Water Resources Research Act Program

Details for Project ID MN_2024_Karwan

Sediment-Facilitated Transport of Infectious Prions in Minnesota Surface Waters

Institute: Minnesota
Year Established: 2024 Start Date: 2024-09-01 End Date: 2025-08-31
Total Federal Funds: $9,882 Total Non-Federal Funds: $5,045

Principal Investigators: Diana Karwan

Project Summary: Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD) is a fatal disease found in deer, elk, and moose that is currently widespread in Minnesota. CWD does not currently affect humans, but there is concern about transmission to humans from interactions with infected deer through hunting. Containing the spread of CWD can lower the risk to deer and humans. CWD is caused by infectious prions, which are proteins that remain infectious for many years in the environment. Prions are stored in soils, which can then erode and enter surface waters as sediments, allowing prions to travel through watersheds. We can predict how far and how quickly prions are transported from contaminated areas by determining how streams mobilize, transport, and deposit the sediments that carry them. Our goal is to conduct experiments in a recirculating flume, a device that simulates stream flow, to predict the flow conditions necessary to mobilize sediment deposits in CWD-contaminated sites.