Bryan Richards
Science and Products
Expanding Distribution of Chronic Wasting Disease
The following maps document the distribution of chronic wasting disease (CWD) in North America.
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.
USGS-NWHC Quarterly Wildlife Mortality Report - January 2019
The USGS National Wildlife Health Center (NWHC) Quarterly Mortality Report provides brief summaries of epizootic mortality and morbidity events by quarter. The write-ups, highlighting epizootic events and other wildlife disease topics of interest, are published in the Wildlife Disease Association quarterly newsletter. A link is provided in this...
Richards, Bryan J.; Bodenstein, Barbara; Dusek, Robert J.; Rocke, Tonie E.; Richgels, Katherine L. D. USGS-NWHC Quarterly Wildlife Mortality Report - October 2018
No abstract available.
Richards, Bryan J.; Dusek, Robert J.; Ballmann, Anne; Nguyen, Natalie T. USGS-NWHC Quarterly Wildlife Mortality Report - July 2018
No abstract available.
Richards, Bryan J.; Bodenstein, Barbara; Ballmann, Anne; St. Martin, Michelle USGS-NWHC Quarterly Wildlife Mortality Report- April 2018
No abstract available.
Richards, Bryan J.; Bodenstein, Barbara; Ballmann, Anne; White, C. LeAnn
Chronic wasting disease—Status, science, and management support by the U.S. Geological Survey
The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) investigates chronic wasting disease (CWD) at multiple science centers and cooperative research units across the Nation and supports the management of CWD through science-based strategies. CWD research conducted by USGS scientists has three strategies: (1) to understand the biology, ecology, and causes and...
Carlson, Christina M.; Hopkins, M. Camille ; Nguyen, Natalie T.; Richards, Bryan J.; Walsh, Daniel P.; Walter, W. David Quarterly wildlife mortality report - January 2018
No abstract available.
Richards, Bryan J.; Grear, Daniel A.; Ballmann, Anne; Dusek, Robert J.; Kaler, Robert; Kuletz, Kathy USGS-NWHC Quarterly Wildlife Mortality Report- October 2017
No abstract available
Richards, Bryan J.; Bodenstein, Barbara; Ballmann, Anne; White, C. LeAnn; Frattaroli, Leslie Endemic chronic wasting disease causes mule deer population decline in Wyoming
Chronic wasting disease (CWD) is a fatal transmissible spongiform encephalopathy affecting white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus), mule deer (Odocoileus hemionus), Rocky Mountain elk (Cervus elaphus nelsoni), and moose (Alces alces shirasi) in North America. In southeastern Wyoming average annual CWD prevalence in mule deer exceeds 20%...
DeVivo, Melia T.; Edmunds, David R.; Kauffman, Matthew J.; Schumaker, Brant A.; Binfet, Justin; Kreeger, Terry J.; Richards, Bryan J.; Schatzl, Hermann M.; Cornish, Todd USGS-NWHC Quarterly Wildlife Mortality Report- January 2017
No abstract available.
Richards, Bryan J.; Grear, Daniel A.; Ballmann, Anne; Dusek, Robert J.; Bodenstein, Barbara Estimating ages of white-tailed deer: Age and sex patterns of error using tooth wear-and-replacement and consistency of cementum annuli
The age structure of harvested animals provides the basis for many demographic analyses. Ages of harvested white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) and other ungulates often are estimated by evaluating replacement and wear patterns of teeth, which is subjective and error-prone. Few previous studies however, examined age- and sex-specific error...
Samuel, Michael D.; Storm, Daniel J.; Rolley, Robert E.; Beissel, Thomas; Richards, Bryan J.; Van Deelen, Timothy R. Deer density and disease prevalence influence transmission of Chronic Wasting Disease in White-tailed Deer
Host-parasite dynamics and strategies for managing infectious diseases of wildlife depend on the functional relationship between disease transmission rates and host density. However, the disease transmission function is rarely known for free-living wildlife, leading to uncertainty regarding the impacts of diseases on host populations and effective...
Samuel, Michael D.; Richards, Bryan J.; Storm, Daniel J.; Rolley, Robert E.; Shelton, Paul; Nicholas S. Keuler; Timothy R. Van Deelen Comparison of visual-based helicopter and fixed-wing forward-looking infrared surveys for counting white-tailed deer Odocoileus virginianus
Aerial surveys using direct counts of animals are commonly used to estimate deer abundance. Forward-looking infrared (FLIR) technology is increasingly replacing traditional methods such as visual observation from helicopters. Our goals were to compare fixed-wing FLIR and visual, helicopter-based counts in terms of relative bias, influence of snow...
Storm, Daniel J.; Samuel, Michael D.; Van Deelen, Timothy R.; Malcolm, Karl D.; Rolley, Robert E.; Frost, Nancy A.; Bates, Donald P.; Richards, Bryan J.