As part of numerous efforts to address the current and future challenges to wildlife management caused by CWD, Congress passed America's Conservation Enhancement (ACE) Act (P.L. 116-188) in 2020. The bill directed the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to lead a task force charged with developing an action plan to guide national efforts aimed at controlling CWD in the United States. The ACE Act proposed that the task force be guided by a report commissioned from the National Academies of Sciences (NAS) that would “identify the predominant pathways and mechanisms of the transmission of chronic wasting disease in free-ranging and captive populations of cervids in the United States.” This report, entitled State of Knowledge Regarding Transmission, Spread, and Management of Chronic Wasting Disease in U.S. Captive and Free-ranging Cervid Populations was recently published by NAS. It describes what is currently known about how CWD is transmitted among cervids, the current distribution of disease outbreaks, and the effectiveness of current diagnostic, prevention, and control methods available to limit the spread of the disease. This report will assist the task force in prioritizing research and developing future CWD management strategies.

In addition to the NAS report formally documenting the state of science on many aspects of CWD and its management, it also presents a comprehensive set of future needs and considerations that “are intended to inform the design of a strong action-oriented and integrated strategy to reduce the transmission and further geographic spread of the disease.” These conclusions, generated by more than 20 of the leading experts on CWD research and management who drafted and reviewed this report, address factors such as the potential transmission of CWD to humans and other species, the future spread of the disease, CWD management and control challenges, social and economic considerations, as well as others. This report represents one of the most authoritative and defendable syntheses of CWD knowledge and experience gained through research and management experience in North America over the past half-century.

An unrelated recent effort was focused on the issue of preparedness of the U.S. community to respond to a potential spillover of CWD from cervids into production animal agriculture or in humans. The Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy (CIDRAP) took a multidisciplinary approach to assess the current state of CWD and prion disease science, surveillance, and management to identify gaps in spillover preparedness and developing recommendations to improve public and animal health agencies’ ability to respond. Using the results of numerous listening sessions conducted with a broad collective of North American CWD managers and researchers, CIDRAP identified thematic areas of concern related to CWD prevention and control: human health, cervid and production animal health, prion biology and disease diagnostics, carcass and contaminated item disposal and the environment, and wildlife health and management. This report, entitled Chronic Wasting Disease Spillover Preparedness and Response: Charting an Uncertain Future, was published January 8, 2025 by CIDRAP.

WMI’s mission is to inform, facilitate, and promote conservation and professional management of wildlife throughout North America. WMI staff were invited to participate in the development of these reports on CWD. We will continue to communicate information about current wildlife conservation issues through our Outdoor News Bulletin and website.