Chronic wasting disease risk assessment in Portugal: analysis of variability and genetic structure of the Portuguese roe deer population

Among the Transmissible Spongiform Encephalopathies, Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD) in cervids is now the rising concern in wildlife within Europe after the first case detected in Norway in 2016. CWD shows a notable horizontal transmission, affecting both free-ranging and captive cervids. Furthermore, several genetic variants in the Prion Protein (PRNP) gene coding sequence of the cervid were identified, which increase the susceptibility to the disease.This work was supported by the project WastingPrionRisk [POCI-01-0145-FEDER-029,947/ PTDC/CVT-CVT/29947/2017] funded by the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT). FCT PhD grant [SFRH/BD/146961/2019] financed by FCT through FSE (Fundo Social Europeu). This work was also supported by national funds [UIDB/CVT/00772/2020], [LA/P/0059/2020] and [UIDB/04033/2020] by FCT.