Enhanced Surveillance Strategies for Detecting and Monitoring Chronic Wasting Disease in Free-Ranging Cervids

For more information on the USGS—the Federal source for science about the Earth, its natural and living resources, natural hazards, and the environment, visit http://www.usgs.gov or call 1–888–ASK–USGS. For an overview of USGS information products, including maps, imagery, and publications, To order this and other USGS information products, visit http://store.usgs.gov Any use of trade, product, or firm names is for descriptive purposes only and does not imply endorsement by the U.S. Government. Although this report is in the public domain, permission must be secured from the individual copyright owners to reproduce any copyrighted materials contained within this report. iii Preface In 2003, Surveillance Strategies for Detecting CWD in Free-ranging Deer and Elk was made available to wildlife managers as they developed or enhanced their chronic wasting disease (CWD) programs. The document was the product of a 2002 meeting hosted by the U.S. Geological Survey-National Wildlife Health Center (USGS-NWHC). Although the guidelines were state-of-the-art when published, wildlife managers more recently have expressed the need for more efficient surveillance strategies based on scientific information developed since 2003. At the request of the Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies (AFWA), Bryan Richards of the USGS-NWHC led a 2008 meeting of wildlife health professionals, statisticians, and biometri-cians to update CWD surveillance strategies. The following chapters on CWD risk factors, surveillance, and monitoring were drafted by meeting participants and others in 2008. The intent of these chapters is to provide wildlife professionals with knowledge regarding recent developments in the arena of CWD surveillance, as well as present the collective experience of meeting participants in constructing, managing, and researching CWD surveillance techniques and programs. It is hoped that this information will aid managers in implementing more efficient surveillance and monitoring programs. In 2010, AFWA formed a working group charged with providing members with updated surveillance strategies in response to further erosion of public support and financial support for CWD surveillance and monitoring. The AFWA CWD Working Group reviewed the three chapters, found them to be an excellent resource for wildlife managers. v Executive Summary The purpose of this document is to provide wildlife management agencies with the foundation upon which they can build scientifically rigorous and cost-effective surveillance and monitoring programs for chronic wasting disease (CWD) or refine their existing programs. The first chapter provides an overview of potential demographic and spatial risk factors of susceptible wildlife populations that may be exploited for CWD surveillance and …