Volunteer: Chronic Wasting Disease TeamTo date, Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD) has remained undetected in Arizona, but detections have been found in several neighboring states (Utah, Colorado, New Mexico, California). Your responsibility as a volunteer will be helping support these efforts by transporting samples, providing CWD education, and taking samples yourself (once trained!). As a volunteer, we hope you will learn more about cervid biology, chronic wasting disease, and how the Wildlife Health Program operates. Though weekly hours commitment may vary depending on need, hunts, and staff availability, we expect volunteers to contribute at least 20 hours over the course of the surveillance period. Our goal is to have a strong reliable network of volunteers throughout the state with primary focus around Flagstaff, Prescott, Kaibab Plateau, Payson, Pinetop-Lakeside, Globe, Phoenix, and Tucson. There are two primary roles listed below which can both assist with education at CWD workshops. That said, we welcome help wherever and whenever possible! Transportation Volunteer: Transport samples (sealed) between businesses, regional offices and headquarters. This position requires the use of a personal vehicle and will not be reimbursed for mileage. Shifts will vary depending on exact needs, but should not typically exceed 8 hours. Sample Collection Volunteer: Sample incoming cervid carcasses (once trained). Sampling shifts will typically range from 8 to 12 hours, though depending on staffing availability shorter hours may be possible.
Background Since its discovery in 1967, Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD) presents perhaps the single greatest threat to our country and state’s cervid (deer, elk, moose, caribou) populations. CWD is a type of transmissible spongiform encephalopathy (TSE) which results in erratic behavior, neurological irregularities, and eventually death. Unlike many other contagious diseases, CWD is caused by a misfolded protein called a prion. When misfolded prions are introduced to healthy animals, they induce that animal’s health prions to misfold themselves. The course of infection for CWD can take up to two years before death with animals frequently being killed by predators, hunters, or vehicles due to decreased cognitive ability. Recognition of CWD can be difficult particularly due to the slow advancement of the infection in animals. For this reason, Arizona Game and Fish Department (AZGFD) runs a CWD surveillance program to promote early detection of the disease in the state. With your help, we intend to keep Arizona CWD free to protect our wildlife resources! Our current surveillance program relies on lymph node and obex brain stem samples collected from hunter harvests. Partnering taxidermists, meat processors, hunt guides, and hunters help provide these samples for us to monitor our deer populations. Additionally, a check station at Jacob Lake helps monitor the Kaibab plateau’s mule deer for CWD. Program: Wildlife Health Program To date, Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD) has remained undetected in Arizona, but detections have been found in several neighboring states (Utah, Colorado, New Mexico, California). Your responsibility as a volunteer will be helping support these efforts by transporting samples, providing CWD education, and taking samples yourself (once trained!). As a volunteer, we hope you will learn more about cervid biology, chronic wasting disease, and how the Wildlife Health Program operates. Though weekly hours commitment may vary depending on need, hunts, and staff availability, we expect volunteers to contribute at least 20 hours over the course of the surveillance period. Our goal is to have a strong reliable network of volunteers throughout the state with primary focus around Flagstaff, Prescott, Kaibab Plateau, Payson, Pinetop-Lakeside, Globe, Phoenix, and Tucson. There are two primary roles listed below which can both assist with education at CWD workshops. That said, we welcome help wherever and whenever possible! Transportation Volunteer: Transport samples (sealed) between businesses, regional offices and headquarters. This position requires the use of a personal vehicle and will not be reimbursed for mileage. Shifts will vary depending on exact needs, but should not typically exceed 8 hours. Sample Collection Volunteer: Sample incoming cervid carcasses (once trained). Sampling shifts will typically range from 8 to 12 hours, though depending on staffing availability shorter hours may be possible.
Background Since its discovery in 1967, Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD) presents perhaps the single greatest threat to our country and state’s cervid (deer, elk, moose, caribou) populations. CWD is a type of transmissible spongiform encephalopathy (TSE) which results in erratic behavior, neurological irregularities, and eventually death. Unlike many other contagious diseases, CWD is caused by a misfolded protein called a prion. When misfolded prions are introduced to healthy animals, they induce that animal’s health prions to misfold themselves. The course of infection for CWD can take up to two years before death with animals frequently being killed by predators, hunters, or vehicles due to decreased cognitive ability. Recognition of CWD can be difficult particularly due to the slow advancement of the infection in animals. For this reason, Arizona Game and Fish Department (AZGFD) runs a CWD surveillance program to promote early detection of the disease in the state. With your help, we intend to keep Arizona CWD free to protect our wildlife resources! Our current surveillance program relies on lymph node and obex brain stem samples collected from hunter harvests. Partnering taxidermists, meat processors, hunt guides, and hunters help provide these samples for us to monitor our deer populations. Additionally, a check station at Jacob Lake helps monitor the Kaibab plateau’s mule deer for CWD. Program: Wildlife Health Program Opportunity Type: Volunteer Date: Is Ongoing Zip Code: 85086 Allow Groups: No |