An ad hoc committee of experts appointed by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine will review the state of knowledge about modes of transmission and means of geographic spread of chronic wasting disease (CWD) among free-ranging1 and captive2 populations of cervids in the United States. Specifically, the committee will draw conclusions about the state of knowledge regarding:

• The infectious dose of CWD and different modes of disease transmission among cervids;

• The means of geographic spread through cervid dispersal, scavenger activity, and human actions3;

• The effectiveness of interventions to reduce transmission and/or geographic spread of the disease; and

• The population-level and economic impacts of CWD and the effectiveness of different interventions to reduce those impacts.

The committee will write a report that addresses these points based on its review of published and in-progress research on CWD.

1Free-ranging cervids are wild and not confined by human-made barriers.

2Captive cervids include wild animals confined by human-made barriers and farmed cervids confined by human-made barriers and that may be bred.

3Human actions include carcass handling, transport and disposal management, live animal transport, and fodder source and transport.