Disease Content

Corals Saving Corals

Katherine E Kerlin — November 21, 2022 - 10:00am

Corals resistant to disease can rescue more vulnerable corals, 51�ԹϺ�� Davis found. Raising corals with diverse genotypes builds resilience amid disease and climate changes in reefs.

PREDICT Receives Extension for COVID-19 Pandemic Emergency Response

Katherine E Kerlin — March 31, 2020 - 7:22am

PREDICT will provide emergency support to other countries for outbreak response including technical support for early detection of SARS CoV-2, the virus that causes the disease COVID-19, through a six-month extension from the U.S. Agency for International Development, or USAID, effective April 1.

Sea Otters, Opossums and the Surprising Ways Pathogens Move From Land to Sea

Katherine E Kerlin — March 18, 2020 - 1:25pm

A parasite known only to be hosted in North America by the Virginia opossum is infecting sea otters along the West Coast. A study from the University of California, Davis, elucidates the sometimes surprising and complex pathways infectious pathogens can move from land to sea to sea otter.

Melting Arctic Sea Ice Linked to Emergence of Deadly Virus in Marine Mammals

Katherine E Kerlin — November 07, 2019 - 8:00am

Scientists have linked the decline in Arctic sea ice to the emergence of a deadly virus that could threaten marine mammals in the North Pacific, according to a study from the University of California, Davis.

Phocine distemper virus, or PDV, a pathogen responsible for killing thousands of European harbor seals in the North Atlantic in 2002, was identified in northern sea otters in Alaska in 2004, raising questions about when and how the virus reached them.

$85M to Develop a One Health Workforce for the Next Generation

Katherine E Kerlin — October 09, 2019 - 9:47am

The U.S. Agency for International Development will award up to $85 million over the next five years to the University of California, Davis’ One Health Institute and consortium partners to implement the One Health Workforce-Next Generation project.

What’s Killing Sea Otters? Scientists Pinpoint Parasite Strain

Katherine E Kerlin — August 22, 2019 - 11:23am

Many wild southern sea otters in California are infected with the parasite Toxoplasma gondii, yet the infection is fatal for only a fraction of sea otters, which has long puzzled the scientific community. A study from the University of California, Davis, identifies the parasite’s specific strains that are killing southern sea otters, tracing them back to a bobcat and feral domestic cats from nearby watersheds.

Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever Risks Examined

Amy M Quinton — May 20, 2019 - 10:00am

In Mexicali, Mexico, an uncontrolled epidemic of Rocky Mountain spotted fever, one of the deadliest tickborne diseases in the Americas, has affected more than 1,000 people since 2008.

Falling Stars

Katherine E Kerlin — January 30, 2019 - 1:35pm

The combination of ocean warming and an infectious wasting disease has devastated populations of large sunflower sea stars once abundant along the West Coast of North America in just a few years, according to a study co-led by the University of California, Davis, and Cornell University published Jan. 30 in the journal Science Advances.

Where Will the World’s Next Zika, West Nile or Dengue Virus Come From?

Katherine E Kerlin — January 04, 2019 - 7:39am

After collecting data and comparing it with every known mammal and bird species on Earth, scientists from the University of California, Davis, have identified wildlife species that are the most likely to host flaviviruses such as Zika, West Nile, dengue and yellow fever. Flaviviruses are known to cause major epidemics and widespread illness and death throughout the world.

Climate Change Experts: Wildlife, Infectious Diseases and One Health

Katherine E Kerlin — September 04, 2018 - 4:12pm

The following sources from the University of California, Davis, are available to talk with media about climate change in relation to wildlife health, wildlife conservation and infectious disease.