Implications of direct contacts between mule deer (Odocoileus hemionus) on transmission of chronic wasting disease

• Author / Creator

  Dobbin, Maria

• Chronic wasting disease (CWD) is a fatal, prion disease of cervids that was first detected in Alberta in 2005. Transmission of CWD occurs by direct contact with an infected individual or via contaminated environments. I investigated the seasonal effects of landscape heterogeneity on direct, sex-specific (same or mixed sex) contacts of individuals within and between groups of mule deer (Odocoileus hemionus) in central eastern Alberta. Using data from collared deer, I determined group membership based on simultaneous movement, pair-wise relatedness from genetic sampling at capture, contact rates based on proximity loggers, and habitat characteristics of dyad (pairs) in space-use overlap based on GPS telemetry. I found that within-group contact rates were several orders of magnitude higher than between-group contacts, contact rates were unrelated to genetic relatedness, and within-group contacts rates were more dependent on the sex of individuals, between-group rates were more influences by habitat. I also determined where seasonal contacts were most likely to occur by comparing habitat characteristics of contact locations to random locations within areas of shared space use. In winter, contacts occurred in areas with higher use by deer, whereas in summer contact locations were less constrained and were more varied between sexes. The exceptions were that contacts were more likely to occur than expected by use in areas of limited woody cover in both winter and summer, less likely to occur in forest-open edges in winter, and closers to roads in summer. Predictions of where contacts occur among within and between-group male dyads in winter and between-group female dyads in summer were the best predictors of CWD risk derived from hunter-harvested infected deer detected during Alberta’s CWD surveillance program. My results suggest that the pattern of CWD risk on the landscape is related to areas of deer contact, and that the seasonal, sex-specific contact rates may better inform transmission in spatially explicit models to help guide management strategies for an emergent wildlife disease.

• Subjects / Keywords

  • Wildlife disease
  • Mule deer
  • Contact rates
  • Chronic wasting disease

• Graduation date

  Fall 2022

• Type of Item

  Thesis

• Degree

  Master of Science

• DOI

  https://doi.org/10.7939/r3-b45g-tv43

• License

  This thesis is made available by the University of Alberta Library with permission of the copyright owner solely for non-commercial purposes. This thesis, or any portion thereof, may not otherwise be copied or reproduced without the written consent of the copyright owner, except to the extent permitted by Canadian copyright law.