State of Knowledge Regarding Transmission, Spread, and Management of Chronic Wasting Disease in U.S. Captive and Free-Ranging Cervid Populations

By: Board on Agriculture and Natural Resources and Division on Earth and Life Studies and National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine and Board on Animal Health Sciences, Conservation, and Research and Committee on the Review of Transmission and Geographic Spread of Chronic Wasting Disease in U.S. Cervid Populations

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Synopsis: Chronic wasting disease (CWD) is a fatal, infectious prion disease affecting the central nervous system of some species of Cervidae-animals such as deer, elk, and moose. Recognized as a disease in the 1980s but suspected to have been present in the United States for decades longer, CWD affects both captive and free-ranging cervids and has been reported in 35 states and five Canadian provinces of North America as of August 1, 2024. The potential ramifications of the increasing spread of CWD are serious, and include negative impacts on ecosystems, and large economic costs for agencies with management responsibilities related to cervids and for industries that depend on cervids or cervid products. Cultural and food security impacts for communities with traditions tied to cervid hunting are also impacted. In 2020, Congress passed America’s Conservation Enhancement (ACE) Act (P.L. 116-188), directing the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to lead a task force for addressing CWD in the United States drawing on a study commissioned from the National Academies. This report will assist the task force in prioritizing research and developing future CWD management strategies. It describes the state of knowledge regarding how CWD is transmitted among cervids, the current distribution of disease outbreaks, and the effectiveness of current diagnostic, prevention, and control methods available to limit the spread of the disease.