Application of a systems approach for management of chronic wasting disease Active
The USGS National Wildlife Health Center, Montana Cooperative Wildlife Research Unit, Ventana Systems, Inc., and the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (WIDNR) are applying a systems approach to map and model the complex relationships among ecological, epidemiological, social, and political processes affecting CWD. Through a participatory modeling process, we gathered subject matter expertise on CWD epidemiology, social science, and deer and forest health and integrated it with empirical data collected by the WIDNR on processes influencing CWD dynamics and management.
Why this matters: Historic and current CWD intervention efforts have often been hampered by social, economic, and political complexities. Using a systems-based approach, an innovative model is being developed (which includes these factors in addition to deer biology, CWD epidemiology, and ecosystem health) that will allow managers to predict in real-time how these factors interact and identify management actions that will have the largest impact on CWD.
Preliminary findings from the study suggest continued spread under a status quo management scenario and that a suite of intensive and prolonged management actions is likely needed to achieve stabilization or disease reduction in Wisconsin. However, some of the actions identified as potentially effective are currently unavailable due to jurisdiction and resource constraints in Wisconsin.
To make this model more accessible, we have developed and refined a prototype management flight simulator (Figure 2) that will allow natural resource managers and stakeholders to visualize, in real time, both short- and long-term impacts of management decisions on deer population dynamics, disease processes, and stakeholders’ response to management.
The model was presented and demonstrated at the 4th International Chronic Wasting Disease Symposium in Denver, CO in June 2023, drawing considerable interest from attendees. During the current project segment, in addition to continuing work with the WDNR, we are focused on incorporating additional social, economic, political, and forest health dynamics into the model. We are also currently evaluating opportunities to apply the systems model on a regional basis, initially with Midwest Association of Fish & Wildlife Agencies (MAFWA) states, and with individual additional jurisdictions, including the Missouri Department of Conservation.
Below are other science projects associated with this project.
Expanding Distribution of Chronic Wasting Disease
Assessing the Ability of Incineration to Inactivate CWD Prions from Carcasses
Advancing the Use of RT-QuIC for Applications in CWD Management
Chronic Wasting Disease
- Overview
The USGS National Wildlife Health Center, Montana Cooperative Wildlife Research Unit, Ventana Systems, Inc., and the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (WIDNR) are applying a systems approach to map and model the complex relationships among ecological, epidemiological, social, and political processes affecting CWD. Through a participatory modeling process, we gathered subject matter expertise on CWD epidemiology, social science, and deer and forest health and integrated it with empirical data collected by the WIDNR on processes influencing CWD dynamics and management.
Why this matters: Historic and current CWD intervention efforts have often been hampered by social, economic, and political complexities. Using a systems-based approach, an innovative model is being developed (which includes these factors in addition to deer biology, CWD epidemiology, and ecosystem health) that will allow managers to predict in real-time how these factors interact and identify management actions that will have the largest impact on CWD.
Preliminary findings from the study suggest continued spread under a status quo management scenario and that a suite of intensive and prolonged management actions is likely needed to achieve stabilization or disease reduction in Wisconsin. However, some of the actions identified as potentially effective are currently unavailable due to jurisdiction and resource constraints in Wisconsin.
To make this model more accessible, we have developed and refined a prototype management flight simulator (Figure 2) that will allow natural resource managers and stakeholders to visualize, in real time, both short- and long-term impacts of management decisions on deer population dynamics, disease processes, and stakeholders’ response to management.
The model was presented and demonstrated at the 4th International Chronic Wasting Disease Symposium in Denver, CO in June 2023, drawing considerable interest from attendees. During the current project segment, in addition to continuing work with the WDNR, we are focused on incorporating additional social, economic, political, and forest health dynamics into the model. We are also currently evaluating opportunities to apply the systems model on a regional basis, initially with Midwest Association of Fish & Wildlife Agencies (MAFWA) states, and with individual additional jurisdictions, including the Missouri Department of Conservation.
Sources/Usage: Public Domain. View Media DetailsPrototype of a management flight simulator being developed to explore and understand the complex relationships among factors that affect the ability to manage chronic wasting disease. - Science
Below are other science projects associated with this project.
Expanding Distribution of Chronic Wasting Disease
Chronic wasting disease (CWD) has been detected in 33 US states and five Canadian provinces in free-ranging cervids and/or commercial captive cervid facilities. CWD has been detected in free-ranging cervids in 33 states and four provinces and in captive cervid facilities in 19 states and three provinces.Assessing the Ability of Incineration to Inactivate CWD Prions from Carcasses
Chronic wasting disease (CWD), a fatal neurologic disease of cervids, presents a monumental management challenge, in part because the etiological agent, an infectious prion, is extremely difficult to inactivate and can be transmitted directly or indirectly to hosts. Due to these attributes of prions, proper disposal of CWD-infected carcasses is an important consideration for management agencies to...Advancing the Use of RT-QuIC for Applications in CWD Management
Chronic wasting disease (CWD) is an emerging infectious disease that is fatal to free-ranging and captive animals in Cervidae, the deer family. The development of the real-time quaking-induced conversion (RT-QuIC) assay has the potential to transform laboratory research of prions and provide new opportunities for improved surveillance and management.Chronic Wasting Disease
Chronic wasting disease (CWD) is an emerging infectious disease that is fatal to free-ranging and captive animals in Cervidae, the deer family. CWD is one member of a family of diseases called transmissible spongiform encephalopathies (TSEs), and is thought to be caused by prions. CWD is the only TSE known to affect free-ranging wildlife. - Partners