Malady in motion: Effects of chronic wasting disease on host movement.
5 affiliations
- 1Wisconsin Cooperative Wildlife Research Unit, Department of Forest and Wildlife Ecology, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, Wisconsin, USA.
- 2U.S. Geological Survey, Montana Cooperative Wildlife Research Unit, University of Montana, Missoula, Montana, USA.
- 3Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, Eau Claire, Wisconsin, USA.
- 4U.S. Geological Survey, National Wildlife Health Center, Madison, Wisconsin, USA.
- 5U.S. Geological Survey, Wisconsin Cooperative Wildlife Research Unit, Department of Forest and Wildlife Ecology, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, Wisconsin, USA.
Abstract
Pathogens can have significant impacts on host movement and behavior with consequences for ongoing transmission. For example, chronic wasting disease (CWD) causes severe nutritional deficiencies and neurologic changes, which may alter white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) movement and subsequent transmission risk. Our objectives were to test for changes in movement and habitat selection in deer affected by CWD, and determine the timing of any changes we observed. We leveraged comprehensive movement and mortality data from a large study of free-ranging deer in southwest Wisconsin, a region with high prevalence of CWD. We used necropsy data to identify end stage CWD cases with movement data leading up to death (n = 44), and sex-, date-, and age-matched test-negative controls. Using GPS collar data, we identified extra-home range excursions and tested for differences in excursion rates, distances, and durations between cases and controls. We evaluated movement characteristics (e.g., movement rates, weekly range sizes) and habitat selection for the two groups, using change point analysis to determine when behavior changes occurred during disease progression. Excursion distances were reduced for CWD cases but were otherwise largely unaffected by infection status. However, CWD cases moved at slower rates and maintained smaller ranges than controls. Habitat selection varied minimally between cases and controls, though CWD cases had an increased preference for proximity to forest edges. While changes in case movement rates and range sizes were detected at or before 6 months prior to death, other movement and habitat selection changes appeared about 2 months prior to death. In addition, CWD cases were frequently in good body condition even within 6 months prior to death, implying that clinically apparent changes occur very late in the disease progression. Our results suggest the occurrence of subclinical and clinical phases of infection, beginning around 6 and 2 months prior to death, respectively. Public communication may therefore benefit from emphasizing that CWD-infected deer are infectious long before they appear sick. Further, because most movement changes occur for very short periods relative to the infectious period of CWD, typical healthy deer movement is likely adequate for representing transmission dynamics for surveillance and management planning.
Related
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- Perceptual constraints of motion shape animal movement strategies
BibTeX
@article{gilbertson2026malady,
title = {{Malady in motion: Effects of chronic wasting disease on host movement.}},
author = {Marie L J Gilbertson and Daniel P Walsh and Daniel J Storm and Allen Herbst and Wendy C Turner},
journal = {Ecological applications : a publication of the Ecological Society of America},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.1002/eap.70338},
url = {https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42919467},
note = {CC BY},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Malady in motion: Effects of chronic wasting disease on host movement.
AU - Marie L J Gilbertson
AU - Daniel P Walsh
AU - Daniel J Storm
AU - Allen Herbst
AU - Wendy C Turner
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/01
JO - Ecological applications : a publication of the Ecological Society of America
DO - 10.1002/eap.70338
UR - https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42919467
AB - Pathogens can have significant impacts on host movement and behavior with consequences for ongoing transmission. For example, chronic wasting disease (CWD) causes severe nutritional deficiencies and neurologic changes, which may alter white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) movement and subsequent transmission risk. Our objectives were to test for changes in movement and habitat selection in deer affected by CWD, and determine the timing of any changes we observed. We leveraged comprehensive movement and mortality data from a large study of free-ranging deer in southwest Wisconsin, a region with high prevalence of CWD. We used necropsy data to identify end stage CWD cases with movement data leading up to death (n = 44), and sex-, date-, and age-matched test-negative controls. Using GPS collar data, we identified extra-home range excursions and tested for differences in excursion rates, distances, and durations between cases and controls. We evaluated movement characteristics (e.g., movement rates, weekly range sizes) and habitat selection for the two groups, using change point analysis to determine when behavior changes occurred during disease progression. Excursion distances were reduced for CWD cases but were otherwise largely unaffected by infection status. However, CWD cases moved at slower rates and maintained smaller ranges than controls. Habitat selection varied minimally between cases and controls, though CWD cases had an increased preference for proximity to forest edges. While changes in case movement rates and range sizes were detected at or before 6 months prior to death, other movement and habitat selection changes appeared about 2 months prior to death. In addition, CWD cases were frequently in good body condition even within 6 months prior to death, implying that clinically apparent changes occur very late in the disease progression. Our results suggest the occurrence of subclinical and clinical phases of infection, beginning around 6 and 2 months prior to death, respectively. Public communication may therefore benefit from emphasizing that CWD-infected deer are infectious long before they appear sick. Further, because most movement changes occur for very short periods relative to the infectious period of CWD, typical healthy deer movement is likely adequate for representing transmission dynamics for surveillance and management planning.
SN - 1051-0761
ER -