Welcome to SOP4CWD

The Surveillance Optimization Project for Chronic wasting disease (SOP4CWD) began in 2020 to address the needs of wildlife agencies across North America responding to the challenges posed by chronic wasting disease (CWD).

What is CWD?

CWD is a fatal disease of deer and other cervid species native to North America. Since 1967, when the disease was first discovered in captive mule deer in Colorado, CWD has continued to spread through free-ranging and captive cervids across the continent. To protect free-ranging cervid populations and support long-standing cultural hunting practices, wildlife agencies are trying to slow the spread of the disease and prevent introduction to new areas. However, these goals have proven extremely difficult.

Responding to the Challenge

Disease surveillance, including efforts to detect new introductions quickly and measure changes in prevalence in areas where the disease exists, is an essential component of disease response and management efforts.

But where should wildlife agencies focus surveillance efforts? How much sampling is enough to determine if an area is ‘free of disease’ or to determine prevalence trends? What does an efficient and effective disease surveillance plan look like? These are among the many questions that wildlife agencies are asking that need to be addressed.

Enter SOP4CWD

SOP4CWD is our attempt to provide wildlife agencies with the technological and quantitative tools they need to answer their most pressing questions. SOP4CWD collaborators are applying methods from mathematical modeling and data science to address the challenges of disease surveillance by merging analytical techniques with risk weighting, Bayesian modeling, geospatial analysis, optimal control, machine learning, and more.

SOP4CWD is a truly collaborative effort involving three equally important pillars: (1) wildlife agencies, (2) application developers, and (3) modelers. Together, these pillars provide a single place for brainstorming ideas, encouraging cross-disciplinary conversation, proposing novel solutions and technologies, and following through in constructing new tools to help professionals in wildlife health combat this shared threat. SOP4CWD further facilitates data sharing among wildlife agencies to increase situational awareness, and data sharing with researchers to propel new scientific discoveries that benefit us all.