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The objective of this cooperative research project is to determine whether or not fallow deer exposed to an environment contaminated with chronic wasting disease (CWD) agent develop CWD.
The proposed collaborative research is designed to simulate commercially farmed fallow deer operations. Fallow deer will be maintained in a field paddock where deer have previously developed CWD (i.e., a CWD-infected area). When the fallow deer die or are euthanized, necropsy will be conducted and appropriate tissue samples for confirmation of CWD will be submitted to diagnostic laboratory. At the termination of the study all the remaining fallow deer will be euthanized, necropsied and tissue samples (formalin-fixed and frozen) will be submitted to the NADC prion disease unit where examinations for presence of prions (by immunohistochemistry and Western blot techniques) will be conducted.