Pathogen-mediated selection and management implications for white-tailed deer exposed to chronic wasting disease

Pathogens can cause host extinction, affect population dynamics, and influence natural selection. Host susceptibility to pathogens can vary by species, demographics, and genetics which affect epizootic dynamics; ultimately determining population trends and evolution. Chronic wasting disease (CWD), a fatal neuro-degenerative prion disease of cervids, has varying host susceptibility conferred by polymorphisms of the prion protein gene (PRNP) at the 96 codon for white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus). Deer with the homozygous Glycine allele (96GG) are most susceptible and a single Serine allele (96GS/96SS) reduces the risk of infection and mortality. We developed epizootiological models that demonstrate CWD infection and disease-associated mortality were higher for the more susceptible (96GG) genotype; and, infection was higher for males than females. We used population models to evaluate future shifts in genotype frequencies under alternative harvest and infection rate scenarios. Gene..., , , # Data from: Pathogen-mediated selection and management implications for white-tailed deer exposed to chronic wasting disease

[https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.866t1g1s2](https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.866t1g1s2)

## Description of the data and file structure

There are 3 data files available here.

1\. DeerTested.csv is hunter-harvested surveillance data from the core area in south-central Wisconsin.

2\. PRNPtable.csv is a subset of the hunter-harvested surveillance data (i.e. DeerTested.csv), for which there are genotyped deer.

3\. Corrected_Prevalence.csv are the estimates from the first part of the analysis, which were then used in the subsequent epizootiological models and simulations.