wildlife epidemics

The key to averting cataclysmic events, such as pandemics, climate change, and mass extinction of species, lies partly in what’s on our plates.

Genetic analyses suggest that the virus came from a patient who survived the 2013–2016 West African outbreak.

Lab and field experiments indicate that aquatic environments could act as reservoirs for the pathogens, which typically do not represent a direct risk to humans.

Peek inside the effort to save this critically endangered Caribbean frog species.

The pathogenic fungus that has decimated populations of bats throughout the eastern United States has surfaced in the state for the first time, although none of the bats appear diseased.

The epidemic in West Africa may have been sparked by bats in Guinea, researchers propose, but concrete evidence of the route of zoonotic infection is lacking.

Bat populations ravaged; hundreds of amphibian species driven to extinction; diverse groups of birds threatened. Taking risks will be necessary to control deadly wildlife pathogens.

Meet some of the people featured in the December 2014 issue of The Scientist.