Prion Database

This submission describes the process and implementation of the work undertaken to create a collaborative Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD) database to document the spread and testing history in the United States. Primarily, the data was from around 1999 to the present, as documentation of tests beyond that becomes much more difficult to obtain. The data used for this project was obtained by attempting to contact all 50 states' Department of Natural Resources (DNR) and requesting their current CWD testing data. This was met with varied success as only about four states provided well-defined data that could be placed into a national database. After communicating with the client and analyzing the data collected, six points of data were selected to be the focus of the project: state, county, year, total tests, positive tests, and negative tests. Utilizing R Shiny as the platform for deploying the database website, and Google Sheets as the persistent database, our team was able to create a private database website that will allow researchers to share and better understand their data using the tools provided. The data must be kept in a private database as many of the states expressed that they do not want their data to be publically shared as they must ensure it is being used responsibly. The database website features the data in a raw, searchable format as well as graphs and maps that allow whitelisted users to view the spread of CWD throughout the country and over time. The goal for this project moving forward is to have CWD researchers join the private database by agreeing to share their data now, and in the future, which will enable better tracking and predicting of CWD in the United States.