Chronic Wasting Disease in White-Tailed Deer Winning Poster by Heather Inzalaco

This project all started when I began thinking about deer behaviors that may have been overlooked when we think of how chronic wasting disease might be spreading geographically. Something that’s overlooked in the literature on CWD is deer grooming behaviors. White-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) practice grooming. This is when they remove ectoparasites off one another with their mouths. That could mean they are eating tick blood meals that are infected with CWD prions