ABSTRACT
Infectious chronic wasting disease (CWD) prions have been detected in saliva, urine and blood, suggesting these body fluids are important in the horizontal transmission and dissemination of the disease. In May 2016, two moose were diagnosed with a prion disease in the Selbu municipality, approximately 300 kilometers north–northeast from the first reindeer case, and during fall 2017, a red deer was diagnosed with CWD. In the USA, eradication of CWD from farmed cervids is the goal of state, federal and industry programs, whereas eradication in free-ranging populations is regarded as unlikely. Translocation of CWD-infected animals has been the most important mode of spread of CWD in the USA and Canada. The effects of non-selective culling to decrease the population density and restrict the spread of CWD have been investigated, with the results depending on the assumed mode of transmission of CWD.
