Today, SCWDS remains a research and service organization within the College’s Department of Population Health. We provide wildlife disease expertise to state and federal agencies and serve as a common ground where wildlife experts work hand-in-hand with private, state, and federal authorities to ensure the welfare of our nation’s wildlife resources, domestic livestock interests, and human health. We offer externship opportunities for third and fourth year veterinary students and an extensive library of resources to students and wildlife professionals across the country.
Research and academic instruction
Research projects form an integral part of SCWDS activities and are implemented as wildlife, livestock or human health disease concerns warrant. Some of our research efforts include:
- Ecology of avian influenza virus in waterfowl and shorebirds
- Methods to assess and reduce health risks of translocating wild animals
- Ecology of tick-borne zoonoses such as human ehrlichioses
- West Nile Virus infections in wild birds
- Avian Vacuolar Myelinopathy of eagles
- Hemorrhagic disease in white-tailed deer
- Methodologies for oral rabies vaccinations
- Biological and molecular characterization of Trypansosoma cruzi from the United States
- Diversity of piroplasms in wildlife
- Natural history of vesicular stomatitis virus
- Baseline disease surveys of wild mammals and birds across the Southeast
SCWDS faculty members teach courses for UGA undergraduate, graduate, and veterinary students in a variety of topics including wildlife diseases, epidemiology, parasitology, international issues in conservation, and conservation medicine/biology. In addition, we offer training for wildlife biologists and veterinary medical officers through workshops and special programs.
Field Manual of Wildlife Diseases in the Southeastern United States
SCWDS has produced three editions of the Field Manual of Wildlife Diseases in the Southeastern United States. This pocket-sized handbook has been a highly-prized source of information for field biologists and others within wildlife resources agencies. Many people, including wildlife health professionals, students, veterinarians, sportsmen, farmers, and ranchers, also turn to this well-designed, highly informative and easy-to-use manual for practical information about diseases of wildlife. The intent of the manual is to aid in the recognition of common wildlife diseases and parasites, to provide guidelines for the collection of diagnostic specimens, and to serve as a field reference when questions on wildlife diseases arise.
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