About

Wes Arend Baumgartner is a Clinical Professor in Veterinary Clinical Medicine at the University of Illinois College of Veterinary Medicine. He holds a Doctor of Veterinary Medicine degree from the University of Illinois and a Doctor of Philosophy in Veterinary Sciences from Louisiana State University. He is a diplomate of the American College of Veterinary Pathologists. His research interests include aquatic animal pathology, encompassing both vertebrate and invertebrate species, as well as infectious diseases. Dr. Baumgartner is associated with the Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory and has contributed to the field through his expertise in veterinary pathology and infectious disease research.

Research topics

• Fishery
• Biology
• Endocrinology
• Food science
• Zoology
• Animal science

Selected publications

• Histopathologic and Genomic Characterization of a Novel Caprine Astrovirus Identified in a Boer Goat Kid in Illinois, United States

  Viruses · 2026-01-16

  articleOpen access

  Astroviruses are non-enveloped, positive-sense single-stranded RNA viruses known to infect various mammals and birds, including humans, often causing gastrointestinal disorders. In recent years, astroviruses have also been linked to neurological and respiratory diseases across several species, including ruminants, mink, deer, and other mammals. Notably, astrovirus infections in goats have been documented in countries such as Switzerland and China, where novel genotypes have been identified in fecal samples. However, their role in the context of disease remains unclear, and reports focusing solely on goat astrovirus in the United States have not been published. A necropsy case of a Boer goat kid with a history of diarrhea was submitted for investigation following death in January 2025. Fresh tissues were received and used for histopathology and enteric pathogen testing, including parasitic, bacterial, and viral workups. Metagenomic-based next-generation sequencing (mNGS) was also applied for this case. Histological examination revealed severe necrotizing enterocolitis. The small intestine exhibited epithelial ulcerations, villus atrophy, hyperplastic and dilated crypts with necrotic debris, few intraenterocytic coccidian parasites, and increased inflammatory cells in the lamina propria. The large intestine showed similar findings with pleomorphic crypt enterocytes. Standard enteric pathogen tests were negative except for aerobic culture that identified Escherichia.coli and Enterococcus hirae. mNGS and bioinformatic analysis identified a novel astrovirus in the intestinal content that showed the highest nucleotide identity (86%) to the sheep strain Mamastrovirus 13 sheep/HA3 from China based on BLAST analysis. Phylogenetic analysis indicated that the newly identified caprine astrovirus IL90175 clustered with astrovirus strains from small ruminants in Asia and Europe. This research reports the discovery, histopathologic features, and genetic characteristics of a gastrointestinal disease-causing astrovirus in a goat kid, which had not been previously described in the United States.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Letter to the editor: Celomitis revisited

  Journal of Veterinary Diagnostic Investigation · 2025-10-07

  letterOpen access1st authorCorresponding
  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Etablierung von Neurosphären und anderen 3D-in-vitro-Systemen als Modelle für Infektionen des zentralen Nervensystems von Hunden und Frettchen mit dem Hundestaupe-Virus.

  Tierärztliche Praxis Ausgabe K Kleintiere / Heimtiere · 2024-06-01

  articleSenior author
  PublisherDOI

• Coelomitis?

  Journal of Veterinary Diagnostic Investigation · 2024-05-04 · 3 citations

  letterOpen access1st authorCorresponding

  Can a non-tissue be inflamed?"Coelomitis" is a peculiar word that has gained popularity in the last 20 y, almost exclusively in the exotic animal pathology and medicine literature. 1,2,5Coelom" isn't listed in the index in histology texts that I can find.Where did this word come from?I first heard it 20 y ago from a wildlife/exotics veterinarian in reference to birds.All vertebrates have coeloms that are lined by a peritoneum, pleura, etc. 4 Why are we using this particular term for feathered, scaly, or mucus-covered animals and not furred?It doesn't seem overly popular in the poultry literature.Interestingly enough, many birds have a pleural space as well, which is not obvious. 3 somewhat related tangent to this is the term "ventriculitis" in the brain, which I think is a misnomer despite its common use in the literature.I'd prefer to see "ventricular ependymitis."I've not seen "ventriculitis" diagnosed in the heart."Peritonitis," "pleuroperitonitis," and "serositis" seem to be clear, concise, comparative, and correct words.I fail to see a reason for a substitute that is no better, nor even their equal.If others have thoughts about this subject, I'd be interested in hearing their viewpoints.Invertebrates are another story.It's an interesting field for such discussions.I think it's food for thought to consider the utility of this word before it becomes entrenched.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Etablierung von Neurosphären und anderen 3D-in-vitro-Systemen als Modelle für Infektionen des zentralen Nervensystems von Hunden und Frettchen mit dem Hundestaupe-Virus.

  Tierärztliche Praxis Ausgabe G Großtiere / Nutztiere · 2024-06-01

  articleSenior author

  Einleitung Infektionen des zentralen Nervensystems (ZNS) mit verschiedenen Stämmen des Hundestaupevirus (CDV) zeigen Unterschiede in Bezug auf pathomorphologische Veränderungen und Zelltropismus, was hohe Ansprüche an in vitro Modelle zur Untersuchung des ZNS-Tropismus stellt. Neben anderen Systemen stellen Neurosphären (NSph) einen vielversprechenden Ansatz dar, um die Unzulänglichkeiten von 2D-Zellkultursystemen zu überwinden. NSphs bestehen aus 3D-Zellclustern von Neuronen und Gliazellen und können aus mesenchymalen Stammzellen (MSZs) gewonnen werden.

  PublisherDOI

• Verteilung und Expressionsprofil pulmonaler neuroendokriner Zellen in der Lunge von Goldhamstern (Mesocricetus auratus): potentieller Marker einer geänderten Lungenfunktion

  Tierärztliche Praxis Ausgabe K Kleintiere / Heimtiere · 2024-06-01

  article
  PublisherDOI

• Betanodavirus meningoencephalitis in an Atlantic blue marlin

  Journal of Veterinary Diagnostic Investigation · 2024-02-08 · 2 citations

  articleOpen accessSenior authorCorresponding

  Viral nervous necrosis (viral encephalopathy and retinopathy) is caused by piscine nodavirus ( Nodaviridae, Betanodavirus). Since 1986, this highly infectious virus has caused mass mortalities of up to 100% in farmed saltwater and freshwater fish around the world (with the exception of South America and Antarctica), affecting >60 species across 10 orders. The Atlantic blue marlin ( Makaira nigricans Lacépède, 1802) is a top-level predator found throughout the tropical waters of the Atlantic and Indo-Pacific oceans. Despite their popularity as a sportfish, relatively little is known about the Atlantic blue marlin and other billfish. We describe here chronic betanodavirus infection in a juvenile Atlantic blue marlin, which is, to our knowledge, the first report of disease in M. nigricans.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• <i>Flavobacterium covae</i> is the predominant species of columnaris-causing bacteria impacting the Channel Catfish industry in the southeastern United States

  Journal of Aquatic Animal Health · 2023-10-20 · 20 citations

  article

  OBJECTIVE: Columnaris disease is a leading cause of disease-related losses in the catfish industry of the southeastern United States. The term "columnaris-causing bacteria" (CCB) has been coined in reference to the four described species that cause columnaris disease: Flavobacterium columnare, F. covae, F. davisii, and F. oreochromis. Historically, F. columnare, F. covae, and F. davisii have been isolated from columnaris disease cases in the catfish industry; however, there is a lack of knowledge of which CCB species are most prevalent in farm-raised catfish. The current research objectives were to (1) sample columnaris disease cases from the U.S. catfish industry and identify the species of CCB involved and (2) determine the virulence of the four CCB species in Channel Catfish Ictalurus punctatus in controlled laboratory challenges. METHODS: Bacterial isolates or swabs of external lesions from catfish were collected from 259 columnaris disease cases in Mississippi and Alabama during 2015-2019. The DNA extracted from the samples was analyzed using a CCB-specific multiplex polymerase chain reaction to identify the CCB present in each diagnostic case. Channel Catfish were challenged by immersion with isolates belonging to each CCB species to determine virulence at ~28°C and 20°C. RESULT: Flavobacterium covae was identified as the predominant CCB species impacting the U.S. catfish industry, as it was present in 94.2% (n = 244) of diagnostic case submissions. Challenge experiments demonstrated that F. covae and F. oreochromis were highly virulent to Channel Catfish, with most isolates resulting in near 100% mortality. In contrast, F. columnare and F. davisii were less virulent, with most isolates resulting in less than 40% mortality. CONCLUSION: Collectively, these results demonstrate that F. covae is the predominant CCB in the U.S. catfish industry, and research aimed at developing new control and prevention strategies should target this bacterial species. The methods described herein can be used to continue monitoring the prevalence of CCB in the catfish industry and can be easily applied to other industries to identify which Flavobacterium species have the greatest impact.

  PublisherDOI

• Nasal trichosporonosis in 2 mixed-breed ewes

  Journal of Veterinary Diagnostic Investigation · 2023-06-30

  articleOpen accessSenior author

  Two adult mixed-breed ewes were presented with a 2-wk history of upper respiratory disease. Both animals were depressed, with bilateral serosanguineous nasal discharge and harsh bronchovesicular sounds accompanied by crackles and wheezes on auscultation. One animal was recumbent and was euthanized at presentation. The other animal with similar signs, as well as exophthalmos, was euthanized because of a mass in the nasal passages. On autopsy, severe pyogranulomatous and necrotizing ethmoidal rhinitis with focal pyogranulomatous pneumonia was diagnosed in both animals. An intralesional fungal organism was identified in the nares and lungs of both animals. The organism could not be isolated via fungal culture but was identified as Trichosporon sp. by a PCR assay. Trichosporon spp. are rarely associated with disease in veterinary medicine. This ubiquitous fungus might cause disease following trauma to the nasal passages or secondary to immunocompromise.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• DETECTION OF ELEPHANT ENDOTHELIOTROPIC HERPESVIRUS 1A IN ARCHIVAL TISSUE USING RNASCOPE® IN SITU HYBRIDIZATION

  Journal of Zoo and Wildlife Medicine · 2023-01-05 · 2 citations

  articleCorresponding

  Hemorrhagic disease due to elephant endotheliotropic herpesvirus infection (EEHV-HD) is an important cause of calf mortality in managed and free-ranging Asian (Elephas maximus) and African elephant (Loxodonta spp.) populations. Consequently, infection has profound implications for elephant population growth and sustainability. The mechanisms of disease caused by EEHV (i.e., infection, dissemination, shedding, latency) are relatively undefined, in part because of a lack of robust validated assays for detecting viral gene products in relevant samples. To address this issue, we used RNAscope® in situ hybridization (ISH) based on EEHV1A DNA polymerase and terminase genes to detect EEHV1A RNA in archival formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded Asian elephant heart and tongue from PCR-confirmed cases (n = 4) of EEHV-HD and Asian elephants (n = 2) that died from other causes. EEHV1A-positive cases had positive hybridization signal in endothelial cell nuclei of both tissues for both DNA polymerase and terminase. EEHV-negative cases lacked signal. In positive cases, the number of positive nuclei was manually assessed to provide an estimate of the viral load and compare sensitivity of the two probes. In all cases, heart had greater signal than tongue for both probes (Wilcoxon rank test; P ≤ 0.01). Overall, terminase hybridization signal was greater than DNA polymerase signal (Wilcoxon rank test; P ≤ 0.01). Results indicate RNAscope ISH is a valuable tool for detection of EEHV in archival samples and for confirming infection. Additionally, the terminase gene is the optimal target and heart is preferable to tongue for detection in cases of EEHV-HD. Results will inform future investigations of viral tropism in EEHV-HD cases due to EEHV1A.

  PublisherDOI

Frequent coauthors

• Matt J. Griffin

  AstraZeneca (United States)

  17 shared

• Peter Wohlsein

  University of Veterinary Medicine Hannover, Foundation

  12 shared

• Thomas G. Rosser

  Mississippi State University

  11 shared

• Lorrie Gaschen

  10 shared

• David Guzman

  9 shared

• Mark A. Mitchell

  General Electric (Israel)

  9 shared

• E. Clay Hodgin

  9 shared

• Shawn Hollibush

  Illinois College

  9 shared

Education

• Doctor of Philosophy, School of Veterinary Medicine

  Louisiana State University

  2011

• Doctor Veterinary Medicine, College of Veterinary Medicine

  University of Illinois System

  2002