Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Units Program: Wisconsin Wildlife
Education, Research and Technical Assistance for Managing Our Natural Resources

The prevalence of chronic wasting disease continues to increase endemically and spread broadly over North America. However, transmission risks and chronic wasting disease dynamics associated with environmental prion reservoirs remain poorly understood due to the lack of efficient diagnostic tools. With advances in prion assay technology (RT-QuIC), the proposed research can fill key gaps in knowledge about ecologically- and management-relevant environmental sources of CWD transmission. This project builds off previous work funded by the WI-DNR to leverage prion assay technology (real-time quaking-induced conversion; RT-QuIC) to detect chronic wasting disease prions in environmental reservoirs and considers the role of scavengers. Our aim is to 1) assess the effects of chronic wasting disease-positive carcasses and vertebrate scavengers on prion deposition and distribution in soils at deer carcass sites, and 2) quantify animal activity at deer carcass sites and scavenger movement ecology to evaluate host exposure risk and the effects of scavengers on carcass consumption and prion removal or dissemination. Outcomes will provide an understanding of the extent and significance of prion contamination in the environment, which can subsequently inform management actions and disease prediction models.