Nelda A. Rivera
Email: river@illinois.edu
Title: Research Scientist
ResearchGate: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Nelda_Rivera
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nelda-a-rivera-9913688a/
Personal Information
M.S. – Natural Resources and Environmental Sciences, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, USA.
D.V.M. – Doctor in Veterinary Medicine, University of Panamá, Republic of Panamá, March 2007.
B.S. – Computer Science, Santa María La Antigua University, Republic of Panamá.
Research interest
Dr. Rivera’s research interest is in the epidemiology of infectious diseases, disease surveillance and determination of reservoir hosts. She focuses on the ecology and evolution of new and re-emerging infectious diseases, as well as pathogenesis, pathology, host response, prevention, and control of infectious diseases that affect wildlife, domestic animals and that might be zoonotic.
Publications
Wessels, J.E., Ishida, Y., Rivera, N.A., Stirewalt, S.L., Brown, W.M., Novakofski, J.E., Roca, A.L. and Mateus-Pinilla, N.E., 2023. The Impact of Variation in the Toll-like Receptor 3 Gene on Epizootic Hemorrhagic Disease in Illinois Wild White-Tailed Deer (Odocoileus virginianus). Genes, 14(2), p.426. [PDF]
Tian, T., Halsey, S.J., Rivera, N.A., Brown, W.M., Novakofski, J.E. and Mateus-Pinilla, N.E., 2022. Impact of landcover composition and density of localized deer culling sites on chronic wasting disease prevalence. Preventive Veterinary Medicine, p.105774.
Dorak, S.J., Varga, C., Ruder, M.G., Gronemeyer, P., Rivera, N.A., Dufford, D.R., Skinner, D.J., Roca, A.L., Novakofski, J. and Mateus-Pinilla, N.E., 2022. Spatial epidemiology of hemorrhagic disease in Illinois wild white-tailed deer. Scientific Reports, 12(1), pp.1-12. [PDF]
Rivera NA, Varga C, Ruder MG, Dorak SJ, Roca AL, Novakofski JE, Mateus-Pinilla NE. 2021. Bluetongue and Epizootic Hemorrhagic Disease in the United States of America at the Wildlife–Livestock Interface. Pathogens; 10(8):915. https://doi.org/10.3390/pathogens10080915
Raudabaugh DB, Rivera NA, Anchor GC, Bach E, Miller AN, Mateus-Pinilla NE. 2021. Preliminary study of cave sample storage conditions on fungal community diversity, Diversity ; 13,188. https://doi.org/10.3390/d13050188
Grimm K, Rivera NA, Fredebaugh-Siller S, Weng HY, Warner RE, Maddox CW, Mateus-Pinilla NE. 2020. Evidence of Leptospira serovars in wildlife and leptospiral DNA in water sources in a natural area in East-Central Illinois, USA. Journal of Wildlife Diseases. October 2019; 56(2) 2020, pp. 316-327 [PDF]
Rivera NA, Brandt AL, Novakofski JE, Mateus-Pinilla NE. 2019. Chronic Wasting Disease in Cervids: Prevalence, Impact and Management Strategies. Veterinary Medicine: Research and Reports. October 2019; 10:123—139. [Full Text]
Rivera NA, Totoni S, Monick K., Tian T, Green ML, Novakofski J, Mateus-Pinilla NE. 2018. A comparison of three methods to evaluate otter latrine activity. Wildlife Society Bulletin. Accepted December 2018. [PDF]
Annetti KL, Rivera NA, Andrews JE, Mateus-Pinilla NE. 2017. Survey of haemosporidian parasites in resident and migrant game birds of Illinois. Journal of Fish and Wildlife Management. 8(2): 661-668. [PDF]
Rivera NA, Mateus-Pinilla NE, Novakofski J, Satterthwaite-Phillips D. 2015. Metals in obex and retropharyngeal lymph nodes of Illinois white-Tailed deer and their variations with sex and CWD status. Prion, 9 (1): 48-58. [PDF]
Carpenter SK, Mateus-Pinilla NE, Singh K, Lehner A, Satterthwaite-Phillips D, Bluett RD, Rivera NA, Novakofski JE. 2014. River otters as biomonitors for organochlorine pesticides, PCBs, and PBDEs in Illinois. Ecotoxicology and Environmental Safety 100, 99-104. [PDF]