Fascioloides magna in Moose ( Alces alces) From Elk Island National Park, Alberta.

Thirty-seven adult female moose ( Alces alces) from 2 distinct but adjacent populations in Elk Island National Park (EINP), Alberta, Canada (19 in north EINP and 18 in south EINP), were fitted with mortality-sensing VHF radio-collars, and radio signals were acquired daily to ascertain mortality status. At capture, serum, whole blood, and feces were collected; pregnancy was determined; teeth were aged by visual inspection; and a portion of liver was assessed by ultrasound examination. Postmortem examination was conducted on 20 suitable carcasses.

An expanding population of the giant liver fluke (Fascioloides magna) in elk (Cervus canadensis) and other ungulates in Canada.

Giant liver fluke (Fascioloides magna) populations readily expand under suitable conditions. Although extirpated from the eastern slopes of the Canadian Rocky Mountains in the early 1960s, the fluke reappeared following natural spread through mountain passes from British Columbia. Herein, we assessed epizootiology of the fluke population two decades later.

Epizootic hemorrhagic disease in Alberta, Canada.

Epizootic hemorrhagic disease (EHD) virus serotype 2 was identified by reverse-transcription (RT)-PCR in a white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) found dead in southern Alberta in September 2013. Field observations indicate at least 50 deer, primarily white-tailed deer, and three pronghorn antelope (Antilocapra americana) died during a suspected localized EHD outbreak.

Origin of Dermacentor albipictus (Acari: Ixodidae) on elk in the Yukon, Canada.

Winter ticks (Dermacentor albipictus) on elk (Cervus elaphus canadensis) have recently increased in numbers in the Yukon, Canada, potentially posing risks to other indigenous host species in the region. To evaluate the regional source of winter ticks in the Yukon, we sequenced one nuclear (ITS-2) and two mitochondrial (16SrRNA and COI) genes, and genotyped 14 microsatellite loci from 483 winter tick specimens collected across North America. We analyzed genetic variation across the geographic and host ranges of this tick species with the use of variance partitioning, Bayesian clustering, and standard population genetic analyses.

Targeting the detection of chronic wasting disease using the hunter harvest during early phases of an outbreak in Saskatchewan, Canada.

Chronic wasting disease (CWD) is a fatal disease of North American cervids that was first detected in a wild, hunter-shot deer in Saskatchewan along the border with Alberta in Canada in 2000. Spatially explicit models for assessing factors affecting disease detection are needed to guide surveillance and control programs. Spatio-temporal patterns in CWD prevalence can be complicated by variation in individual infection probability and sampling biases.

Broad and fine-scale genetic analysis of white-tailed deer populations: estimating the relative risk of chronic wasting disease spread.

Chronic wasting disease is a transmissible spongiform encephalopathy of cervids, similar to sheep scrapie that has only recently been detected in wild populations of white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) and mule deer (Odocoileus hemionus hemionus) in western Canada. Relatively little is known about local transmission dynamics of the disease or the potential for long-distance spread. We analysed the population genetic structure of over 2000 white-tailed deer sampled from Alberta, British Columbia, and Saskatchewan using microsatellite profiles and mtDNA sequencing to assess the relative risk of disease spread.

Polymorphisms at the PRNP gene influence susceptibility to chronic wasting disease in two species of deer (Odocoileus Spp.) in western Canada.

Chronic wasting disease (CWD) is increasingly prevalent in multiple wild mule (Odocoileus hemionus) and white-tailed deer (O. virginianus) herds in North America. CWD was first found in Canadian wild mule deer in Saskatchewan in 2000 and has since spread into the neighboring province of Alberta.