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When our Latin America Program director Dr. Marcela Uhart arrived at the windswept beaches of southern Patagonia, she was met with a devastating sight—thousands of dead elephant seals, including mothers and pups, wiped out by the H5N1 avian influenza virus.

As the virus spreads globally, mutating and infecting more species—including mammals—scientists like Uhart are racing to understand its deadly trajectory. Her team’s findings, recently published in Nature, underscore a critical truth: We can’t prepare for what’s coming unless we’re paying attention now.

One Health Institute team member Kimberly Carlson is a 2025 recipient of the UC Davis Chancellor's Outstanding Staff Award!

De saludable, la población pasó a ser vulnerable, con un futuro incierto. Pasarán décadas antes de que la población de Península Valdés se recupere de una epidemia de gripe aviar sucedida en 2023, advierte un nuevo estudio publicado por WCS Argentina, CONICET y la Universidad de California Davis.

English Translation Here

It may take a century before a southern elephant seal colony, hit by an epidemic, comes back to original numbers, according to a new study published by WCS Argentina, CONICET and the University of California, Davis. 

Spanish Translation Here

A new study co-authored by Dr. Victoria Hall, Director of the Oiled Wildlife Care Network, sheds light on raptor survival following infection with highly pathogenic H5N1 influenza. Published in Nature, the research—conducted during her time at The Raptor Center in Minnesota—reveals that a significant number of raptors, including bald eagles, have developed antibodies to H5 and N1, suggesting a higher-than-expected survival rate post-infection.

'When They Were Students' is a feature highlighting the diverse and unique journeys of our OHI team members into their current One Health careers.

My career has been anything but linear, and if there’s one piece of advice I’d give to young students, it’s this: say yes to opportunities, even if they scare you. Growth happens outside your comfort zone, and the best paths are often the ones you never planned for.

'When They Were Students' is a feature highlighting the diverse and unique journeys of our OHI team members into their current One Health careers.

Hi, I’m Catherine. I am a researcher with the SeaDoc Society, a program of the Karen C. Drayer Wildlife Health Center at the UC Davis One Health Institute. I was born and raised in the suburbs of Portland, Oregon consumed by countless hours of Rock Band, swim team practices, Girl Scouts, and Knox, the sticky hair-ripping gelatin cast I used as a synchronized swimmer.

OHI's Marcela Uhart is featured in a recent NPR Goats & Soda article written by Gabrielle Emanuel 

As a wildlife veterinarian in Florida in the 1990s, Christine Kreuder Johnson could think of only one place to turn for help when she faced mysterious die-offs of birds and sea turtles: UC Davis.

Johnson had previously worked as a veterinarian to horses competing at the racetrack, but found herself increasingly drawn to puzzles at the population level, like the one she now faced at a national wildlife refuge. But she needed help.

“I had all the puzzle pieces, but I couldn’t put it together,” she said.

'When They Were Students' is a feature highlighting the diverse and unique journeys of our OHI team members into their current One Health careers.

Hey, I’m David. I grew up in Detroit in the ‘80s and was into making bad films with friends, editing the high school literary magazine, hanging at Grateful Dead and Phish festivals in the Great Lakes region, and later anything boho, indie, or punk in and around Chicago and Detroit.

Our California Raptor Center director Dr. Michelle Hawkins is lead author on a recent publication describing the prevalence, clinical findings, lesions, and risk factors associated with chlamydial infections in raptors admitted to a university veterinary medical teaching hospital from 1993-2022.

For more information and findings, check out the full publication in AVMA's American Journal of Veterinary Research:

California Department of Fish & Wildlife (CDFW) Guidance for Wildlife & Fire Events is now available. 

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The application deadline for an exciting postdoc opportunity in our team has been extended to January 31, 2025! If you want to help investigate the ecological drivers of zoonotic virus emergence and develop models to understand spillover risk, apply online at ohi.vetmed.ucdavis.edu/careers

The 2025 Rx One Health Field Institute welcomes you to join us June 22–July 5, 2025! Explore California's vibrant and diverse ecosystems while building One Health skills! The 2025 theme is Biodiversity Conservation.

The sounds of barking elephant seals are again in the air along the breeding grounds of Península Valdés, Argentina—but it’s quieter. Roughly a year after a massive outbreak of H5N1 highly pathogenic avian influenza killed more than 17,000 elephant seals, including about 97% of their pups, scientists estimate that only about a third of the elephant seals normally expected here returned.