Table 5.

Herd identification, animal classification, CWD status, and the number of animals from each sample group used in the study.

Herd	Animal classification	CWD status	Number of animals
1	Known Negative (NN1)	Non-Detect	10
2	Known Negative (NN2)	Non-Detect	10
3	Negative Exposed (NE3)	Non-Detect	10
3	Positive (PP3)	Positive	10
4	Negative Exposed (NE4)	Non-Detect	7
4	Positive (PP4)	Positive	4

Known Negative (NN): deer not exposed to CWD. Negative Exposed (NE): deer resided with known CWD-positive cohorts but no prion detected by IHC post-mortem. Positive (PP): deer were identified as CWD-positive by post-mortem immunohistochemistry (IHC) in both the medial retropharyngeal lymph nodes (MRPLN) and the obex.