The Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD) Alliance and National Biological Information Infrastructure (NBII) Wildlife Disease Information Node have recently completed an exhaustive on-line bibliography of CWD-related research literature, citations and full-text articles, reports the Wildlife Management Institute.

Formatted into a fully searchable database, the CWD bibliography contains more than 230 documents, including full-text, peer-reviewed literature and abstracts, CWD management plans, illustrations, maps, news updates, and much more. These can be accessed using either a guided search that lists items under 56 search categories or a basic search that lists items by specific topics and key words submitted by the user. Results from both search options are listed alphabetically and can be sorted by various reference filters (e.g., Headline, Publisher, Publication Date, etc.).

The CWD bibliography was initiated in 2003 by the National Wildlife Health Center. It was undertaken in an effort to consolidate the rapidly increasing body of CWD knowledge and research into an accessible on-line database that would provide much needed resources for wildlife disease biologists, managers and the concerned public. The NBII Wildlife Disease Information Node contributed to the bibliography's development by making it searchable by topic and category. Since then, the CWD Alliance has partnered with NBII and Dr. Kurt VerCauteren, of USDA's National Wildlife Research Center, to expand and update the bibliography with archived and current CWD articles.

"CWD continues to be the focus of many research projects and articles. Because of the extensive listing available today, this tool is invaluable for wildlife managers, students and others interested in the diverse aspects and status of chronic wasting disease," said Tia Kropf-Beringer, website content manager for the CWD Alliance. "The Alliance is committed to promoting responsible and accurate communications regarding the disease, and will continue to update the bibliography with new items that contribute to the rapidly growing body of CWD knowledge." To access the bibliography, visit http://www.cwd-reference.org.

For technical problems concerning the CWD bibliography, contact the NBII Wildlife Disease Information Node at wdin@usgs.gov. And to learn more about CWD, visit the CWD Alliance website at http://www.cwd-info.org