State awards grants for CWD research
Developing a test to detect chronic wasting disease in live whitetail deer would be a “game changer” in managing the disease that is fatal to deer.
The Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture has awarded three grants totaling $1 million for research aimed at stopping the spread of chronic wasting disease among the state's deer herd. Two of the grants will fund development of live-animal tests.
One research project, led by University of Pennsylvania School of Veterinary Medicine biochemistry professor Anna Kashina, is aimed at developing and testing live-animal tests to detect CWD. The project received a $561,000 grant.
Another project, led by Davin M. Henderson, a protein chemist and founder of CWD Evolution in California, is for developing live-animal tests. The project received a $196,754 grant.
The third project, led by Cynthia M. Otto, professor and director of the University of Pennsylvania School of Veterinary Medicine Working Dog Center, received a $242,246 grant to explore the potential of working dogs detecting CWD in deer feces.
“Scientists have made significant progress toward better understanding chronic wasting disease in isolating genes associated with the disease,” Agriculture Secretary Russell Redding said. “These projects show potential to build on that progress by speeding diagnosis, helping scientists better understand how CWD progresses and, ultimately, learn how to keep it from spreading.”
The department oversees Pennsylvania's deer farming industry and conducts diagnostic tests to determine whether deer that died were CWD-infected. The department also offers genetic screening to help deer farmers determine how likely their deer are to contract the disease.
Currently available tests can only be conducted on dead deer.
A spokesman for the Pennsylvania Game Commission, which manages wild deer, said the research, if successful, would be a huge development in managing the disease.
“Being able to begin to detect the disease in living deer would be a game changer in CWD management,” said Travis Lau, game commission spokesman.
Currently, tests are conducted on deer harvested by hunters or killed in vehicle collisions mostly in the disease management areas (DMA) established by the commission, Lau said.
Most DMAs are in the south central part of the state, but DMA 3 includes parts of Jefferson, Indiana and Clearfield counties.
Live testing would allow the commission to manage or eliminate the disease in small, specific areas, Lau said.
“One of the challenges in CWD is that it is difficult to detect,” he said.
A deer could test positive, but show no symptoms, he said.
Hunters who kill deer in a DMA can leave the heads of the animals in bins and the commission will test them for the disease for free. Deer killed by vehicles in DMAs are also tested, Lau said.
“Your sampling effort outside the DMAs isn't the same as it is inside DMAs,” he said.
The commission covers those costs and would implement live testing if it can be developed, he said.
Genetic testing the Department of Agriculture offers to deer farmer helps them decide what to do if their deer are susceptible to CWD, said Shannon Powers, department press secretary.
If tests show a captive deer herd is susceptible, the farmer might decide to cull the herd or breed deer that are resistant to the disease, she said.
“Genetic testing is a service to help make those business decisions,” Powers said.
The department tests deer that die on deer farms. If a dead deer tests positive, the farm is quarantined for five years and can't sell or move deer from the farm during that time, she said.
Deer farmers can apply for indemnity from the federal government, which will compensate the farmer for the value of the deer if the deer are culled due to the disease, she said.
