Susan A. Shriner

Detecting disease progression from animal movement using hidden Markov models We demonstrate how (H)HMMs can be tailored to different epidemiological scenarios and provide a template workflow for developing and selecting Hidden Markov models to infer disease status from animal...

Published in @jappliedecology.bsky.social!😀

We show how (Hierarchical) Hidden Markov Models ((H)HMMs) can be tailored to different epidemiological scenarios to infer disease status directly from animal movement data.

🔗 ttps://besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/1365-2664.70323

According to below report, avian influenza H5N1 diagnosed in association with mortality of nearly 10,000 crows (species?) in Darbhanga, Bihar, north-east India since January 2026.

Waterfowl Move Less in Heterogeneous and Human‐Populated Landscapes, With Implications for Spread of Avian Influenza Viruses We show that non-migratory waterfowl movement distances are shorter in areas of high land cover heterogeneity and human population density, and that these movement distances are related to the spread....

onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1...

Great to see this in print - describes the pathology findings of numerous necropies undertaken during the 2024 Australia expidition.
👉 link.springer.com/article/10.1...

Illegal miners have forced Peru’s oldest environmental research station to suspend work Staff at the Panguana biological research station have received death threats

My latest for @science.org. - Illegal miners have forced Peru’s oldest environmental research station to suspend work.
Gold mining has so far led to the deforestation of 140,000 ha of Amazonian rainforest in Peru - about half the size of Yosemite National Park
www.science.org/content/arti...

www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Amazing work by Erik Karlsson and co - a huge diversity of viruses in animal markets, detected through both sampling of birds, but also environmental surveillance approaches.
👉https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-025-68245-8

H5N1 highly pathogenic avian influenza virus can remain infectious in refrigerated milk for over 5 months, according to Tokyo University research. The researchers hypothesized, "It's possible that fat, protein and other components in milk change during infection, potentially protecting the virus."

Blue mitochondria watercolor

Black scarf with cell images

Yes! I make art inspired by science, and scarves and ties based on my paintings, and sell them at www.etsy.com/shop/artolog...

Agricultural and geographic factors shaped the North American 2015 highly pathogenic avian influenza H5N2 outbreak Author summary The highly pathogenic avian influenza outbreak among poultry farms in the midwestern United States appears to be influenced by agricultural and geographic factors. After initial introdu...

from past US outbreaks. Wild birds were overwhelmingly the inferred sources of transmission, allowing for repeated spillovers into agriculture. This contrasts with the epizootic of 2015, during which farm-to-farm spread was the main driver (see: journals.plos.org/plospathogen...)

In short: We analyzed publicly available HA sequences from 2021-mid-2023, and reconstructed transmission into and within North American using discrete trait models. We show that the epizootic was repeatedly introduced into North America, including at least 7 introductions into the Pacific flyway.

Ecology and spread of the North American H5N1 epizootic - Nature The panzootic of highly pathogenic H5N1 since 2021 was driven by around nine introductions into the Atlantic and Pacific flyways, followed by rapid dissemination through wild migratory birds, primaril...

Our lab's paper describing the North American H5N1 epizootic is out now in Nature! So thrilled to have this out, and congratulations to @lambod50.bsky.social for all the fantastic work on this: www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Its taken a while, but a summary of our "enhanced surveillance" for HPAI that we undertook last spring is now on bioRxiv. Lots of cool LPAI viruses in arriving shorebirds, but no HPAI.
👉 www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

Viral lineage and mode of exposure modulate within host spatial dynamics of influenza A viruses https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.11.03.686270v1

Longitudinal analysis of influenza A virus deletion-containing viral genomes reveals key determinants of co-evolutionary dynamics and interference https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.11.03.686333v1

For me, it’s brown tree snake.

Deadly strain of bird flu suspected on remote Australian island Suspected bird flu has reached Australia's sub-Antarctic Heard Island, with signs of the deadly H5 avian disease observed in elephant seals.

Elevated elephant seal mortality on #HeardIsland may signal H5 avian influenza incursion into Australia’s remote sub-Antarctic zone. #AvianInfluenza #H5N1
ab.co/3WXjI28

I'm excited about the Ecological Society's new Fakhri A. Bazzaz and Steward T.A. Pickett Mentorship Award for Enhancing Diversity, Inclusion and Belonging in Ecology. Nominate your colleagues who have been outstanding mentors! Due Nov. 13 esa.org/about/awards... @ecologicalsociety.bsky.social

Serological evidence of SARS-CoV-2 infection in red and fallow deer in Great Britain. https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.10.17.682775v1

Senegal records 17 deaths in rare major outbreak of Rift Valley Fever Senegal has recorded 17 deaths from Rift Valley Fever in a rare major outbreak of the disease in the West African country.

apnews.com/article/sene...

Net positive effects of early-life parasitism on wild animal host fitness Early-life parasitism can negatively impact the health of wild animal hosts. However, parasitism can also positively influence host physiology, behavi…

I haven’t been on social media much but I wanted to share the limited OS link to our new review in Trends in Parasitology.

Net positive effects of early-life parasitism on wild animal host fitness

@ashley-love.bsky.social

The link will work until Decembet!

www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

Come work with us at UW-Green Bay! We're hiring an ecologist with a strong statistical background. 🧪🌍🪶

Quick - apply for this job as manager of our #Biodiversity lab at the NC Museum of Natural Sciences and NCSU to work with #tech and #biodiversity including camera traps, #AI and student mentoring Deadline is 9/23/2025 www.governmentjobs.com/careers/%7B0...

Transatlantic spread of highly pathogenic avian influenza H5N1 by wild birds from Europe to North America in 2021 - Scientific Reports Scientific Reports - Transatlantic spread of highly pathogenic avian influenza H5N1 by wild birds from Europe to North America in 2021

www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Say hello to my little friends.

Awesome work Julie :-)

Amazing piece of work demonstrating emergence, replacement and spatial movement of HPAI genotypes in N. America.
👉 www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

‘Wildest thing’: solar-powered slug steals chloroplasts and stores them for emergencies Marine creatures house contraband structures in special organelles, which the animal raids for food in times of need.

Who knew sea slugs were so devious? A type of sea-slug hoards photosynthetic equipment called chloroplasts from algae and stockpiles it to use as an energy source on a rainy day. -Think solar- generated ‘fat’ stores!

Online and open access in @conbiology.bsky.social since 1 June 2025: Emergence, spread, and impact of high-pathogenicity avian influenza H5 in wild birds and mammals of South America and Antarctica. doi.org/10.1111/cobi.... Many thanks to all involved! A thread 🧵 (1/25)

A nice postdoc opportunity just came across my desk for ecologists interested in doing policy-relevant science - please share!

"The Wilderness Society is hiring a 2-year ecological modeling specialist post-doc to help advance research on caribou response to roads in the Arctic." 🧪🌎