Craft, M.E., G. Wilson-Henjum, G. Bastille-Rousseau, P. Cross, M. Diuk-Wasser, R.B. Gagne, J. Heale, J. Hewitt, K. Manlove, L.D. Plimpton, M. Van Acker, K. C. Vercauteren, W.D. Walter, M. Wilber, G. Wittemyer, and K.M. Pepin. 2023. A national-scale distributed surveillance design for SARS-CoV-2 in a potential wildlife reservoir host. 20th annual Ecology and Evolution of Infectious Disease Conference, State College, PA, May 22-25 2023. Keywords: white-tailed deer, SARS-CoV-2, persistence, surveillance, reservoir Introduction: Emergence of zoonotic diseases in new wildlife host species continues to occur globally and poses major health or conservation risks for the hosts involved. Once established in wildlife hosts, disease mitigation can be especially challenging. Understanding the epidemiological and ecological conditions that lead to emergence and persistence is critical for resource allocation decisions that will protect the health of humans, animals, and ecosystems. Current knowledge of disease emergence in wildlife reservoirs remains weak because of the challenges with collecting enough appropriate data for a system-level understanding of the drivers of emergence and the relative infrequency that these events occur. Methods: Here, we describe the design, operationalization, and preliminary findings from a novel distributed surveillance project of SARS-CoV-2 in deer supported through USDA-APHIS and the American Rescue Plan Act that aims to understand establishment and reservoir dynamics of SARS-CoV-2 in white-tailed deer. The project is longitudinally studying SARS-CoV-2 infections, host movements, and subsequent transmission dynamics from two species of deer across two years at 12 sites in seven states, with research conducted by seven collaborating agencies and institutions. Results/Discussion: We will describe the strengths, challenges, and key lessons for best management practices in the surveillance design for understanding disease emergence processes in new animal host species. We will highlight the importance of continued interplay between surveillance design and a model-based understanding of the system for optimizing risk assessment. Crucial decision points in study design included establishment of site-specific sample sizes and temporal resolutions for movement and capture schedules, prioritization of demographic groups for sampling, and adaptability with regard to local capture methodologies. We aim to contribute to guidelines for optimal surveillance of emerging disease in wildlife.

Hewitt, J., G. Wilson-Henjum, S. Shriner, J. Chandler, S. Bevins, T. Deliberto, J. Heale, A. Gosser, D. Bergman, T. Linder, D. Collins, J. Lenoch, R. Chipman, K.M. Pepin. 2023. Epidemiological Dynamics of SARS-CoV-2 in White-tailed Deer. The Joint Statistical Meeting. Ontario, Canada, August 5 - 10, 2023. Understanding the process of pathogen emergence in new host species is fundamental for developing effective prevention and early response plans for protection of human and animal health. We used a national-scale surveillance dataset collected by USDA-APHIS, Wildlife Services to quantify infection rates and spatial prevalence of SARS-CoV-2 in North American white-tailed deer (NWTD) with a Bayesian hierarchical epidemiological model, which accounts for the opportunistic sampling design of the data. We extend standard surveillance models to simultaneously analyze molecular and serological data to identify whether each deer was susceptible to infection, infectious, or recovered from disease. Standard models only identify if each deer is infectious or not. Our model found that male deer had higher positivity levels than female deer, and positivity is higher in counties with higher human population density or proportion of deer habitat. Local effective reproduction numbers were > 1 and ranged up to 5 in most counties where large enough sample sizes were collected, with local epidemics in NWTD peaking earlier in the northeast and mid-Atlantic relative to the Midwest and southeast. Keywords SIR compartmental model wildlife disease Bayesian data fusion spatial epidemiology

Gagne, R.B., G. Bastille-Rousseau, M. Craft, P. Cross, M. Diuk-Wasser, J. Heale, J. Hewitt, K. Manlove, L.D. Plimpton, M. Van Acker, K. C. VercCauteren, W.D. Walter, Wilber, G. Wilson-Henjum, G. Wittemyer, and K.M. Pepin. 2023. A national-scale distributed surveillance design for SARS-CoV-2 in a potential wildlife reservoir host. The Wildlife Society’s 30th Annual Conference. Louisville, KY, November 5th - 9th 2023. Emergence of zoonotic diseases in new wildlife host species continues to occur globally and poses major health or conservation risks for the hosts involved. Once established in wildlife hosts, disease mitigation can be especially challenging. Understanding the epidemiological and ecological conditions that lead to emergence and persistence is critical for resource allocation decisions that will protect the health of humans, animals, and ecosystems. Current knowledge of disease emergence in wildlife reservoirs is limited because of the challenges with collecting data for a system-level understanding of the drivers of emergence and the relative infrequency that these events occur. Thus, guidelines for optimal surveillance of emerging disease in wildlife remain absent. Here, we describe the design, operationalization, and preliminary findings from a novel distributed surveillance project of SARS-CoV-2 in deer supported through USDA-APHIS and the American Rescue Plan Act that aims to understand establishment and reservoir dynamics of SARS-CoV-2 in deer. The project is longitudinally studying SARS-CoV-2 infections, host movements, and subsequent transmission dynamics from two species of deer across two years at 12 sites in seven states, with research conducted by seven collaborating agencies and institutions. Crucial decision points in study design included establishment of site-specific sample sizes and temporal resolutions for movement and capture schedules. In this presentation, we will describe the study design process and operationalization on the ground, with emphasis on strengths, challenges, and key lessons for best management practices in the surveillance design for understanding disease emergence processes in new animal host species.

Walter,W.D., G. Bastille-Rousseau, M. Craft, P. Cross, M. Diuk-Wasser, R.B. Gagne, J. Heale, J. Hewitt, K. Manlove, L.D. Plimpton, M. Van Acker, K. C. VercCauteren, M. Wilber, G. Wilson-Henjum, G. Wittemyer, and K.M. Pepin. 2023. A national-scale distributed surveillance design for SARS-CoV-2 in a potential wildlife reservoir host. 71st Annual International Conference of the Wildlife Disease Association, Athens, GA, 29 July-4 August 2023. Emergence of zoonotic diseases in new wildlife host species continues to occur globally and poses major health or conservation risks for the hosts involved. Once established in wildlife hosts, disease mitigation can be especially challenging. Understanding the epidemiological and ecological conditions that lead to emergence and persistence is critical for resource allocation decisions that will protect the health of humans, animals, and ecosystems. Current knowledge of disease emergence in wildlife reservoirs remains weak because of the challenges with collecting enough appropriate data for a system-level understanding of the drivers of emergence and the relative infrequency that these events occur. Thus guidelines for optimal surveillance of emerging disease in wildlife remain absent. Here, we describe the design, operationalization, and preliminary findings from a novel distributed surveillance project of SARS-CoV-2 in deer supported through USDA-APHIS and the American Rescue Plan Act that aims to understand establishment and reservoir dynamics of SARS-CoV-2 in deer. The project is longitudinally studying SARS-CoV-2 infections, host movements, and subsequent transmission dynamics from two species of deer across two years at 12 sites in seven states, with research conducted by seven collaborating agencies and institutions. Crucial decision points in study design included establishment of site-specific sample sizes and temporal resolutions for movement and capture schedules, prioritization of demographic groups for sampling, and adaptability with regard to local capture methodologies. In this presentation, we will describe the study design process and operationalization on the ground, with emphasis on strengths, challenges, and key lessons for best management practices in the surveillance design for understanding disease emergence processes in new animal host species. We will also describe the importance of continued interplay between surveillance design and a model-based understanding of the system for optimizing risk assessment.