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Getting in Front of Chronic Wasting Disease: Model-Informed Proactive Approach for Managing an Emerging Wildlife
Aniruddha V Belsare1, Joshua J Millspaugh2, J R Mason3
1Department of Fisheries and Wildlife, Boone and Crockett Quantitative Wildlife Center, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI, United States.
Frontiers in Veterinary Science
|February 15, 2021
Summary
Proactive management of chronic wasting disease (CWD) is crucial for cervid and hunting sustainability. Integrating virtual experiments with pre-emptive strategies, like targeted harvesting before detection, can enhance population resilience against CWD spread.
Area of Science:
- Wildlife disease ecology
- Epidemiology
- Conservation biology
Background:
- Chronic wasting disease (CWD) is spreading geographically, threatening cervid populations and hunting in North America, South Korea, and Europe.
- Current CWD management strategies, focused on post-detection host reduction, have questionable effectiveness.
- Logistical, financial, and sociopolitical factors limit disease management options.
Purpose of the Study:
- To propose and evaluate a proactive CWD management approach using virtual experiments.
- To assess the effectiveness of pre-emptive (pre-detection) management strategies.
- To highlight challenges in CWD surveillance and inform adaptive management.
Main Methods:
- Utilized a published agent-based model linking white-tailed deer demography and behavior with CWD transmission.
- Simulated CWD outbreak trajectories and analyzed different outbreak phases (pre-establishment, transition, endemic).
- Evaluated virtual scenarios of pre-emptive harvest strategies.
Main Results:
- Identified practical constraints on surveillance during the pre-establishment phase of CWD.
- Demonstrated that many CWD introductions are "dead ends" due to stochasticity and harvesting.
- Model-evaluated pre-emptive harvest strategies showed potential to increase deer population resilience to CWD.
Conclusions:
- Emphasized the need for realistic detection thresholds in CWD surveillance programs.
- Advocated for adaptive CWD management positioned ahead of the disease front.
- Concluded that pre-emptive management is essential for mitigating CWD spread and establishment.
