Overview
The diversity of wildlife in Alberta surpasses that in many other Canadian jurisdictions. Resident wild species can range from ants and antelope to walleye and whiskeyjacks, and includes naturally occurring diseases and parasites.
Disease agents and parasites can raise some obvious concerns about whether Alberta’s wild species are a risk to people, to livestock or to other wildlife. In fact, such risk is rarely the case.
By far, the majority of individual fishes and wildlife in Alberta are healthy; it’s a rare event to see sick or dying animals. That said, diseases and parasites are a natural part of any ecosystem and the balance among all free-ranging native species.
Wildlife diseases and parasites
Below is information on some common wildlife diseases and parasites in Alberta, and the programs that have been implemented to understand and, if necessary, manage them.
Fact sheet index and general information
Diseases You Can Get From Wildlife – A Field-guide for Hunters, Trappers, Anglers and Biologists
- A booklet on the BC Environment website providing text and pictures to help inform and protect readers from potential infection with disease agents that sometimes occur in western Canada's wildlife.
- An introduction to the fact sheets of common parasites and diseases of fishes and wildlife in Alberta.
Common parasites and diseases of fishes and wildlife in Alberta: Index
- An index of linked titles of online fact sheets of common parasites and diseases of fishes and wildlife in Alberta.
Wildlife and Human Health in Alberta
- A factsheet that outlines the general impacts of wildlife diseases on human health, and how to mitigate the risk of infection.
Information by disease
Find information and resources for particular wildlife diseases by selecting from the list below.
Note: Diseases marked with an asterisk (*) indicate zoonosis – a wildlife disease or infection that can be transmitted to people.
-
Abscesses
Primary habitat: Big game
Abscesses (Bacterial) in Alberta
- What’s Bugging Wild Critters? Fact Sheet #6
-
Anthrax*
Primary habitat: Big game
Anthrax (Bacillus anthacis) in Alberta
- What’s Bugging Wild Critters? Fact Sheet #5
-
Aspergillosis*
Primary habitat: Birds
-
Avian Botulism
Primary habitat: Waterfowl
Avian Botulism (Clostridium botulinum) in Alberta
- What’s Bugging Wild Critters? Fact Sheet #4
-
Avian Cholera
Primary habitat: Waterfowl
Avian cholera was confirmed in waterfowl near Calgary in February 2007. This is not uncommon in the Bow River watershed among overwintering waterfowl.
Avian cholera is caused by a bacteria that affects the birds due to poor conditioning caused by
- difficulties finding food
- exposure to harsh winter weather
- stresses due to crowded flocks
-
Avian Conjunctivitis
Primary habitat: Song birds
Avian conjunctivitis is a serious eye disease of small songbirds, particularly house finches, that primarily occurs in eastern Canada and USA. Not yet detected in Alberta.
-
Avian Influenza
Primary habitat: Waterfowl
- Avian Influenza in wild birds
General information and surveillance data regarding avian influenza in wild birds and mammals in Alberta.
- Avian Influenza in wild birds
-
Avian Pox
Primary habitat: Raptors and song birds
Avian Pox (Poxvirus avium) in Alberta
- What’s Bugging Wild Critters? Fact Sheet #31
-
Avian Salmonellosis*
Primary habitat: Song birds
Avian Salmonellosis (Salmonella spp) in Alberta
- What’s Bugging Wild Critters? Fact Sheet #3
-
Baylisascaris
-
Besnoitea
Primary habitat: Big game
A small microscopic parasite that lives in the skin on the face and legs of caribou in some populations in Alberta.
-
Bighorn Sheep Pneumonia
Primary habitat: Bighorn sheep
Epizootic Pneumonia in Bighorn Sheep
Related information
- Bighorn sheep disease surveillance
Information about ongoing bighorn sheep disease surveillance programs, and opportunities to report sick or stray bighorn sheep.
- Bighorn sheep disease surveillance
-
Black Spot
-
Bovine Tuberculosis (bTB)*
Primary habitat: Big game
Bovine Tuberculosis (Mycobacterium bovis) in Alberta
- What’s Bugging Wild Critters? Fact Sheet #2
Bovine Tuberculosis in Southeastern Alberta
Bovine Tuberculosis surveillance in Alberta: wildlife information bulletinFrom 2017 to 2019 inclusive, the Alberta government, in conjunction with the Canadian Food Inspection Agency, conducted active surveillance for bovine tuberculosis.
Approximately 120 hunter-harvested elk in WMU 732 were tested each of the 3 years. Annual results are provided (no bovine tuberculosis was detected).
Related information
Information on the hunt at CFB Suffield and the possibility of bovine tuberculosis within the population of elk associated with the base.
Information about Alberta’s management of bovine tuberculosis and brucellosis in free-ranging wood bison in and around Wood Buffalo National Park.
-
Broad Fish Tapeworm*
Primary habitat: Fish
A rare tapeworm that can occur as encysted larvae in some fish species in Alberta.
-
Brucellosis*
Primary habitat: Big game
Brucellosis (Brucella spp) in Alberta
- What’s Bugging Wild Critters? Fact Sheet #1
Related information
Information about Alberta’s management of bovine tuberculosis and brucellosis in free-ranging wood bison in and around Wood Buffalo National Park.
-
Canine Distemper
Primary habitat: Carnivores
- What’s Bugging Wild Critters? Fact Sheet #42
Related information
Canine Distemper in Raccoons in Alberta in 2015
This Information Bulletin describes an outbreak of canine distemper in raccoons in Lethbridge in 2015.
-
Canine Parvovirus
Primary habitat: Carnivores
-
Chlamydiosis*
Primary habitat: Waterfowl
A bacterial infection that can occur in wild waterfowl but is not a disease concern. It is most often found in caged or captive poultry birds.
-
Chronic Wasting Disease
Primary habitat: Big game
Chronic Wasting Disease (a prion disease) in Alberta
- What’s Bugging Wild Critters? Fact Sheet #10
Related information
A short-cut that takes you directly into Alberta’s CWD pages.
All CWD results are sent by email to the address in each hunter’s AlbertaRELM account. Be sure to keep your email address current.
Some hunters have reported that result emails were funnelled into their junk email box, so check there regularly if you are looking for results.
Learn what Chronic Wasting Disease is, the history of CWD in Alberta and provincial CWD surveillance and response.
Chronic Wasting Disease – Information for Hunters
A CWD resource for Alberta hunters that includes:
- CWD Freezer Locations map
- guidelines for filling out CWD ID labels, and deer carcass transportation and handling
- information about Alberta’s fall CWD surveillance programs
- instructions on how to submit harvested deer heads for testing
-
Contagious Ecthyma (aka Soremouth)*
Primary habitat: Big game
-
Echinococcus multilocularis*
Primary habitat: Carnivores
Echinococcus multilocularis in Alberta
- What’s Bugging Wild Critters? Fact Sheet #36
-
EHD (Epizootic Haemorrhagic Disease)
Primary habitat: Big game
Haemorrhagic disease (EHD) in Alberta
- What’s Bugging Wild Critters? Fact Sheet #34
Related information
Haemorrhagic Disease (EHD) in Alberta in 2013
This Information Bulletin describes an outbreak of EHD in deer in southern Alberta in 2013.
Haemorrhagic Disease (EHD) Surveillance in Alberta in 2014
This Information Bulletin describes ongoing surveillance for EHD in deer in southern Alberta in 2014.
-
Encysted Larvae in Fish
Primary habitat: Fish
Encysted larvae in fishes in Alberta
- What’s Bugging Wild Critters? Fact Sheet #40
-
Filarial Worms
Filarial worms in wild mammals in Alberta
Primary habitat: Carnivores
Generally harmless nematodes (roundworms) that live in connective tissues under the skin in the lower leg of racoons and otters. Rarely seen in Alberta.
One species is common in bears in Alberta.
Primary habitat: Ungulates
Some filarial worms live in the abdominal cavity of moose, bison and deer. They are not a disease concern.
Also see ‘Legworm in Cervids’ below.
-
Fly Larvae: Bots and Warbles
Primary habitat: Big game, rodents
Fly Larvae: Bots and Warbles in Alberta
- What’s Bugging Wild Critters? Fact Sheet #44
-
Frog diseases
Primary habitat: Amphibians
The primary disease concern in amphibians is chytrid fungus. Alberta provided provincewide survey results in 2012.
-
Giant Liver Fluke
Primary habitat: Big game
Giant Liver Fluke (Fascioloides magna) in Alberta
- What’s Bugging Wild Critters? Fact Sheet #20
-
Giardiasis*
-
Haemal Lymph Nodes
-
Hantavirus*
Primary habitat: Small mammals
Hantavirus (Sin Nombre virus) in Alberta
- What’s Bugging Wild Critters? Fact Sheet #7
-
Hydatid Tapeworm*
Primary habitat: Big game, carnivores
Hydatid Tapeworm (Echinococcus cervi) in Alberta
- What’s Bugging Wild Critters? Fact Sheet #17
-
Legworm in Cervids
Primary habitat: Big game
-
Lice
Primary habitat: (Carnivores, Big Game), Birds (many species, Waterfowl)
- What’s Bugging Wild Critters? Fact Sheet #38
- What’s Bugging Wild Critters? Fact Sheet #43
Related information
This Information Bulletin describes increased occurrence of dog lice on coyotes across much of Alberta in 2014/15.
-
Lancet (Little) Liver Fluke
Primary habitat: Big game
Lancet (Little) Liver Fluke Cypress Hills Survey – Fall 2010 (1 page)
- A survey being conducted by the Sustainable Resource Development (SRD) Fish and Wildlife Division to find lancet (little) liver fluke in the livers of mule deer and white-tailed deer harvested around Cypress Hills in southeastern Alberta.
-
Liver Blisters
Primary habitat: Big game, carnivores
Liver Blisters (Taenia hydatigena) in Alberta
- What’s Bugging Wild Critters? Fact Sheet #14
-
Lungworms
Primary habitat: Big game
Lungworms in wildlife in Alberta : summer 2024
Lungworms come in a variety of species. In Alberta, some are common in cervids (moose, elk, mule deer and white-tailed deer). Others live in bighorn sheep and mountain goats. And yet others live in snowshoe hares. Most live in the lungs, but 2 species live in muscle tissues. Generally they are not a disease concern.
-
Lyme Disease*
Primary habitat: Small mammals
Lyme Disease (Borrelia burgdorferi) in Alberta
- What’s Bugging Wild Critters? Fact Sheet #12
-
Meningeal Worm
Primary habitat: Big game
Meningeal worm is a nematode (roundworm) common in eastern and central Canada and USA. It lives adjacent to the brain and spinal cord in white-tailed deer without causing serious damage, but can be fatal in moose, caribou, mule deer, bighorn sheep (and likely mountain goats), as well as in domestic sheep and goats. This serious wildlife management concern that has not yet been documented in Alberta.
-
Moose Flies
Primary habitat: Big game
Moose Flies (Haematobosca alcis) in Alberta
- What’s Bugging Wild Critters? Fact Sheet #30
-
Moose Measles
Primary habitat: Big game, carnivores
Moose Measles (Taenia krabbei) in Alberta
- What’s Bugging Wild Critters? Fact Sheet #16
-
Newcastle Disease Virus*
Primary habitat: Waterfowl
Newcastle Disease Virus (a paramyxovirus) in Alberta
- What’s Bugging Wild Critters? Fact Sheet #25
-
Oral Papilloma Virus
Primary habitat: Carnivores
Oral papilloma virus : summer 2024
A common virus that infects young coyotes and can cause warts in their mouth and on their lips.
-
Perukes
-
Rabbit Blisters
Primary habitat: Hares, rabbits, carnivores
Rabbit Blisters (Taenia pisiformis) in Alberta
- What's Bugging Wild Critters? Fact Sheet #25
-
Rabbit Haemorrhagic Disease
-
Rabies*
Primary habitat: Carnivores, other mammals
Rabies (Lyssavirus) in Alberta
- What’s Bugging Wild Critters? Fact Sheet #13
Rabies and Rabies Management in Alberta
- Wildlife Info Bulletin #5
Related information
-
Raphidascaris
Primary habitat: Fish
In Alberta, this harmless nematode (roundworm) can occur as larvae in lake whitefish, cisco, burbot, lake trout, and grayling, and as adults in pike and walleye.
-
Ribbon Tapeworms
Primary habitat: Fish
Ribbon Tapeworms in fishes in Alberta
- What’s Bugging Wild Critters? Fact Sheet #41
-
Ringworm*
Primary habitat: Big game
Ringworm of Deer (Trichophyton verrucosum) in Alberta
- What’s Bugging Wild Critters? Fact Sheet #19
-
Saprolegniosis
-
Sarcocystis
Primary habitat: Big game, waterfowl
Sarcocystis (Sarcocystic spp.) in Alberta
- What’s Bugging Wild Critters? Fact Sheet #11
-
Sarcoptic Mange*
Primary habitat: Carnivores
Sarcoptic Mange (Sarcoptes scabiei) in Alberta
- What’s Bugging Wild Critters? Fact Sheet #9
-
Scaly-leg Mites
Primary habitat: Song birds
Scaly-leg Mites (Knemidokoptes spp.) in Alberta
- What’s Bugging Wild Critters? Fact Sheet #8
-
Seroma
-
Skin Tumors of Fish
Primary habitat: Fish
Skin Tumours of Fishes (various viruses) in Alberta
- What’s Bugging Wild Critters? Fact Sheet #26
-
Skin Tumors of Mammals
Primary habitat: Various mammals
Skin Tumours of Mammals (variety of papillomaviruses) in Alberta
- What’s Bugging Wild Critters? Fact Sheet #24
-
Swim Bladder Worm (Cystidicola)
Primary habitat: Fish
A harmless nematode (roundworm) that lives on the swim bladder of rainbow trout and lake whitefish. Uncommon in Alberta.
-
Swimmer’s Itch*
Primary habitat: Waterfowl
Tiny parasites that live naturally in the intestines of waterfowl can become a concern when their larvae try to infect people. Common in many lakes and sloughs in Alberta. Swimmer’s itch is a human infection – see information provided by Alberta Health.
-
Ticks
Primary habitat: Big game, small mammals
Moose and Ticks in Alberta: A Die off in 1998/99
- An overview of a investigation into a moose die off that occurred in northern and western regions of Alberta in early 1999. One factor cited in the moose deaths was winter tick (Dermacentor albipictus) infestation.
Rabbit/Grouse Tick (Haemaphysalis leporispalustris) in Alberta
- What’s Bugging Wild Critters? Fact Sheet #23
Winter Tick (Dermacentor albipictus) in Alberta
- What’s Bugging Wild Critters? Fact Sheet #21
Wood Tick (Dermacentor andersoni) in Alberta
- What’s Bugging Wild Critters? Fact Sheet #22
-
Triaenophorous Tapeworm
Primary habitat: Fish
Triaenophorous Tapeworm (Triaenophorous crassus) in Alberta
- What’s Bugging Wild Critters? Fact Sheet #27
-
Trichinellosis*
Primary habitat: Carnivores
Trichinella (Trichinella spp.) in Alberta
- What’s Bugging Wild Critters? Fact Sheet #18
-
Tularaemia*
-
West Nile Virus
Primary habitat: Birds
Alberta West Nile Virus Bird Surveillance Reports
- These reports provide results of Alberta’s West Nile Virus surveillance programs from 2003 to 2009. To access these documents, see:
Wildlife Info Bulletin #1: Sage-Grouse and West Nile Virus in Alberta- Spring 2004 (1 page)
Wildlife Info Bulletin #3: West Nile virus in Alberta – What Happened in 2004?– Oct 13, 2004 (2 pages)- To access these documents, see:
-
Whirling Disease
Primary habitat: Fish
- Alberta government information on Whirling Disease
Related information
-
White-nose Syndrome (WNS)
Primary habitat: Small mammals
- Generic fact sheet about White-nose Syndrome. See related information below for more details.
Related information