2026-10-13T16:45:19Z https://api.figshare.com/v2/oai

oai:figshare.com:article/33951328 2026-09-21T15:32:17Z category_30563 portal_1059 item_type_3 month_year_09_2026

Data from: Chronic wasting disease is associated with elevated cortisol concentrations in a white-tailed deer population Lisa Muller (22078295) Cameron Mitchell (25081762) Jacob Wyrick (25081765) Justin Kosiewska (25081768) Mark Wilber (20948774) Daniel Grove (25081771) Dailee Metts (25081774) Agricultural, veterinary and food sciences Cortisol Chronic wasting disease hair samples Biological sciences <p>We tested whether cortisol concentrations were associated with CWD status by quantifying cortisol in hair from hunter-harvested deer. We supplemented this analysis with a small sample size (n=9) of serum from captured deer where CWD status was known within 30 days of capture due to mortality. Cortisol in hair is representative of long-term cortisol concentrations. In contrast, serum cortisol represents stress during capture and is highly variable by individual. In hair from hunter-harvested deer, cortisol concentrations were significantly higher in CWD+ animals (<em>P</em> = 0.033). Cortisol concentrations in the hair of CWD+ deer were 1.3 pg/mg hair, (SE = 0.24) and for CWD non-detect (ND) were 0.79 pg/mg, (SE = 0.09). Despite small sample sizes, serum cortisol was still on average higher in CWD+ (mean = 5.9 mg/dl, SE = 1.6) compared to CWD ND deer (mean = 2.9 mg/dl, SE = 1.3), though this relationship was not significant (<em>P</em> = 0.183). Combining these independent tests, there was significant evidence that cortisol concentrations differed between CWD+ and CWD non-detect animals (Fisher’s exact method: <em>P</em> = 0.031).</p> 2026-09-05T00:00:00Z Dataset Dataset 10.5061/dryad.zcrjdfnvq https://figshare.com/articles/dataset/Data_from_Chronic_wasting_disease_is_associated_with_elevated_cortisol_concentrations_in_a_white-tailed_deer_population/33951328 CC0