NBII - National Biological Information Infrastructure
Ecological Topics - Wildlife Diseases
Conferences of Interest
There are currently no conferences.
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Browse WDIN searchable calendar month-by-month to learn about upcoming related wildlife health related meetings or search for a specific meeting to get detailed information (e.g. agenda, location, or registration).
Wildlife Disease Information Node
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The Wildlife Disease Information Node (WDIN) provides access to databases, mapping applications, and general information about topics related to wildlife disease.
WDIN serves this collection of information from a variety of partners to help provide state and federal resource managers, animal disease specialists, veterinary diagnostic laboratories, physicians, public health workers, educators, and the general public with access to data on wildlife diseases, mortality events, and other critical related information.
This is a collaborative project between the (External) U.S. Geological Survey's National Wildlife Health Center , the (External) Nelson Institute for Environmental Studies at the (External) University of Wisconsin , and other partners .
Go directly to featured projects below, or use the menu to navigate the site.
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(External)
Wildlife Disease News Digest
Obtain information on the latest media reports and scientific publications on wildlife health issues for easy, daily news consumption. For instructions on how to subscribe to the digest,
select this link
.
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Global Wildlife Disease News Map
See the wildlife disease issues that are making the news near you and around the world by viewing the Global Wildlife Disease News Map.
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Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza Early Detection Data System (HEDDS)
Learn about where avian influenza testing is occuring in the United States. The Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza Early Detection Data System (HEDDS) is updated regularly with the number of samples collected by state for each surveillance plan strategy.
Why Should We Be Concerned about Wildlife Diseases?
Wildlife, domestic animals and humans share a large and increasing number of infectious diseases. The continued globalization of society, human population growth, and associated landscape changes will further enhance interfaces between wildlife, domestic animals, and humans, thereby facilitating additional infectious disease emergence. These interfaces are such that a century-old concept of "the one medicine" is receiving greater attention because of the need to address these diseases across species if their economic, social, and other impacts are to be effectively minimized. The wildlife component of this triad has received inadequate focus in the past to effectively protect human health as evidence by such contemporary diseases as SARS, Lyme disease, West Nile Fever, and a host of other emerging diseases. Further, habitat loss and other factors associated with human-induced landscape changes have reduced past ability for many wildlife populations to overcome losses due to various causes. This disease emergence and resurgence has reached unprecedented importance for the sustainability of desired population levels for many wildlife populations and for the long-term survival of some species.
Current information and insights about wildlife disease presented within this Wildlife Disease Information Node provide a foundation for preemptive actions and responses that can help to minimize disease impacts for the benefit of free-ranging wildlife and society in general.
Milton Friend
USGS Emeritus Scientist
Founding Director, USGS National Wildlife Health Center
Quick Links to Hot Topics
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