News Archive

In new study, Smithsonian scientists and partners provide a framework for a new approach to modeling infectious diseases. It adapts established methods developed to study the planet’s natural systems, including climate change, ocean circulation and forest growth, and applies them to parasites and...

Crash into May with black rhinos! Dr. Francesca Vitali is a wildlife veterinarian and Morris Animal Foundation postdoctoral fellow with the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute’s Global Health Program. She is currently working with our Smithsonian partners in Kenya to help conserve Eastern...

Researchers with the Smithsonian’s Global Health Program have discovered six new coronaviruses in bats in Myanmar — the first time these viruses have been detected anywhere in the world. Future studies will evaluate the potential for transmission across species to better understand the risks to...

You may not like needles or giving blood when you go to the doctor’s office, but did you know that blood is an important diagnostic tool for veterinarians? When an animal is feeling sick, obtaining a blood sample for analysis is often one of the very first steps a veterinarian takes.

Dr. Suzan Murray, head of the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute’s Global Health Program testifies on zoonotic disease transmission.

Across Laikipia County in central Kenya, endangered species like the reticulated giraffe, Grevy’s zebra and African wild dog, coexist alongside rapidly growing numbers of people and livestock. A study published this month reveals that whether wild herbivore species thrive or decline in Laikipia is...

In October, Global Health Program veterinary fellows participated in the annual Laikipia Rabies Vaccination Campaign in Laikipia County, Kenya, which aims to eradicate (or completely eliminate) the virus from the region.

Global Health Program researchers co-hosted a camel medicine course for Kenyan livestock veterinarians in March to help improve camel veterinary knowledge, promote wildlife health and lower the risk of diseases.

For wildlife veterinarians, patients can span hundreds of different species. Find out how zoo veterinarians manage to treat so many different kinds of animals, including those that are endangered and exceedingly rare.

Education is often touted as the answer to large-scale issues like health security. But what does this actually look like on the ground? In late March, Global Health Program staff traveled to Laikipia County in Kenya to participate in community engagement and education activities.

Smithsonian veterinary research fellow Dr. Maureen Wanjiku Kamau is leading a study on wild eastern black rhinos in Kenya. Find out how her team is using poop to learn more about rhino reproduction.

The Smithsonian’s National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute's dedicated staff are at the forefront of shaping the world’s understanding of animals and their habitats. Wildlife conservation is their passion. And, they are women.

For the past two years, Global Health Program veterinarian Dawn Zimmerman traveled to Awash National Park in Ethiopia to collar hamadryas baboons, helping researchers track the primates and study their biology, reproduction and social nature.

George Mason University students recently traveled to the Mpala Research Centre in Kenya to work with Smithsonian scientists as part of a course on emerging infectious disease.

Global Health Program veterinarian Dr. Marc Valitutto traveled to the Save Vietnam’s Wildlife center in Cuc Phuong National Park, where hundreds of confiscated pangolins are received each year for rehabilitation and hopeful reintroduction back into the wild. 

Twenty undergraduate students from George Mason University joined the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute's Global Health Program in the field from July 31 to Aug. 13, 2018.

SCBI scientists are using innovative GPS tracking collars to better understand the flight patterns of Myanmar's flying foxes.

Smithsonian and University of California, Davis scientists and partners have discovered a new coronavirus in a species of bat in Myanmar as part of routine surveillance for the PREDICT project, funded by the U.S. Agency for International Development. A second virus was also detected in Myanmar for...

What is causing the disappearance of reticulated giraffes across the plains where they were once plentiful? Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute scientists and partners are on the case.

As a wildlife veterinarian for the SCBI’s Global Health Program, Dr. Marc Valitutto was asked to visit and evaluate the Royal Takin Preserve in Thimpu, Bhutan, to help build their veterinary capacity, so they can best monitor the health of the takin in their care.

In December 2017, Global Health Program wildlife veterinarian Dawn Zimmerman traveled to Rwanda and worked with the Gorilla Doctors for three weeks.

A new study from the Smithsonian and partners presents the most comprehensive evolutionary family tree for the eight known species of pangolins—one of Earth's most evolutionarily unique animals and the world's most trafficked mammal.

In June, SCBI scientists and partners fitted the ossicones of 11 reticulated giraffes with GPS collars that send hourly data to researchers via satellite.

How does a conservation organization stop a threat to wildlife that cannot be seen by the naked eye? They examine it under a microscope.

The Smithsonian’s Global Health Program is conducting viral surveillance in Myanmar for the USAID|PREDICT program, a worldwide effort to detect viruses that may pose a danger to public health. The Global Health team is sampling at the Hpa An caves, an area bustling with local enterprise, religious...