They are looking for up-to-date tools to detect CWD in deer without having to shoot them.
lindsay thomas jr. with the National Deer Association recently engaged in three separate research projects. One, conducted at the University of Pennsylvania, involves training dogs to detect CWD prions by sniffing. Another project undertaken at the University of Minnesota is the detection of prions on the surfaces of materials in deer feeders.
More promising and pragmatic is work at Mississippi State University’s Deer Lab focusing on detecting CWD prions in whitetail scratches.
Testing for CWD without thinning the deer herd? “A better way” indeed.
