Chronic wasting disease effects on a breeding season behavior in White-tailed Deer ().

Wildlife disease outbreaks can lead to population declines, which are usually attributed to increased direct or indirect mortality. Alternatively, behavior associated with sickness can lead to social isolation, potentially decreasing fitness of affected individuals. A useful case study to examine this dynamic is chronic wasting disease (CWD), a neurological disease of cervids, known to affect behavior and movement.

Toxoplasma gondii seroprevalence and genotype diversity in select wildlife species from the southeastern United States.

Background: Toxoplasma gondii is a widespread protozoan parasite that infects humans and other animals. Previous studies indicate some genotypes of T. gondii are more frequently isolated in wildlife than agricultural animals, suggesting a wild/feral animal diversity model.

Investigating the Adult Ixodid Tick Populations and Their Associated Anaplasma, Ehrlichia, and Rickettsia Bacteria at a Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever Hotspot in Western Tennessee.

Ehrlichiosis and rickettsiosis are two common bacterial tick-borne diseases in the southeastern United States. Ehrlichiosis is caused by ehrlichiae transmitted by Amblyomma americanum and rickettsiosis is caused by rickettsiae transmitted by Amblyomma maculatum and Dermacentor variabilis. These ticks are common and have overlapping distributions in the region.

Serologic survey of antibodies to Trypanosoma cruzi in coyotes and red foxes from Pennsylvania and Tennessee.

Trypanosoma cruzi is a zoonotic parasite of humans and other mammalian hosts with distribution throughout the Americas. Domestic and wild canine species are reservoirs for human T. cruzi infections.

Prevalence of five tick-borne bacterial genera in adult Ixodes scapularis removed from white-tailed deer in western Tennessee.

Background: In the northeastern and midwestern regions of the United States Ixodes scapularis Say transmits the causal agents of anaplasmosis (Anaplasma phagocytophilum), babesiosis (Babesia microti), and borreliosis (Borrelia burgdorferi and B. miyamotoi). In the southeastern United States, none of those pathogens are considered endemic and two other tick-borne diseases (TBDs) (ehrlicihosis and rickettiosis) are more common.

Survey of antibodies to Leishmania spp. in wild canids from Pennsylvania and Tennessee.

Visceral leishmaniasis (VL) is a zoonosis with worldwide distribution. Infections with the Leishmania donovani complex, including Leishmania infantum, cause the VL. Domestic dogs are the most important reservoir host for human VL, and wild canids are also susceptible.

Determination of the acute 50% lethal dose T-2 toxin in adult bobwhite quail: additional studies on the effect of T-2 mycotoxin on blood chemistry and the morphology of internal organs.

Three experiments were conducted to assess mortality rate, blood chemistry, and histologic changes associated with acute exposure to T-2 mycotoxin in adult bobwhite quail. In Experiment 1, adult quail were orally dosed with T-2 toxin to determine the lethal dose that resulted in 50% mortality of the affected population (LD50), and that dose was determined to be 14.7 mg of T-2 toxin per kilogram of body weight (BW).