Virginia Tech's Conservation Management Institute Develops National Database For CWD

The issue is Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD) and the question is what to do about it. CWD, a fatal brain disease of white-tailed deer and elk, threatens wildlife management throughout the U.S.

One of many partners working to control the disease, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service awarded Virginia Tech's Conservation Management Institute (CMI) a research contract to help organize the data into one system. This database will allow scientists and managers to share information on the disease and improve their ability to address the problem nationally.

While different agencies have different interests, from encouraging hunting to protecting wildlife and human health, scientists all over the country have a compelling need to research and learn more about the disease. Currently, over 50 different agencies across the country are collecting samples -- creating a massive need for data management even though only nine states have actually documented CWD. With the completion of CMI's work, the data from these samples can be entered into one database system and used nationwide.

CWD is an untreatable, fatal neurological (brain and nervous system) disease found in deer and elk in certain geographical locations in North America. The disease belongs to a family of diseases known as transmissible spongiform encephalopathies (TSE), which attack the brain and neural tissue of infected deer and elk. While CWD is similar to mad-cow disease in cattle and scrapie in sheep, there is no known relationship between CWD and any other disease of animals or people.

It is not known exactly how CWD is spread. It is believed that the disease may be spread both directly (animal to animal contact) and indirectly (soil or other surface to animal). The disease has been diagnosed in elk in game ranches in Colorado, Nebraska, South Dakota, Montana, Oklahoma, Kansas, Alberta, and Saskatchewan. Although scientists have found no evidence that CWD poses a risk to humans or domestic animals, health officials advise hunters not to consume meat from animals known to be infected with the disease.

For more information, visit http://www.nwhc.usgs.gov/research/chronic_wasting/chronic_wasting.html.