CWD Surveillance Expansion and Enhanced Surveillance Using Prion Detection

The tasks to be performed under this agreement are as follows: 1. The primary goal is to increase CWD surveillance to 2 surveillance zones in 2014-2015, using primarily hunter-harvested deer, with supplemental sampling of vehicle-killed deer and elk at least 1.5 yearsold, any sick/injured/suspect, any escaped captive cervids, and illegally harvested animals at least 1.5 years-old. This grant would fund surveillance in the Southwest Zone, with a goal of 458 samples. 2. The secondary goal is to acquire soil samples at QNWR and have them tested with PMCA to determine presence/absence of CWD prions. Analyses of soil taken from deer scrapes on Quivira National Refuge (QNWR) may help provide a baseline time of when CWD prions were first deposited on the refuge. This could prove useful when comparing distance sampling results over time. Inferences could then be made as to whether CWD is involved in observed changes in deer densities over time on the refuge. CWD was detected in Stafford County in the Southcentral Zone in 2011, only 19 miles from QNWR. Without hunterkilled deer, collecting and testing soil samples taken at scrape sites is currently the only available option for early detection of CWD prions on the refuge. Furthermore, it may be possible to mechanically manage known infected scrapes and remove the overhanging lick branch to prevent non-infected deer from being exposed to prions or reduce the risk of exposure, especially during hunting seasons when deer pile into the refuge from the surrounding private land. This type of passive surveillance could provide an earlier detection strategy, thus, provide a better understanding of how prevalence increases from a base time of infection, thus, changes in deer populations. Isolating prions from soil has proven difficult in many studies because of the way prions ¿cling¿ to clay particles, but improved PMCA methods may be available to circumvent the detection problem. This part of the project will be contingent on the approval of the Samuels et al. project.