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At least 937 records · Page 52Linked to original sources
USGS1956

Histopathology of fish. IV. A granuloma of brook trout

In the summer of 1952, Snieszko and Griffin (1955) diagnosed kidney disease in brook trout from the Fish and Wildlife Service's station at Berlin, New Hampshire. During the examination of these fish, a peculiar lesion was observed in the vicinity of the gastric caeca. In very advanced cases, hard, glistening, white masses of tissue bearing a striking resemblance to mature testes often filled the abdominal cavity. In the initial examinations, the material was actually mistaken for normal testicular tissue. Subsequently, it was recognized as an entirely aberrant, proliferating tumor-like mass.

Progressive Fish-Culturist↗
USGS2021

Sediment mobility and river corridor assessment for a 140-kilometer segment of the main-stem Klamath River below Iron Gate Dam, California

This river corridor assessment documents sediment mobility and river response to flood disturbance along a 140-kilometer segment of the main-stem Klamath River below Iron Gate Dam, California. Field and remote sensing methods were used to assess fundamental indicators of active sediment transport and river response to a combination of natural runoff events and reservoir releases during the study period from 2005 to 2019. Discharge measurements at two gaged sites and bed-material samples at two ungaged sites provided direct and indirect evidence of mobile bed conditions, scour and fill, and surface flushing of fine sediment. Available remote-sensing datasets collected in 2005, 2009, 2010, and 2016 were used to determine sediment storage, flood inundation boundaries, and provide indirect evidence of flood-induced scour. These datasets validate channel-maintenance flows defined by Shea and others (2016). During the study period, flows greater than or equal to 6,030 cubic feet per second mobilized the substrate, caused localized scour, and flushed fine sediment from bar surfaces. Flows greater than or equal to 10,400 cubic feet per second stripped vegetation from bars and floodplains and produced deeper scour. Flood disturbance within the study reach is produced by the combined effect of natural flows and reservoir releases, which resulted in mobile bed conditions during the study period. Periodic scour and substrate disturbance are considered by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to be integral for managing disease-induced mortality of juvenile and adult salmonids. Substrate conditions conducive to parasites that host infectious diseases, particularly Ceratonova shasta, occur periodically. Additional studies are required to determine whether disease prevalence can be mitigated by well-timed reservoir releases. Study results are useful for interpreting linkages among physical and biological processes and for evaluating the effectiveness of flow management targeted to improve river bed conditions for endangered salmonid populations.

California↗
USGS2009

Bat Rabies and Other Lyssavirus Infections

Bat Rabies and Other Lyssavirus Infections offers readers an overview of the virus variants that cause bat rabies, and geographical patterns in occurrence of this disease. The section Species Susceptibility describes infection rates and trends among bats, humans, and other animals. Disease Ecology considers the biological and environmental dynamics of the disease in various species of bats. Points to Ponder: Interspecies Interactions in Potential Bat Rabies Transmission Settings discusses the narrowing interface of bat colonies and human society and how humans and domestic animals play a role in transmission of bat rabies. Disease Prevention and Control outlines how to limit exposure to rabid bats and other animals. Appendixes include extensive tables of reported infections in bat species and in humans, and a glossary of technical terms is included. The author, Denny G. Constantine, helped define rabies infection in insect-eating bats and has investigated bat rabies ecology for more than half a century. He has authored more than 90 papers during the course of his career and is widely considered to be the world's foremost authority on the disease. Currently, Dr. Constantine is a public health officer emeritus and veterinary epidemiologist for the California Department of Health Services Viral and Rickettsial Disease Laboratory. Milt Friend, first director of the USGS National Wildlife Health Center, wrote the foreword. David Blehert, a USGS microbiologist who is investigating the emergence and causes of bat white-nose syndrome, edited the volume. Bat Rabies is intended for scholars and the general public. Dr. Constantine presents the material in a simple, straightforward manner that serves both audiences. The goal of the author is to increase people's understanding of both bat and disease ecology and also provide a balanced perspective on human risks pertaining to bat rabies.

Circular↗
USGS1999

Public acceptance of wildlife trapping in Colorado

In November 1994, the Colorado Division of Wildlife (CDOW) initiated a stakeholder process to develop trapping regulations that would seek to achieve compromise among divergent interests. A telephone survey was conducted to provide stakeholders with information about the Colorado public's acceptance of trapping. A random sample of 900 residents, stratified by geographic region, indicated that the public would vote to ban trapping and that they believed the ban would eliminate a cruel activity and help to preserve endangered wildlife. Most, however, agreed that trapping was acceptable to prevent spread of disease and to protect livestock, but unacceptable on the basis of providing recreation or making money. Beliefs about trapping were found to be rooted in a protection versus use value orientation about wildlife. The regulations subsequently adopted by the CDOW were consistent with survey findings; however, the regulatory process was bypassed by legislative action, giving trapping authority to the Colorado Department of Agriculture. In response, citizen activists succeeded in placing a ballot initiative before voters. In 1996, the ballot initiative passed, banning trapping in Colorado.

Wildlife Society Bulletin↗
USGS2023

Gene expression reveals immune response strategies of naïve Hawaiian honeycreepers experimentally infected with introduced avian malaria

The unprecedented rise in the number of new and emerging infectious diseases in the last quarter century poses direct threats to human and wildlife health. The introduction to the Hawaiian archipelago of Plasmodium relictum and the mosquito vector that transmits the parasite has led to dramatic losses in endemic Hawaiian forest bird species. Understanding how mechanisms of disease immunity to avian malaria may evolve is critical as climate change facilitates increased disease transmission to high elevation habitats where malaria transmission has historically been low and the majority of the remaining extant Hawaiian forest bird species now reside. Here, we compare the transcriptomic profiles of highly susceptible Hawai‘i ‘amakihi ( Chlorodrepanis virens ) experimentally infected with P. relictum to those of uninfected control birds from a naïve high elevation population. We examined changes in gene expression profiles at different stages of infection to provide an in-depth characterization of the molecular pathways contributing to survival or mortality in these birds. We show that the timing and magnitude of the innate and adaptive immune response differed substantially between individuals that survived and those that succumbed to infection, and likely contributed to the observed variation in survival. These results lay the foundation for developing gene-based conservation strategies for Hawaiian honeycreepers by identifying candidate genes and cellular pathways involved in the pathogen response that correlate with a bird’s ability to recover from malaria infection.

Hawaii↗
USGS2013

Trichinosis

Trichinosis, or trichinellosis, is one of the most widespread global parasitic diseases of humans and animals. This ancient disease is caused by the larval stage of parasitic roundworms (nematodes) in the genus Trichinella. Often called the “trichina worm,” this parasite is considered to be the king of the parasite community, because it has adapted to an extremely wide range of hosts including domestic animals, wildlife, and humans. Trichinella spiralis is the usual cause of the disease in humans, but humans and many other mammals, birds, and reptiles also can be infected with other species or strains of Trichinella. Regardless of climate and environments, a wide variety of hosts on most continents are infected. Trichinella is transmitted through the ingestion of infected meat, primarily through predation or cannibalism of raw meat, and this ensures survival of the parasite in a wide variety of hosts. Humans become infected only by eating improperly cooked meat that contains infective larvae. While most people have only mild symptoms after infection, when high numbers of larvae are ingested trichinosis can cause serious disease, as well as death. Although trichinosis has been historically associated with pork, it is now emerging as a more widespread food-borne zoonosis as the consumption of wild game meat increases.

Circular↗
USGS1999

Inclusion body disease of cranes

In March 1978, a previously unidentified herpesvirus was isolated at the National Wildlife Health Center (NWHC) from a die-off of captive cranes housed at the International Crane Foundation (ICF) in Baraboo, Wisconsin. Serological testing of this virus against other previously isolated avian herpesviruses does not result in cross-reactions, thereby supporting this agent’s status as a distinctly new virus. The NWHC assigned the descriptive name, “inclusion body disease of cranes” (IBDC) to this disease when reporting the outbreak in the scientific literature, because the disease is characterized by microscopic inclusions in cell nuclei throughout the liver and spleen. Very little is known about how this disease is transmitted. As with duck plague and avian cholera, outbreaks are thought to be initiated by disease carriers within a population of birds. The disease likely spreads by direct contact between infected birds and other susceptible birds and by contact with a virus-contaminated environment. Findings of antibody in sera of cranes bled nearly 3 years before the deaths at ICF indicates that the IBDC virus can be maintained in a captive crane population for at least 2 years and 8 months without causing mortality. The IBDC virus has been isolated from the cloaca of antibody-positive cranes, which indicates the potential for fecal shedding of the virus.

Information and Technology Report↗
USGS2014

Ecological implications of Laurel Wilt infestation on Everglades Tree Islands, southern Florida

There is a long history of introduced pests attacking native forest trees in the United States (Liebhold and others, 1995; Aukema and others, 2010). Well-known examples include chestnut blight that decimated the American chestnut ( Castanea dentata ), an extremely important tree in the eastern United States, both as a food source for wildlife and humans and for the wood; Dutch elm disease that attacks native elms ( Ulmus spp.), including those commonly planted as shade trees along city streets; and the balsam wooly adelgid (Adelges piceae), an insect that is destroying Fraser firs ( Abies fraseri ) in higher elevations of Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Laurel wilt, a fungal disease transmitted by the redbay ambrosia beetle (Xyleborus glabratus), is a 21st-century example of an introduced forest pest that attacks native tree species in the laurel family (Lauraceae) (Mayfield, 2007; Hulcr and Dunn, 2011). The introduction of laurel wilt disease has been traced to the arrival of an Asian ambrosia beetle ( Xyleborus glabratus ) at Port Wentworth, Georgia, near Savannah, in 2002, apparently accidently introduced in wooden shipping material (Mayfield, 2007). Within the next 2 years, it was determined that the non-native wood-boring insect was the vector of an undescribed species of fungus, responsible for killing large numbers of red bay ( Persea borbonia ) trees in the surrounding area. Dispersing female redbay ambrosia beetles drill into live trees and create tunnels in the wood. They carry with them fungal spores in specialized organs called mycangia at the base of each mandible and sow the spores in the tunnels they excavate. The fungus, since named Raffaelea lauricola (Harrington and others, 2008), is the food source for adults and larvae. The introduction of Raffaelea lauricola causes the host plant to react in such a way as to block the vascular tissue, resulting in loss of water conduction, wilt, and death (Kendra and others, 2013). Although first seen in red bay, laurel wilt disease also kills other native trees that are members of the laurel family, including swamp bay ( Persea palustris ), silk bay ( Persea borbonia var. humilis ), and sassafras ( Sassafras albidum ), as well as the economically important cultivated avocado ( Persea americana ) (Fraedrich and others, 2008). This paper is concerned primarily with swamp bay, an important component of Everglades tree islands. The spread of the redbay ambrosia beetle and its fungal symbiont has been very rapid, exceeding model predictions (Koch and Smith, 2008); by 2011, laurel wilt disease was found from the southern coastal plain of North Carolina to southern peninsular Florida. The first redbay ambrosia beetle was trapped in Miami-Dade County in March 2010, and laurel wilt disease was discovered in swamp bays in February 2011 and in commercial avocado groves about a year later (Kendra and others, 2013). By 2013, laurel wilt disease was seen in swamp bays throughout the southern Everglades in Everglades National Park, Big Cypress National Preserve, and Water Conservation Areas (WCAs) 3A and 3B (Rodgers and others, 2014).

Florida↗
USGS2017

Modeling waterfowl habitat selection in the Central Valley of California to better understand the spatial relationship between commercial poultry and waterfowl

Wildlife researchers frequently study resource and habitat selection of wildlife to understand their potential habitat requirements and to conserve their populations. Understanding wildlife spatial-temporal distributions related to habitat have other applications such as to model interfaces between wildlife and domestic food animals in order to mitigate disease transmission to food animals. The highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) virus represents a significant risk to the poultry industry. The Central Valley of California offers a unique geographical confluence of commercial poultry and wild waterfowl, which are thought to be a key reservoir of avian influenza (AI). Therefore, understanding spatio-temporal distributions of waterfowl could improve our understanding of potential risk of HPAI exposure from a commercial poultry perspective. Using existing radio-telemetry data on waterfowl (U.S. Geological Survey) in combination with habitat and vegetation data based on Geographic Information Systems (GIS), we are developing GIS-based statistical models that predict the probability of waterfowl presence (Habitat Suitability Mapping). Near-real-time application can be developed using recent habitat data derived from Landsat imagery (acquired by satellites and publicly available through the U.S. Geological Survey) to predict temporally- and spatially-varying distributions of waterfowl in the Central Valley. These results could be used to provide decision support for the poultry industry in addressing potential risk of HPAI exposure related to waterfowl proximity.

California↗
USGS2017

Inferring infection hazard in wildlife populations by linking data across individual and population scales

Our ability to infer unobservable disease-dynamic processes such as force of infection (infection hazard for susceptible hosts) has transformed our understanding of disease transmission mechanisms and capacity to predict disease dynamics. Conventional methods for inferring FOI estimate a time-averaged value and are based on population-level processes. Because many pathogens exhibit epidemic cycling and FOI is the result of processes acting across the scales of individuals and populations, a flexible framework that extends to epidemic dynamics and links within-host processes to FOI is needed. Specifically, within-host antibody kinetics in wildlife hosts can be short-lived and produce patterns that are repeatable across individuals, suggesting individual-level antibody concentrations could be used to infer time since infection and hence FOI. Using simulations and case studies (influenza A in lesser snow geese and Yersinia pestis in coyotes), we argue that with careful experimental and surveillance design, the population-level FOI signal can be recovered from individual-level antibody kinetics, despite substantial individual-level variation. In addition to improving inference, the cross-scale quantitative antibody approach we describe can reveal insights into drivers of individual-based variation in disease response, and the role of poorly understood processes such as secondary infections, in population-level dynamics of disease.

Ecology Letters↗
USGS2009

Disease, predation and demography: Assessing the impacts of bovine tuberculosis on African buffalo by monitoring at individual and population levels

Summary Understanding the effects of disease is critical to determining appropriate management responses, but estimating those effects in wildlife species is challenging. We used bovine tuberculosis (BTB) in the African buffalo Syncerus caffer population of Kruger National Park, South Africa, as a case study to highlight the issues associated with estimating chronic disease effects in a long‐lived host. We used known and radiocollared buffalo, aerial census data, and a natural gradient in pathogen prevalence to investigate if: (i) at the individual level, BTB infection reduces reproduction; (ii) BTB infection increases vulnerability to predation; and (iii) at the population level, increased BTB prevalence causes reduced population growth. There was only a marginal reduction in calving success associated with BTB infection, as indexed by the probability of sighting a known adult female with or without a calf ( P = 0·065). Since 1991, BTB prevalence increased from 27 to 45% in the southern region and from 4 to 28% in the central region of Kruger National Park. The prevalence in the northern regions was only 1·5% in 1998. Buffalo population growth rates, however, were neither statistically different among regions nor declining over time. Lions Panthera leo did not appear to preferentially kill test‐positive buffalo. The best (Akaike's Information Criterion corrected for small sample size) AIC c model with BTB as a covariate [exp(β) = 0·49; 95% CI = (0·24–1·02)] suggested that the mortality hazard for positive individuals was no greater than for test‐negative individuals. Synthesis and applications . Test accuracy, time‐varying disease status, and movement among populations are some of the issues that make the detection of chronic disease impacts challenging. For these reasons, the demographic impacts of bovine tuberculosis in the Kruger National Park remain undetectable despite 6 years of study on known individuals and 40 years of population counts. However, the rainfall and forage conditions during this study were relatively good and the impacts of many chronic diseases may be a non‐linear function of environmental conditions such that they are only detectable in stressful periods.

Kruger National Park↗
USGS2025

Amphibian diversity of the western Colorado canyonlands including potential threats from nonnative bullfrogs and disease

Throughout the canyons of the Colorado and Uncompahgre Plateaus, water is a limited resource for wildlife, with patchy distribution and seasonal availability. Tributary creeks within these canyons drain into mainstem rivers, providing habitat and breeding sites for native amphibians. Yet, little is known about the diversity and distribution of amphibians that live in these harsh, dynamic environments. In addition, the rivers that border these canyon tributaries may serve as corridors for nonnative species and disease. The American Bullfrog ( Lithobates catesbeianus ) is a nonnative species in western Colorado known to prey on native amphibians and act as a reservoir for pathogens such as Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis ( Bd ). From 2019 to 2022, we surveyed for amphibians using visual encounter surveys (VES) and environmental DNA (eDNA) surveys throughout the McInnis Canyons National Conservation Area (MCNCA), the Dominguez–Escalante National Conservation Area (DENCA), and the Dolores River Canyon Wilderness Study Area (DRCWSA). Our primary goals were to document the diversity and distribution of native amphibians in the canyonlands and evaluate potential threats to these species from bullfrogs and Bd . We confirmed that sensitive species, such as the Great Basin Spadefoot ( Spea intermontana ) and the Northern Leopard Frog ( Lithobates pipiens ), inhabit these protected areas. In most cases, bullfrogs were not detected within ephemeral tributaries, but bullfrog DNA was detected in some tributaries at the confluence with the mainstem rivers. In Mee Canyon (MCNCA), however, bullfrogs were found within the tributary, up to 3 km from the Colorado River. A bullfrog individual removed from this canyon tested positive for Bd , and diet contents suggested that native amphibians are potential prey in this system. Nonnative predators and disease pose a threat to native amphibians, alongside environmental changes such as drought and hydrological shifts driven by ongoing climate change.

Colorado↗
USGS2006

Utility of R0 as a predictor of disease invasion in structured populations

Early theoretical work on disease invasion typically assumed large and well-mixed host populations. Many human and wildlife systems, however, have small groups with limited movement among groups. In these situations, the basic reproductive number, R 0 , is likely to be a poor predictor of a disease pandemic because it typically does not account for group structure and movement of individuals among groups. We extend recent work by combining the movement of hosts, transmission within groups, recovery from infection and the recruitment of new susceptibles into a stochastic model of disease in a host metapopulation. We focus on how recruitment of susceptibles affects disease invasion and how population structure can affect the frequency of superspreading events (SSEs). We show that the frequency of SSEs may decrease with the reduced movement and the group sizes due to the limited number of susceptible individuals available. Classification tree analysis of the model results illustrates the hierarchical nature of disease invasion in host metapopulations. First, the pathogen must effectively transmit within a group ( R 0 >1), and then the pathogen must persist within a group long enough to allow for movement among the groups. Therefore, the factors affecting disease persistence—such as infectious period, group size and recruitment of new susceptibles—are as important as the local transmission rates in predicting the spread of pathogens across a metapopulation.

Journal of the Royal Society Interface↗
USGS2017

Optimization of human, animal, and environmental health by using the One Health approach

Emerging diseases are increasing burdens on public health, negatively affecting the world economy, causing extinction of species, and disrupting ecological integrity. One Health recognizes that human, domestic animal, and wildlife health are interconnected within ecosystem health and provides a framework for the development of multidisciplinary solutions to global health challenges. To date, most health-promoting interventions have focused largely on single-sector outcomes. For example, risk for transmission of zoonotic pathogens from bush-meat hunting is primarily focused on human hygiene and personal protection. However, bush-meat hunting is a complex issue promoting the need for holistic strategies to reduce transmission of zoonotic disease while addressing food security and wildlife conservation issues. Temporal and spatial separation of humans and wildlife, risk communication, and other preventative strategies should allow wildlife and humans to co-exist. Upstream surveillance, vaccination, and other tools to prevent pathogen spillover are also needed. Clear multi-sector outcomes should be defined, and a systems-based approach is needed to develop interventions that reduce risks and balance the needs of humans, wildlife, and the environment. The ultimate goal is long-term action to reduce forces driving emerging diseases and provide interdisciplinary scientific approaches to management of risks, thereby achieving optimal outcomes for human, animal, and environmental health.

Journal of Veterinary Science↗
USGS2023

North American wintering mallards infected with highly pathogenic avian influenza show few signs of altered local or migratory movements

Avian influenza viruses pose a threat to wildlife and livestock health. The emergence of highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) in wild birds and poultry in North America in late 2021 was the first such outbreak since 2015 and the largest outbreak in North America to date. Despite its prominence and economic impacts, we know relatively little about how HPAI spreads in wild bird populations. In January 2022, we captured 43 mallards ( Anas platyrhynchos ) in Tennessee, USA, 11 of which were actively infected with HPAI. These were the first confirmed detections of HPAI H5N1 clade 2.3.4.4b in the Mississippi Flyway. We compared movement patterns of infected and uninfected birds and found no clear differences; infected birds moved just as much during winter, migrated slightly earlier, and migrated similar distances as uninfected birds. Infected mallards also contacted and shared space with uninfected birds while on their wintering grounds, suggesting ongoing transmission of the virus. We found no differences in body condition or survival rates between infected and uninfected birds. Together, these results show that HPAI H5N1 clade 2.3.4.4b infection was unrelated to body condition or movement behavior in mallards infected at this location during winter; if these results are confirmed in other seasons and as HPAI H5N1 continues to evolve, they suggest that these birds could contribute to the maintenance and dispersal of HPAI in North America. Further research on more species across larger geographic areas and multiple seasons would help clarify potential impacts of HPAI on waterfowl and how this emerging disease spreads at continental scales, across species, and potentially between wildlife and domestic animals.

Tennessee↗
USGS2023

Monkeypox virus in animals: Current knowledge of viral transmission and pathogenesis in wild animal reservoirs and captive animal models

Mpox, formerly called monkeypox, is now the most serious orthopoxvirus (OPXV) infection in humans. This zoonotic disease has been gradually re-emerging in humans with an increasing frequency of cases found in endemic areas, as well as an escalating frequency and size of epidemics outside of endemic areas in Africa. Currently, the largest known mpox epidemic is spreading throughout the world, with over 85,650 cases to date, mostly in Europe and North America. These increased endemic cases and epidemics are likely driven primarily by decreasing global immunity to OPXVs, along with other possible causes. The current unprecedented global outbreak of mpox has demonstrated higher numbers of human cases and greater human-to-human transmission than previously documented, necessitating an urgent need to better understand this disease in humans and animals. Monkeypox virus (MPXV) infections in animals, both naturally occurring and experimental, have provided critical information about the routes of transmission; the viral pathogenicity factors; the methods of control, such as vaccination and antivirals; the disease ecology in reservoir host species; and the conservation impacts on wildlife species. This review briefly described the epidemiology and transmission of MPXV between animals and humans and summarizes past studies on the ecology of MPXV in wild animals and experimental studies in captive animal models, with a focus on how animal infections have informed knowledge concerning various aspects of this pathogen. Knowledge gaps were highlighted in areas where future research, both in captive and free-ranging animals, could inform efforts to understand and control this disease in both humans and animals.

Viruses↗
USGS1996

Distribution of nearshore macroinvertebrates in lakes of the Northern Cascade Mountains, Washington, USA

During the summer of 1949 studies were conducted at Princeton, New Jersey, to determine the effects on wildlife of DDT used in the control of Dutch elm disease. Direct mortality was determined by intensive search for dead birds after spraying. Twenty-six songbirds, one bat, and one gray squirrel were found. Of 11 dead birds from a study area of approximately 20 acres only one was an adult. Songbird populations were determined by censuses before and after spraying on a study area and on a similar unsprayed check area. The number of all breeding birds showed a 19.6 percent decrease on both the study and check areas during the week immediately following spraying. About two weeks after spraying the population in the treated area began to increase and within another week was back to prespray level. When only those species common to both sprayed and unsprayed areas are considered a population decline of 22 percent was measured in the sprayed area while the check area showed a 6 percent increase in numbers over the same period. Nestling mortality was studied in both areas. Among 18 young found on the study area during and following spraying 8 (44%) survived. Death of two broods of catbirds occurred four days after spraying. Of 21 young found on the check area 15 (71%) survived.

Archiv fur Hydrobiologie↗