About the Wildlife Disease Information Node

WDIN is a collaborative project working to develop a Web-based monitoring and reporting system to provide state and federal resource managers, animal disease specialists, veterinary diagnostic laboratories, physicians, public health workers, educators, and the general public with access to data on wildlife diseases, mortality events, and other critical related information. Data are contributed voluntarily, with partners deciding which data they choose to share.

The Node is a dynamic and evolving Web resource, reflecting the expanding and continually changing face of wildlife disease. As more partners come together as part of this collaborative project, the resulting distributed wildlife disease data warehouse can be a valuable resource for all to share and use to enhance the understanding, surveillance, management, control, and prevention of wildlife diseases around the world.

About the NBII

The National Biological Information Infrastructure (NBII) is an electronic information network that provides access to biological data and information on our nation’s plants, animals, and ecosystems. Data and information maintained by federal, state, and local government agencies; non-government organizations; and private-sector organizations are linked through the NBII gateway and made accessible to a variety of audiences including researchers, natural resource managers, decision-makers, educators, students, and other private citizens.

WDIN Objectives

Building partnerships and providing tools to facilitate long-term collaborative efforts in the wildlife disease arena.

• Facilitate access to data and information on wildlife and zoonotic diseases;
• Visualize clusters on morbidity and mortality events;
• Track the prevalence and spread of various diseases at the most discrete spatial and temporal levels through interactive GIS mapping and other applications;
• Predict possible new disease appearances;
• Identify previously unrecognized wildlife-human-domestic animal disease relationships;
• Help limit further disease spread;
• Help prevent future outbreaks.

Fact Sheets

• Wildlife Disease Information Node
• Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza Early Detection Data System (HEDDS): The HEDDS data system was developed to manage animal and specimen collection data taken by many groups and individuals, and analyzed by multiple laboratories.
• Global Wildlife Disease News Map: This interactive map allows users for the first to time to follow the latest news reports of nearly 50 diseases and other health conditions by location on a user-friendly, interactive Google Map application.
• Wildlife Health Monitoring Network: The WHMN is a Web-based open source system designed to create tools for institutions and individuals to track and store wildlife health data. It utilizes interchangeable modules which support data entry, storage, reporting, analysis, and exchange.
• Wildlife Disease News Digest: Published almost daily, the Digest contains a compilation of information from authoritative national and international media sources for wildlife disease news and brings the stories together into a concise, easy-to-read summary.

Policies

• NBII Wildlife Disease Information Node Collection Development Policy: The purpose of this Collection Development Policy is to help define the scope and future development of the Wildlife Disease Information Node (WDIN) web site by creating guidelines for the selection of free electronic materials available via the Internet.
• Wildlife Disease News Digest News Selection Policy: WDIN staff filters authoritative news sources to select the latest reports on wildlife health developments. This policy provides an outline of the selection criteria used to compile the Digest.

Contact Information

NBII Wildlife Disease Information Node
USGS National Wildlife Health Center
6006 Schroeder Road
Madison, WI 53711 USA

Phone: +1. 608.270.2459
Fax: +1.608.270.2415
Email: wdin@usgs.gov