CHeRI - Cervidae Health Research Initiative - University of Florida, Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences

Who we are:

We are a collaborative group of scientists at the University of Florida Cervidae Health Research Initiative, or CHeRI for short, working together to tackle problems that affect cervids: members of the deer family, like white-tailed deer and elk. This initiative seeks to promote interdisciplinary science, education and outreach that increases the health and production of captive cervids in a sustainable manner and promotes the health of native wildlife and the ecosystems in which they live.

Our stakeholders in the deer farm industry have identified hemorrhagic disease as the primary threat to economic success in Florida. Last year deer farmers lost >$32M due to a high prevalence of EHD. More information on hemorrhagic disease and the viruses that cause this disease in deer can be found on our Hemorrhagic Disease Diagnostics page. While reducing morbidity and mortality of captive deer from HD is our primary goal, we seek to maintain a diverse portfolio of projects to improve the health of cervids in Florida.

News and Upcoming Events

February 20-22, 2026: Dr. Juan Campos will be traveling to New York to give a presentation on CHeRI research and hemorrhagic disease at the Reindeer Farmers Associaion Annual Meeting.
February 9-13, 2026: CHeRI researchers are heading out to New Zealand to attend the International Deer Biology Congress! We're excited to meet with fellow cervid researchers from around the world and share some of our local Florida research!
January 14-16, 2026: We had our annual CHeRI Researcher Retreat! CHeRI researchers from across the labs and across the state met in St. Petersburg to present on their respective CHeRI research and catch-up with collaborators. A lot of exciting ideas came up so look forward to hearing about upcoming research!
January 13, 2026: Our brand new CHeRI Dashboard Map is live! We made it more user friendly and have embedded it directly into the website below.

2025: A second case of CWD was detected in Holmes County in October, 2025. The road-killed doe was found less than a mile from the first detection in 2023. Luckily, the positive animal was close enough to the first positive case that there will be no change in the surveillance or quarantine zones. We have created a number of resources in our Additional Resources page.

Noteworthy Articles and Infographics for Seasoned and New Deer Farmers

CHeRI describes EHDV and BTV prevalence in farmed Florida White-Tailed Deer

What Is in a Natural Resource Management Plan?

UF IFAS Blog - Pest Management in Deer Farming: First Steps Toward Best Practices