{"id":230831,"date":"2026-03-30T09:00:48","date_gmt":"2026-03-30T19:00:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/?p=230831"},"modified":"2026-03-30T10:32:32","modified_gmt":"2026-03-30T20:32:32","slug":"new-tech-detects-disease","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/2026\/03\/30\/new-tech-detects-disease\/","title":{"rendered":"New tech detects deadly whale, dolphin diseases"},"content":{"rendered":"Reading time: <\/span> 2<\/span> minutes<\/span><\/span>
\"people
Researchers from Taiwan and the UH<\/abbr> Stranding and Whale Lab tested the new portable detector on Sand Island, Oʻahu.<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

A breakthrough in marine mammal health surveillance can now detect deadly diseases in whales and dolphins in oceans, beaches and remote locations, thanks to new research from the University of Â鶹´«Ã½<\/span> at Mānoa.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"working
The portable unit delivers results in about an hour, leading to faster decision-making during mass stranding events.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The UH<\/abbr> Health and Stranding Lab at the College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resilience<\/a> (CTAHR<\/abbr>) worked together with international researchers to validate a portable, field-deployable molecular diagnostic tool for Cetacean Morbillivirus (CeMV<\/abbr>). The study was published in Transboundary and Emerging Diseases<\/em><\/a>.<\/p>\n

Rapid detection in the field<\/h2>\n

CeMV<\/abbr> has caused mass deaths of thousands of marine animals globally. Traditionally, detecting such pathogens required sending samples to specialized laboratories, often resulting in delays of weeks to months.<\/p>\n

“This is the first application of a field-deployable system for rapid testing for whales and dolphins,” said Kristi West, director of the UH<\/abbr> Health and Stranding Lab. “It breaks down barriers to detection because it can be used remotely, even without a traditional lab nearby.”<\/p>\n

The portable unit delivers results in about an hour, aiding decision-making during mass stranding events. It is designed for hot, humid environments, making it essential for detecting outbreaks early and potentially preventing larger epidemics. The system uses high-speed testing to provide rapid, on-site results. It proved effective across multiple divergent strains from Â鶹´«Ã½,<\/span> Europe and Brazil, even in archived tissues up to 28 years old.<\/p>\n

“We want to train others so we can increase what we know about disease in many other areas of the world,” West said.<\/p>\n

Global collaboration and training<\/h2>\n

\"tests\"<\/p>\n

To ensure this technology reaches those who need it most, UH<\/abbr> researchers hosted a workshop in Honolulu with Professor Wei-Cheng Yang from National Taiwan University\u2019s Veterinary School to train stranding responders and scientists from across the Pacific.<\/p>\n

Participants included staff from the Taiwanese Cetacean Society, and representatives from the Â鶹´«Ã½<\/span> Department of Land and Natural Resource\u2019s Division of Aquatic Resources, NOAA<\/abbr> Fisheries, the U.S.<\/abbr> Geological Survey\u2019s National Wildlife Health Center, biologists from Guam and Saipan and CTAHR<\/abbr> graduate students.<\/p>\n

During the workshop, researchers ran tests on known positive and negative samples for diseases impacting dolphins and Nene, the endemic Hawaiian goose. The Taiwanese team also shared their insights from a mass stranding of 11 pygmy killer whales they had responded to just days before arriving in Â鶹´«Ã½,<\/span> which resulted in the successful release of seven whales.<\/p>\n

The project is supported by U.S.<\/abbr> Pacific Fleet Environmental Readiness Division and a joint zoonotic disease grant with the state of Â鶹´«Ã½\u2019s<\/span> Department of Land and Natural Resources and involves collaborators from Taiwan, the Philippines, Spain, and Brazil.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

UH<\/abbr> researchers have developed a portable, rapid test to detect deadly diseases in whales and dolphins directly on the beach.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":16,"featured_media":230838,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[30],"tags":[212,1363,1314,175,937,158,73,9],"class_list":["post-230831","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-research","tag-college-of-tropical-agriculture-and-human-resilience","tag-manoa-research","tag-manoa-sustainability","tag-marine-biology","tag-marine-mammals","tag-publication","tag-sustainability","tag-uh-manoa","entry","has-media"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/manoa-ctahr-disease-tech.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/230831","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/16"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=230831"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/230831\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":231429,"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/230831\/revisions\/231429"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/230838"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=230831"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=230831"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=230831"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}