Hands-on training following a lecture on wildlife diseases, with a focus on CWD, a prion disease that remains in the environment, has no treatment options, and threatens cervid species at the population level. The event includes a hands-on laboratory where participants visit the necropsy floor to collect CWD samples from white-tailed deer heads provided by the DEC. Participants vary annually, including NYS Agriculture and Markets field veterinarians, wildlife-focused DVMs, conservation students, and DEC wildlife biologists and technicians.
This unique opportunity provides practical training in methods for extracting CWD samples — what to collect and where — as well as aging deer by tooth wear and replacement, and examining the brain/skull for P. tenuis (brainworm), a threat to New York’s moose population.
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The specialized sessions are provided by the CWHL/AHDC faculty, led by Dr. Krysten Schuler, an expert in CWD surveillance, response, and prevention, who shares her expertise in assessing wildlife risks.
Past events have been supported by Dr. Jenny Bloodgood, wildlife veterinarian, and Drs. Elizabeth Buckles and Darian Giannino, anatomic pathologists from the Department of Population Medicine and Diagnostic Sciences at the AHDC.
