Epidemiologic, Social, and Economic Dimensions of Chronic Wasting Disease Management in Indiana

The spread and increasing prevalence of chronic wasting disease (CWD) in white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) has far reaching implications for natural resource management in Indiana. CWD is a transmissible spongiform encephalopathy that affects white-tailed deer and other cervids. This disease is invariably fatal in white-tailed deer, and there is concern that its continuing spread will cause populations to decline. White-tailed deer are also a culturally and economically important game species. Therefore, effective management of CWD must consider the epidemiologic, social, and economic dimensions of disease management. In Chapter One of my dissertation, I apply an agent-based model (ABM) framework to simulate how preemptive harvest increase and reactive culling affect CWD persistence and geographic spread. I found that preemptive harvest and reactive culling both had a small effect on preventing the establishment of CWD in the deer population. In Chapter Two, I test whether presenting deer hunters and non-deer hunters with results from CWD models and images of sick or healthy deer increases behavioral intention to engage in CWD mitigating behaviors. I found that using the web app did not change the behavioral intention of hunters and non-hunters. In Chapter Three, I conduct a cost-effectiveness analysis to identify the optimal combination of CWD surveillance and culling effort in terms of disease prevention. I found that testing 40% of hunter-harvested deer for CWD and culling 30% of deer within culling zones was most cost-effective in terms of disease prevention. In Chapter Four, I synthesize the results of the preceding chapters and discuss options for CWD management in Indiana.