News | Cornell Wildlife Health Lab

	Wednesday, February 12, 2025 Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza HPAI Update 04/17/25 In New York, 2025 started off with an increase in bird cases of highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI). We found H5N1 in nearly 250 birds across 30 species thus far, waterfowl and raptors being the most affected.... Category: Disease Watch
	Thursday, August 5, 2021 SARS-CoV-2 and Wildlife Update A recent study by USDA found that one-third of samples collected from free-ranging white-tailed deer in Illinois, Michigan, New York, and Pennsylvania had SARS-CoV-2 antibodies, including 18% of the samples collected in New York.... Category: Disease Watch
	Thursday, August 5, 2021 Epizootic Hemorrhagic Disease in White-Tailed Deer (Updated Sept 19, 2024) First Positive Case of EHD Reported in Orange County for 2024 Season The DEC is currently monitoring an outbreak of EHD affecting the lower Hudson Valley. The outbreak started in Orange County in mid-August, 2024. You can help the ... Category: Disease Watch
	Thursday, June 17, 2021 Nestling Songbirds with Eye and Neurologic Issues-Update 7/14/21 UPDATE: Statement On Unidentified Songbird Illness Reported From Eastern U.S. Date 07/14/2021 Please visit https://www.allaboutbirds.org/news/statement-new-songbird-illness/ for more information on the joint statement of the... Category: Disease Watch
	Friday, May 29, 2020 Guidelines for Wildlife Rehabilitators: SARS-CoV-2 & RHDV2 SARS-CoV-2 The impact of SARS-CoV-2 on wild animals is currently unknown. There is evidence that SARS-CoV-2 has been transmitted from infected humans to some animals (anthropozoonosis or reverse zoonosis) including: domestic cats,... Category: Disease Watch
	Friday, May 29, 2020 Rabbit Hemorrhagic Disease Virus 2 (RHDV2) Monitoring In NY - Updated 6/21/2021 USGS National Wildlife Health Center Update - August 31, 2020 An Update on National Wildlife Health Center Support to Wildlife Managers and Response to Rabbit Hemorrhagic Disease Virus 2 A large-scale outbreak of rabbit... Category: Disease Watch
	Thursday, September 12, 2019 On the Lookout for Eastern Equine Encephalitis Eastern Equine Encephalitis (EEE) is a virus that is spread by mosquitoes. It is carried by many species of native songbirds, and sometimes will cause serious neurologic illness in the rare cases of people and horses that become infected... Category: Disease Watch
	Wednesday, September 4, 2019 Parvovirus: An Ounce of Prevention is Worth It... Parvovirus Outbreaks in Raccoons Parvovirus outbreaks are often reported in raccoon kits at rehabilitation facilities in the summer and early fall where it can sweep through animals causing high numbers of mortalities. It can be very... Category: Disease Watch
	Thursday, August 8, 2019 West Nile Virus - UPDATED 1/16/25 Current WNV Positive Cases (updated Jan. 16, 2025) We had the year's first positive case of WNV in a NY wild bird last week. On July 12th, a juvenile crow was submitted to the Janet L. Swanson Wildlife Hospital after it was found down and... Category: Disease Watch
	Wednesday, October 31, 2018 Positive Case of Rabbit Hemorrhagic Disease in OH The Cornell Wildlife Health Lab received a message today from the National Wildlife Health Center (see below) that they have recently confirmed a case of Rabbit Hemorrhagic Disease (RHD) in a domestic rabbit in Ohio. This disease is rare... Category: Disease Watch
	Thursday, August 23, 2018 Positive Cases of Avian Paramyxovirus in New York Update September 21,2018 The CWHL has confirmed several cases of Avian Paramyxovirus 1 in double-crested cormorants in New York. The birds have come in from a wide geographic area, from St. Lawrence to Erie County, along the southern... Category: Disease Watch
	Friday, May 11, 2018 Confirmed Case of Duck Plague (Duck Viral Enteritis) in Onondaga County, NY We have received a confirmed positive test for Duck Viral Enteritis from dead ducks in Onondaga County in upstate New York. Duck Viral Enteritis (DVE) is a serious disease affecting waterfowl species - ducks, geese, and swans. It is not... Category: Disease Watch
	Wednesday, March 21, 2018 Canine Distemper and Raccoons Updated April 1, 2019: The table and chart have been updated with wildlife health report data through the end of 2018. Canine Distemper is common in the spring in raccoons, skunks and foxes when animals emerge and become more active. We... Category: Disease Watch
	Wednesday, January 31, 2018 Avian cholera outbreaks in waterfowl The CWHL is closely following a series of avian cholera outbreaks in waterfowl across the United States. Avian cholera is a contagious disease of birds caused by the bacteria,Pasteurella multocida, which mostly spreads in waterfowl and... Category: Disease Watch
	Friday, July 14, 2017 East Coast Seabird Mortalities The Northeast Wildlife Disease Cooperative diagnostic laboratories and cooperators are seeing seabird mortalities in some limited areas. Thus far, the New York Dept. of Environmental Conservation has received 20 shearwaters from the... Category: Disease Watch
	Wednesday, July 12, 2017 Mysterious fatal disease of Eastern bluebirds Unusually high numbers of dead Eastern bluebirds, Sialia sialis, were reported to the Cornell Wildlife Health Laboratory (CWHL) this past summer. The reports came mostly from people who have monitored nest boxes for years and knew this... Category: Disease Watch