Impact of low testing numbers on chronic wasting disease apparent prevalence.

Chronic wasting disease (CWD) is a fatal, neurodegenerative disease of cervids, and its management heavily relies on diagnostic testing. Test results are commonly used to calculate 'apparent prevalence' (AP) - the percent of animals tested for CWD (CWD tests) with CWD-positive test results (CWD cases) - but this obscures how tests and cases individually contribute to this statistic. This is most relevant when CWD testing is limited because when few animals are tested, detection of even a single infected deer can result in a high AP that poorly reflects reality.

BLOOD LEAD CONCENTRATION ANALYSIS BETWEEN REHABILITATION FACILITY AND PERI-URBAN ENVIRONMENT VIRGINIA OPOSSUMS () OF ILLINOIS.

The Virginia opossum () is the only marsupial in North America with a natural range north of Mexico. Its range is widespread throughout the United States, including Illinois. Virginia opossums are opportunistic omnivores that will eat a variety of fruits, grains, insects, and even carrion.

A new long-read mitochondrial-genome protocol (PacBio HiFi) for haemosporidian parasites: a tool for population and biodiversity studies.

Background: Studies on haemosporidian diversity, including origin of human malaria parasites, malaria's zoonotic dynamic, and regional biodiversity patterns, have used target gene approaches. However, current methods have a trade-off between scalability and data quality. Here, a long-read Next-Generation Sequencing protocol using PacBio HiFi is presented.

The Impact of Variation in the Toll-like Receptor 3 Gene on Epizootic Hemorrhagic Disease in Illinois Wild White-Tailed Deer ().

Epizootic hemorrhagic disease (EHD) leads to high mortality in white-tailed deer () and is caused by a double-stranded RNA (dsRNA) virus. Toll-like receptor 3 (TLR3) plays a role in host immune detection and response to dsRNA viruses. We, therefore, examined the role of genetic variation within the gene in EHD among 84 Illinois wild white-tailed deer (26 EHD-positive deer and 58 EHD-negative controls).

County-wide assessments of Illinois white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) prion protein gene variation using improved primers and potential implications for management.

Chronic wasting disease (CWD) is a fatal, highly infectious prion disease that affects captive and wild cervids. Chronic wasting disease is the only known transmissible spongiform encephalopathy affecting free-ranging wildlife. In CWD-positive deer, some haplotypes of the prion protein gene PRNP are detected at lower frequencies as compared to CWD-negative deer, as are some variants of the prion protein PrP.

Impact of landcover composition and density of localized deer culling sites on chronic wasting disease prevalence.

Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD), the prion disease of the Cervidae family, has been managed in Illinois deer since it was first detected in the Fall of 2002. Management uses a state-sponsored localized focus culling (LFC) program, implemented as close as possible to previously identified CWD-infected locations (TRSs (township/range/section)). We used hunter-harvest and LFC deer from 4621 and 435 unique TRSs, respectively, over 16 years of surveillance and management (2003-2017).

A De Novo Chromosome-Level Genome Assembly of the White-Tailed Deer, Odocoileus Virginianus.

Cervids are distinguished by the shedding and regrowth of antlers. Furthermore, they provide insights into prion and other diseases. Genomic resources can facilitate studies of the genetic underpinnings of deer phenotypes, behavior, and disease resistance.

Spatial epidemiology of hemorrhagic disease in Illinois wild white-tailed deer.

Epizootic hemorrhagic disease (EHD) and bluetongue (BT) are vector-borne viral diseases that affect wild and domestic ruminants. Clinical signs of EHD and BT are similar; thus, the syndrome is referred to as hemorrhagic disease (HD). Syndromic surveillance and virus detection in North America reveal a northern expansion of HD.

Evaluating the ability of a locally focused culling program in removing chronic wasting disease infected free-ranging white-tailed deer in Illinois, USA, 2003-2020.

In northern Illinois, chronic wasting disease (CWD) was first identified in free-ranging white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus; hereafter referred to as "deer") in 2002. To reduce CWD transmission rates in Illinois, wildlife biologists have conducted locally focussed culling of deer since 2003 in areas where CWD has been detected. We used retrospective spatial, temporal and space-time scan statistical models to identify areas and periods where culling removed higher than expected numbers of CWD-positive deer.

Bluetongue and Epizootic Hemorrhagic Disease in the United States of America at the Wildlife-Livestock Interface.

Bluetongue (BT) and epizootic hemorrhagic disease (EHD) cases have increased worldwide, causing significant economic loss to ruminant livestock production and detrimental effects to susceptible wildlife populations. In recent decades, hemorrhagic disease cases have been reported over expanding geographic areas in the United States. Effective BT and EHD prevention and control strategies for livestock and monitoring of these diseases in wildlife populations depend on an accurate understanding of the distribution of BT and EHD viruses in domestic and wild ruminants and their vectors, the biting midges that transmit them.

Food Safety Considerations Related to the Consumption and Handling of Game Meat in North America.

Emerging foodborne pathogens present a threat to public health. It is now recognized that several foodborne pathogens originate from wildlife as demonstrated by recent global disease outbreaks. Zoonotic spillover events are closely related to the ubiquity of parasitic, bacterial, and viral pathogens present within human and animal populations and their surrounding environment.

Spatial analysis of chronic wasting disease in free-ranging white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) in Illinois, 2008-2019.

Understanding the geographic distribution and clustering of chronic wasting disease (CWD) among free-ranging white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) populations can inform disease management practices. We used a retrospective analysis of surveillance data to evaluate CWD's spatial and temporal dynamics within 16 CWD-infected northern Illinois counties. Of 42,541 deer samples collected and tested for CWD from recreational hunter harvest between 2008 and 2019, we recorded 359 (0.

Prion Protein Gene (PRNP) Sequences Suggest Differing Vulnerability to Chronic Wasting Disease for Florida Key Deer (Odocoileus virginianus clavium) and Columbian White-Tailed Deer (O. v. leucurus).

Chronic wasting disease (CWD) is a fatal, highly transmissible spongiform encephalopathy caused by an infectious prion protein. CWD is spreading across North American cervids. Studies of the prion protein gene (PRNP) in white-tailed deer (WTD; Odocoileus virginianus) have identified non-synonymous substitutions associated with reduced CWD frequency.

Association of chronic wasting disease susceptibility with prion protein variation in white-tailed deer ().

Chronic wasting disease (CWD) is caused by prions, infectious proteinaceous particles, PrP. We sequenced the gene of 2,899 white-tailed deer (WTD) from Illinois and southern Wisconsin, finding 38 haplotypes. Haplotypes A, B, D, E, G and 9 others encoded QGSNAQ, designated 'PrP variant A.

Differential gene expression in chronic wasting disease-positive white-tailed deer ().

Chronic wasting disease (CWD) is a transmissible spongiform encephalopathy (TSE) that affects cervid species throughout North America. We evaluated gene expression in white-tailed deer collected by Illinois Department of Natural Resource wildlife managers during annual population reduction (e.g.

Chronic Wasting Disease In Cervids: Prevalence, Impact And Management Strategies.

Chronic wasting disease (CWD) is a transmissible spongiform encephalopathy (TSE) that affects members of the cervidae family. The infectious agent is a misfolded isoform (PrP) of the host prion protein (PrP). The replication of PrP initiates a cascade of developmental changes that spread from cell to cell, individual to individual, and that for some TSEs, has crossed the species barrier.

EVIDENCE OF SEROVARS IN WILDLIFE AND LEPTOSPIRAL DNA IN WATER SOURCES IN A NATURAL AREA IN EAST-CENTRAL ILLINOIS, USA.

We identified seven serovars in wildlife and the presence of leptospiral DNA in water sources at a natural area within a fragmented habitat in Illinois, US. These serovars have been implicated in domestic animal and human leptospirosis, a reemerging zoonotic disease, whose reservoirs include wildlife and domestic animals. We live trapped medium-sized mammals (=351) near building (H-sites) or forest sites (F-sites).

Inter-serotype reassortment among epizootic haemorrhagic disease viruses in the United States.

First described in 1955 in New Jersey, epizootic haemorrhagic disease (EHD) causes a severe clinical disease in wild and domestic ruminants worldwide. Epizootic haemorrhagic disease outbreaks occur in deer populations each year from summer to late autumn. The etiological agent is EHD virus (EHDV) which is a double-stranded segmented icosahedral RNA virus.

Influence of the geographic distribution of prion protein gene sequence variation on patterns of chronic wasting disease spread in white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus).

Managing and controlling the spread of diseases in wild animal populations is challenging, especially for social and mobile species. Effective management benefits from information about disease susceptibility, allowing limited resources to be focused on areas or populations with a higher risk of infection. Chronic wasting disease (CWD), a transmissible spongiform encephalopathy that affects cervids, was detected in Colorado in the late 1960s.

Clay content and pH: soil characteristic associations with the persistent presence of chronic wasting disease in northern Illinois.

Environmental reservoirs are important to infectious disease transmission and persistence, but empirical analyses are relatively few. The natural environment is a reservoir for prions that cause chronic wasting disease (CWD) and influences the risk of transmission to susceptible cervids. Soil is one environmental component demonstrated to affect prion infectivity and persistence.

Prion protein gene sequence and chronic wasting disease susceptibility in white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus).

The sequence of the prion protein gene (PRNP) affects susceptibility to spongiform encephalopathies, or prion diseases in many species. In white-tailed deer, both coding and non-coding single nucleotide polymorphisms have been identified in this gene that correlate to chronic wasting disease (CWD) susceptibility. Previous studies examined individual nucleotide or amino acid mutations; here we examine all nucleotide polymorphisms and their combined effects on CWD.

Influence of landscape factors and management decisions on spatial and temporal patterns of the transmission of chronic wasting disease transmission in white-tailed deer.

Chronic wasting disease (CWD) has been reported in white-tailed deer at the border of the US states of Illinois and Wisconsin since 2002. Transmission of infectious prions between animals and from the environment has resulted in spatial and temporal structure observable in the spatio-temporal patterns of reported cases. Case locations of 382 positive cases from 28,954 deer tested between 2002 and 2009 provided insight into the potential risk factors and landscape features associated with transmission using a combination of clustering, generalised linear modelling and descriptive evaluations of a risk map of predicted cases of CWD.

River otters as biomonitors for organochlorine pesticides, PCBs, and PBDEs in Illinois.

The North American river otter (Lontra canadensis) is a biomonitor for organohalogenated compounds (OHCs) associated with a wide range of deleterious health effects in wildlife and humans. We determined concentrations of twenty OHCs in livers of 23 river otters salvaged by the Illinois Department of Natural Resources from 2009 to 2011, determined sex-dependent distribution of OHCs, and compared our results to the reported concentrations of four OHCs in Illinois river otters from 1984 to 1989. Since these contaminants have been banned for over 30 years, we predicted smaller mean concentrations than those previously reported in Illinois otters.

Prevalence of antibody to Toxoplasma gondii in terrestrial wildlife in a natural area.

We conducted a cross-sectional study from 2008 to 2009 to evaluate the occurrence of feral and wild cats and the risk of Toxoplasma gondii infection in terrestrial wildlife in a natural area in Illinois, USA. Felids are definitive hosts for T. gondii and cats are a key component of rural and urban transmission of T.

Prevalence of antibodies to Toxoplasma gondii in woodchucks across an urban-rural gradient.

Increasing urbanization has important consequences for wildlife, including the potential for higher prevalence of diseases within "urban adapter" species exposed to spillover from domestic animals. We investigated whether prevalence of antibodies to Toxoplasma gondii in woodchucks (Marmota monax) was related to urbanization in a Midwestern landscape. We collected serum samples from adult woodchucks captured across an urban-rural gradient in Illinois, USA in May-November 2007.