemics can protect kelp forests from overgrazing by sea urchins and how parasitic castrators might be used against invasive crabs. Researchers will More...

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Bat White-Nose Syndrome: An Emerging Fungal Pathogen?

The condition in bats known as white-nose syndrome (WNS) was first noted among dead and hibernating bats found in caves near Albany, New York, by the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation beginning in February 2007. Affected bats appeared to have a white substance on their heads and wings. In early 2008, "white-nosed" bats were More...

  • image of small brown bats with white nose syndrome