Federal funding is now available to help states and federally recognized Native American tribal governments identify and combat Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD) in cervid (deer and elk) populations, the U.S. Department of Agriculture announced earlier this month.
The USDA's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) department is seeking proposals for controlling and preventing CWD using surveillance, testing, management, and response activities, USDA announced April 7. State departments of agriculture, wildlife or natural resources, state animal-health agencies and tribal governments are eligible for the funds, USDA reports.
"Two funding opportunities – one for farmed cervids and one for wild cervids – are available beginning today," the USDA states in the report. "APHIS is also developing a separate funding opportunity, for Tribal governments’ activities to control or prevent CWD in wild cervid populations on Tribal lands, which will be announced in the coming weeks."
CWD is an "infectious, degenerative disease of cervids that causes brain cells to die, ultimately leading to the death of the affected animal," the USDA states in the report. The long incubation period means animals infected with CWD appear healthy until the end stages of the always-fatal disease, according to the USDA, allowing CDW easily spread.
Applicants may submit more than one proposal for each funding opportunity and ask for the maximum amount of available funding in each proposal, the USDA states.
An eligible applicant may submit multiple proposals for each funding opportunity, requesting up to the maximum amount for that funding opportunity in each proposal. Application deadlines are in June; funding decisions will be announced before Sept. 30, according to the USDA.
