A CORIN Approach to Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD): A Demonstration of Coordinated Disease Response Using a Living CORIN Atlas

This preprint describes a CORIN (Collaborative Outbreak Response Integrative Network) approach to Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD), framing CWD management as a coordination and execution challenge rather than solely a technical or scientific one. CWD is a progressive, fatal prion disease of cervids with expanding geographic distribution and significant implications for wildlife health, farmed cervid industries, Indigenous and rural food systems, and public trust. Despite extensive scientific knowledge and existing regulatory programs, response efforts often remain fragmented across jurisdictions and sectors, leading to inconsistent implementation, duplicated effort, and persistent operational friction. The paper introduces the CORIN Atlas, a living, evidence‑linked coordination environment that integrates surveillance signals, laboratory capacity, policy instruments, decision roles, and curated knowledge sources. The Atlas functions simultaneously as: a shared situational awareness map, a curated repository and analytic/synthesis framework for peer‑reviewed and gray literature, and a practical decision‑support scaffold linking evidence to operational action. An initial, low‑burden implementation is described using Saskatchewan as a practical demonstrator jurisdiction, while explicitly supporting online participation and modular reuse. The approach does not replace existing authorities, governance structures, or statutory mandates. Instead, it provides a lightweight coordination architecture designed to make coherent action easier under real‑world conditions. While focused on CWD, the CORIN Atlas and minimal‑viable coordination model presented here are intentionally disease‑agnostic and designed to be transferable to other animal health, zoonotic, food system, and complex regulatory coordination challenges. This preprint is shared to invite discussion, critique, and optional participation. It does not constitute policy, regulatory guidance, or a commitment to implementation.