One of our highest program priorities is preventing the reintroduction of chronic wasting disease (CWD) into the New York State wild deer herd. Like “mad cow” disease, CWD is caused by an infectious protein called a prion. These prions accumulate and cause holes to form in the brain. Infected deer may take up to two years to appear ill, and the disease is universally fatal. Prions can survive for years in the environment, binding to soil and plants, which also makes this disease very difficult to control once it is introduced.
Working across boundaries benefits everyone, so we assist state, provincial, and tribal wildlife management agencies with their CWD surveillance and response planning. One of our core tenets is ensuring our products are relevant and useful to agencies. To that end, we coordinate the Surveillance Optimization Project for Chronic Wasting Disease (SOP4CWD).
Our research focuses on two main areas: mathematical models and diagnostic testing. We lead a multi-institutional quantitative group in producing novel models that provide decision-making support through non-technical interfaces. We also have cutting-edge technology for prion detection and host characterization to understand disease parameters. A major benefit is that the tools we develop for CWD often have broad application to other important wildlife pathogens.
We believe CWD has the potential to reshape wildlife management for all species; therefore, it is imperative that we focus our efforts on this disease. Consequently, we emphasize risk minimization practices, effective and efficient surveillance practices, and science-based management choices.
