Gastrointestinal (GI) nematodes can impact the health of ruminant hosts in subtle yet significant ways by altering body condition and fecundity. A current lack of baseline information on GI nematode diversity and distribution in northern cervids is of concern to northern wildlife managers, veterinarians and communities relying on country foods. Traditional parasite surveillance techniques are expensive, laborious and often require postmortem examination. In this study, we developed a rapid, noninvasive, fecal-based molecular tool to obtain baseline prevalence data for GI nematodes in western Canadian cervids. The purpose of this project was to delineate the species diversity and the distribution of parasitic gastrointestinal nematodes infecting caribou, elk and whitetail deer in north western Canada. This study ties in to the CircumArctic Rangifer Monitoring and Assessment (CARMA) Network as part of a study to monitor and assess the health of Rangifer throughout the circumpolar region. 

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Whitetail deer, caribou and elk are being assessed for gastrointestinal nematodes