Monday, October 15, 2012

PENNSYLVANIA GAME COMMISSION AND AGRICULTURE DEPARTMENT TO HOLD PUBLIC MEETING TO DISCUSS CWD MONITORING EFFORTS

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: October 15, 2012


Release #124-12



GAME COMMISSION AND AGRICULTURE DEPARTMENT TO HOLD PUBLIC MEETING TO DISCUSS CWD MONITORING EFFORTS




HARRISBURG – To outline steps to monitor the state’s wild deer populations for the presence of chronic wasting disease (CWD), officials from the Pennsylvania Game Commission and state Department of Agriculture will hold a public meeting on Wednesday, Oct. 17, beginning at 7 p.m., in the Bermudian Springs High School auditorium, 7335 Carlisle Pike, York Springs, Adams County. Staff from the two agencies will provide background information on CWD, offer an update about deer farming operations and discuss the potential management challenges should CWD be found in wild deer populations.



Last week, the state Department of Agriculture confirmed the first case of CWD in Pennsylvania in a captive deer on a deer farm in Adams County. The disease is fatal in deer, elk and moose, but there is no evidence that CWD can be transmitted to humans, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and The World Health Organization.



“While CWD has not been found in wild deer, we will continue to be vigilant and initiate steps included in the Commonwealth’s CWD Response Plan, which has been updated annually since its development in 2005, and calls for the agency to hold a public meeting,” said Carl G. Roe, Game Commission executive director. “We will identify a disease management area (DMA), and specify the monitoring efforts we will put in place within the DMA to determine if CWD has spread from the captive deer populations into surrounding wild deer populations.



“We are hopeful that this disease has been identified early enough and that we can take steps to contain the disease to these specific deer farms. However, we are at the beginning of a process that will last at least five years.”



The Game Commission is developing a DMA map and executive order delineating the where and what monitoring efforts will be undertaken for this hunting season. Both will be released as soon as they are finalized.



On Oct. 11, the Department of Agriculture announced that the positive sample was taken from a captive-born and raised white-tailed deer at 1491 New Chester Rd., New Oxford, and tested as part of Pennsylvania’s intensive CWD monitoring efforts. The sample tissue was tested at the Pennsylvania Veterinary Laboratory in Harrisburg and verified at the National Veterinary Services Laboratory in Ames, Iowa.



In addition to the Adams County location, the Department of Agriculture has quarantined two farms directly associated with the positive deer at 6464 Jacks Hollow Rd., Williamsport, Lycoming County, and 61 Pickett Rd., Dover, York County. The quarantine prevents movement of animals on and off the premises.



Roe noted that, since 1998, the Game Commission has gathered and submitted more than 38,000 samples from wild deer and elk for CWD testing, and all results have been negative.



To Connect with Wildlife, visit the Game Commission at the following:



Website: www.pgc.state.pa.us Twitter: www.twitter.com/PAGameComm YouTube: www.youtube.com/pagamecommission Facebook: www.facebook.com/PennsylvaniaGameCommission




###










how many states have $465,000., and can quarantine there from of each cwd said infected farm, but how many states can afford this for all the cwd infected cervid game ranch type farms ???





Tuesday, December 20, 2011



CHRONIC WASTING DISEASE CWD WISCONSIN Almond Deer (Buckhorn Flats) Farm Update DECEMBER 2011



The CWD infection rate was nearly 80%, the highest ever in a North American captive herd.



RECOMMENDATION: That the Board approve the purchase of 80 acres of land for $465,000 for the Statewide Wildlife Habitat Program in Portage County and approve the restrictions on public use of the site.



snip...see full text and much more here ;












2010 WISCONSIN CAPTIVE DEER ESCAPES





> There were 26 reported escape incidents so far this year, this amounted to 20 actual confirmed escape incidents because 3 were previously reported, 2 were confirmed as wild deer, and 1 incident was not confirmed.




Wisconsin Conservation Congress CWD Committee Notes recorded by Secretary- Tony Grabski, Iowa County Delegate From the meeting at Mead Wildlife Area Visitor Center Milladore, WI Saturday, August 7, 2010, 9:30 AM




C. & D. Captive Cervid and Law Enforcement Update (11:10 AM)- Warden Pete Dunn gave the captive cervid farm update. There were 26 reported escape incidents so far this year, this amounted to 20 actual confirmed escape incidents because 3 were previously reported, 2 were confirmed as wild deer, and 1 incident was not confirmed. Approximately 30% of these escapes were caused by gates being left open and the other 70% resulted from bad fencing or fence related issues. The 20 actual confirmed escape incidents amounted to 77 total animals. 50 of the escaped animals were recovered or killed and 27 were not recovered and remain unaccounted for. Last year the CWD Committee passed a resolution to require double gates, but this has not gone into effect yet. Questions were raised by the committee about double fencing requirements? Pete responded that double fencing has not been practical or accepted by the industry. The DNR has the authority to do fence inspections. ?If a fence fails to pass the inspection the fencing certificate can be revoked and the farmer can be issued a citation. This year three citations and one warning have been issued for escapes.









Deer, elk continue to escape from state farms




Article by: DOUG SMITH , Star Tribune Updated: March 14, 2011 - 12:08 PM



Curbing chronic wasting disease remains a concern; officials are increasing enforcement.



Almost 500 captive deer and elk have escaped from Minnesota farms over the past five years, and 134 were never recaptured or killed.

So far this year, 17 deer have escaped, and officials are still searching for many of those.



see ;



Friday, September 28, 2012



Stray elk renews concerns about deer farm security Minnesota








Monday, June 11, 2012



OHIO Captive deer escapees and non-reporting








greetings,



i have followed cwd for over a decade daily. was banned in Pennsylvania from even speaking about it in 2005. i lost my mother to the hvCJD in 1997 and just followed the many TSE prion disease in many species, and the mad cow blunder. here is the latest science on the TSE CWD prion. ...





Thursday, October 11, 2012



Pennsylvania Confirms First Case CWD Adams County Captive Deer Tests Positive








I urge everyone to read the following reports, to help understand the overall aspect of the TSE prion disease in different species. ...tss




Saturday, October 6, 2012



*** TRANSMISSION, DIFFERENTIATION, AND PATHOBIOLOGY OF TRANSMISSIBLE SPONGIFORM ENCEPHALOPATHIES 2011 Annual Report








Friday, October 12, 2012



Texas Animal Health Commission (TAHC) is Now Accepting Comments on Rule Proposals for “Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD)” TO: comments@tahc.state.tx.us; Texas Animal Health Commission (TAHC)









News for Immediate Release



Oct. 11, 2012



First Case of Chronic Wasting Disease Found in Pennsylvania Deer



Adams County Captive Deer Tests Positive;



No Evidence of Effect on Humans Harrisburg – The Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture today confirmed the first positive case of Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD) in the state on a deer farm in Adams County.



The disease is fatal in deer, elk and moose, but there is no evidence that CWD can be transmitted to humans, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and The World Health Organization.



The positive sample was taken from a white-tailed deer at 1491 New Chester Rd., New Oxford, and tested as part of Pennsylvania’s intensive CWD monitoring efforts. The sample tissue was tested at the Pennsylvania Veterinary Laboratory in Harrisburg and verified at the National Veterinary Services Laboratory in Ames, Iowa.



In addition to the Adams County location, the department has quarantined two farms directly associated with the positive deer at 6464 Jacks Hollow Rd., Williamsport, Lycoming County, and 61 Pickett Rd., Dover, York County. The quarantine prevents movement of animals on and off the premises.



“Pennsylvania has an aggressive Chronic Wasting Disease surveillance program and a strong response plan,” said Agriculture Secretary George Greig. “Steps are being taken to prevent further spread of this disease to the state’s captive and wild deer populations.”



An interagency CWD task force is in place to address the threat of the disease to Pennsylvania’s captive and wild deer, elk and moose populations. The task force includes representatives of the departments of Agriculture, Environmental Protection and Health, the Pennsylvania Game Commission and the U.S. Department of Agriculture.



The task force will carry out the response plan, which includes education and outreach with public meetings and minimizing risk factors through continued surveillance, testing and management.



“To date CWD has not been found in Pennsylvania’s wild deer population,” said Pennsylvania Game Commission Executive Director Carl G. Roe. ”Concerns over CWD should not prevent anyone from enjoying deer hunting and consuming meat from healthy animals.”



Roe said that hunters should shoot only healthy-appearing animals, and take precautions like wearing rubber gloves when field-dressing their deer and wash thoroughly when finished.



“Though no human disease has been associated with CWD, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends people or other animals do not eat any part of an animal diagnosed with or showing signs of CWD,” said Acting Health Secretary Michael Wolf.



CWD attacks the brains of infected deer, elk and moose, producing small lesions that eventually result in death. It is transmitted by direct animal-to-animal contact through saliva, feces and urine.



Signs of the disease include weight loss, excessive salivation, increased drinking and urination, and abnormal behavior like stumbling, trembling and depression. Infected deer and elk may also allow unusually close approach by humans or natural predators. The disease is fatal and there is no known treatment or vaccine. CWD was first discovered in Colorado captive mule deer in 1967, and has since been detected in 22 states and Canadian provinces, including Pennsylvania’s neighboring states of New York, West Virginia and Maryland. Pennsylvania is the 23rd state to find CWD in either a captive or wild population of deer and the 13th state to have it only in a captive deer herd.



Surveillance for CWD has been ongoing in Pennsylvania since 1998. The agriculture department coordinates a mandatory CWD monitoring program for more than 23,000 captive deer on 1,100 breeding farms, hobby farms and shooting preserves. In addition, the Game Commission collects samples from hunter-harvested deer and elk and those that appear sick or behave abnormally. Since 1998, the commission has tested more than 38,000 free-ranging deer and elk for CWD and all have tested negative.



For more information from the departments of Agriculture and Health and the Pennsylvania Game Commission, visit:



· www.agriculture.state.pa.us (click on the “Chronic Wasting Disease



Information” button on the homepage),



· www.pgc.state.pa.us (click on “CWD Info”), and



· www.health.state.pa.us (click on “Diseases and Conditions”)



Media contacts:



Samantha Elliott Krepps, Agriculture, 717-787-5085



Aimee Tysarczyk, Health, 717-787-1783



Jerry Feaser, PGC, 717-705-6541



###














Pennsylvania Game Commission CWD








PENNSYLVANIA CWD RESPONSE PLAN JULY 2011 (BOTTOM OF PAGE)








NEWS RELEASES


















FIELD REPORTS













==========================================================








2012 POTENTIAL FOR CWD TO HUMANS



Envt.06:



Zoonotic Potential of CWD: Experimental Transmissions to Non-Human Primates



Emmanuel Comoy,1,† Valérie Durand,1 Evelyne Correia,1 Aru Balachandran,2 Jürgen Richt,3 Vincent Beringue,4 Juan-Maria Torres,5 Paul Brown,1 Bob Hills6 and Jean-Philippe Deslys1



1Atomic Energy Commission; Fontenay-aux-Roses, France; 2Canadian Food Inspection Agency; Ottawa, ON Canada; 3Kansas State University; Manhattan, KS USA; 4INRA; Jouy-en-Josas, France; 5INIA; Madrid, Spain; 6Health Canada; Ottawa, ON Canada



†Presenting author; Email: emmanuel.comoy@cea.fr




The constant increase of chronic wasting disease (CWD) incidence in North America raises a question about their zoonotic potential. A recent publication showed their transmissibility to new-world monkeys, but no transmission to old-world monkeys, which are phylogenetically closer to humans, has so far been reported. Moreover, several studies have failed to transmit CWD to transgenic mice overexpressing human PrP. Bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) is the only animal prion disease for which a zoonotic potential has been proven. We described the transmission of the atypical BSE-L strain of BSE to cynomolgus monkeys, suggesting a weak cattle-to-primate species barrier. We observed the same phenomenon with a cattleadapted strain of TME (Transmissible Mink Encephalopathy). Since cattle experimentally exposed to CWD strains have also developed spongiform encephalopathies, we inoculated brain tissue from CWD-infected cattle to three cynomolgus macaques as well as to transgenic mice overexpressing bovine or human PrP. Since CWD prion strains are highly lymphotropic, suggesting an adaptation of these agents after peripheral exposure, a parallel set of four monkeys was inoculated with CWD-infected cervid brains using the oral route. Nearly four years post-exposure, monkeys exposed to CWD-related prion strains remain asymptomatic. In contrast, bovinized and humanized transgenic mice showed signs of infection, suggesting that CWD-related prion strains may be capable of crossing the cattle-to-primate species barrier. Comparisons with transmission results and incubation periods obtained after exposure to other cattle prion strains (c-BSE, BSE-L, BSE-H and cattle-adapted TME) will also be presented, in order to evaluate the respective risks of each strain.





Envt.07:



Pathological Prion Protein (PrPTSE) in Skeletal Muscles of Farmed and Free Ranging White-Tailed Deer Infected with Chronic Wasting Disease



Martin L. Daus,1,† Johanna Breyer,2 Katjs Wagenfuehr,1 Wiebke Wemheuer,2 Achim Thomzig,1 Walter Schulz-Schaeffer2 and Michael Beekes1 1Robert Koch Institut; P24 TSE; Berlin, Germany; 2Department of Neuropathology, Prion and Dementia Research Unit, University Medical Center Göttingen; Göttingen, Germany



†Presenting author; Email: dausm@rki.de




Chronic wasting disease (CWD) is a contagious, rapidly spreading transmissible spongiform encephalopathy (TSE) occurring in cervids in North America. Despite efficient horizontal transmission of CWD among cervids natural transmission of the disease to other species has not yet been observed. Here, we report a direct biochemical demonstration of pathological prion protein PrPTSE and of PrPTSE-associated seeding activity in skeletal muscles of CWD-infected cervids. The presence of PrPTSE was detected by Western- and postfixed frozen tissue blotting, while the seeding activity of PrPTSE was revealed by protein misfolding cyclic amplification (PMCA). The concentration of PrPTSE in skeletal muscles of CWD-infected WTD was estimated to be approximately 2000- to 10000-fold lower than in brain tissue. Tissue-blot-analyses revealed that PrPTSE was located in muscle- associated nerve fascicles but not, in detectable amounts, in myocytes. The presence and seeding activity of PrPTSE in skeletal muscle from CWD-infected cervids suggests prevention of such tissue in the human diet as a precautionary measure for food safety, pending on further clarification of whether CWD may be transmissible to humans.










PLUS, THE CDC DID NOT PUT THIS WARNING OUT FOR THE WELL BEING OF THE DEER AND ELK ;





Thursday, May 26, 2011



Travel History, Hunting, and Venison Consumption Related to Prion Disease Exposure, 2006-2007 FoodNet Population Survey



Journal of the American Dietetic Association Volume 111, Issue 6 , Pages 858-863, June 2011.








NOR IS THE FDA recalling this CWD positive elk meat for the well being of the dead elk ;





Wednesday, March 18, 2009



Noah's Ark Holding, LLC, Dawson, MN RECALL Elk products contain meat derived from an elk confirmed to have CWD NV, CA, TX, CO, NY, UT, FL, OK RECALLS AND FIELD CORRECTIONS: FOODS CLASS II








now, let’s see what the authors said about this casual link, personal communications years ago. see where it is stated NO STRONG evidence. so, does this mean there IS casual evidence ????




“Our conclusion stating that we found no strong evidence of CWD transmission to humans”





From: TSS (216-119-163-189.ipset45.wt.net)


Subject: CWD aka MAD DEER/ELK TO HUMANS ???


Date: September 30, 2002 at 7:06 am PST


From: "Belay, Ermias"


To:


Cc: "Race, Richard (NIH)" ; ; "Belay, Ermias"


Sent: Monday, September 30, 2002 9:22 AM


Subject: RE: TO CDC AND NIH - PUB MED- 3 MORE DEATHS - CWD - YOUNG HUNTERS


Dear Sir/Madam,


In the Archives of Neurology you quoted (the abstract of which was attached to your email), we did not say CWD in humans will present like variant CJD.


That assumption would be wrong. I encourage you to read the whole article and call me if you have questions or need more clarification (phone: 404-639-3091). Also, we do not claim that "no-one has ever been infected with prion disease from eating venison." Our conclusion stating that we found no strong evidence of CWD transmission to humans in the article you quoted or in any other forum is limited to the patients we investigated.


Ermias Belay, M.D. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention





-----Original Message-----


From:


Sent: Sunday, September 29, 2002 10:15 AM


To: rr26k@nih.gov; rrace@niaid.nih.gov; ebb8@CDC.GOV


Subject: TO CDC AND NIH - PUB MED- 3 MORE DEATHS - CWD - YOUNG HUNTERS


Sunday, November 10, 2002 6:26 PM ......snip........end..............TSS


Thursday, April 03, 2008


A prion disease of cervids: Chronic wasting disease


2008 1: Vet Res. 2008 Apr 3;39(4):41


A prion disease of cervids: Chronic wasting disease


Sigurdson CJ.




snip...



*** twenty-seven CJD patients who regularly consumed venison were reported to the Surveillance Center***,




snip...


full text ;









CWD ongoing experiment on humans, long term $$$





Monday, November 14, 2011



WYOMING Creutzfeldt Jakob Disease, CWD, TSE, PRION REPORTING 2011









Wednesday, November 16, 2011



Wisconsin Creutzfeldt Jakob Disease, CWD, TSE, PRION REPORTING 2011








Sunday, November 13, 2011



COLORADO CWD CJD TSE PRION REPORTING 2011










UPDATED CORRESPONDENCE FROM AUTHORS OF THIS STUDY I.E. COLBY, PRUSINER ET AL, ABOUT MY CONCERNS OF THE DISCREPANCY BETWEEN THEIR FIGURES AND MY FIGURES OF THE STUDIES ON CWD TRANSMISSION TO CATTLE ;





CWD to cattle figures CORRECTION





Greetings,



I believe the statement and quote below is incorrect ;



"CWD has been transmitted to cattle after intracerebral inoculation, although the infection rate was low (4 of 13 animals [Hamir et al. 2001]). This finding raised concerns that CWD prions might be transmitted to cattle grazing in contaminated pastures."



Please see ;



Within 26 months post inoculation, 12 inoculated animals had lost weight, revealed abnormal clinical signs, and were euthanatized. Laboratory tests revealed the presence of a unique pattern of the disease agent in tissues of these animals. These findings demonstrate that when CWD is directly inoculated into the brain of cattle, 86% of inoculated cattle develop clinical signs of the disease.









" although the infection rate was low (4 of 13 animals [Hamir et al. 2001]). "




shouldn't this be corrected, 86% is NOT a low rate. ...


kindest regards,





Terry S. Singeltary Sr. P.O. Box 42 Bacliff, Texas USA 77518



Thank you!




Thanks so much for your updates/comments. We intend to publish as rapidly as possible all updates/comments that contribute substantially to the topic under discussion.








re-Prions David W. Colby1,* and Stanley B. Prusiner1,2 + Author Affiliations



1Institute for Neurodegenerative Diseases, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, California 94143 2Department of Neurology, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, California 94143 Correspondence: stanley@ind.ucsf.edu









Mule deer, white-tailed deer, and elk have been reported to develop CWD. As the only prion disease identified in free-ranging animals, CWD appears to be far more communicable than other forms of prion disease. CWD was first described in 1967 and was reported to be a spongiform encephalopathy in 1978 on the basis of histopathology of the brain. Originally detected in the American West, CWD has spread across much of North America and has been reported also in South Korea. In captive populations, up to 90% of mule deer have been reported to be positive for prions (Williams and Young 1980). The incidence of CWD in cervids living in the wild has been estimated to be as high as 15% (Miller et al. 2000). The development of transgenic (Tg) mice expressing cervid PrP, and thus susceptible to CWD, has enhanced detection of CWD and the estimation of prion titers (Browning et al. 2004; Tamgüney et al. 2006). Shedding of prions in the feces, even in presymptomatic deer, has been identified as a likely source of infection for these grazing animals (Williams and Miller 2002; Tamgüney et al. 2009b). CWD has been transmitted to cattle after intracerebral inoculation, although the infection rate was low (4 of 13 animals [Hamir et al. 2001]). This finding raised concerns that CWD prions might be transmitted to cattle grazing in contaminated pastures.



snip...









----- Original Message -----


From: David Colby To: flounder9@verizon.net


Cc: stanley@XXXXXXXX


Sent: Tuesday, March 01, 2011 8:25 AM


Subject: Re: FW: re-Prions David W. Colby1,* and Stanley B. Prusiner1,2 + Author Affiliations


Dear Terry Singeltary,


Thank you for your correspondence regarding the review article Stanley Prusiner and I recently wrote for Cold Spring Harbor Perspectives. Dr. Prusiner asked that I reply to your message due to his busy schedule. We agree that the transmission of CWD prions to beef livestock would be a troubling development and assessing that risk is important. In our article, we cite a peer-reviewed publication reporting confirmed cases of laboratory transmission based on stringent criteria. The less stringent criteria for transmission described in the abstract you refer to lead to the discrepancy between your numbers and ours and thus the interpretation of the transmission rate. We stand by our assessment of the literature--namely that the transmission rate of CWD to bovines appears relatively low, but we recognize that even a low transmission rate could have important implications for public health and we thank you for bringing attention to this matter. Warm Regards, David Colby -- David Colby, PhDAssistant Professor Department of Chemical Engineering University of Delaware



===========END...TSS==============





SNIP...SEE FULL TEXT ;







UPDATED DATA ON 2ND CWD STRAIN Wednesday, September 08, 2010 CWD PRION CONGRESS SEPTEMBER 8-11 2010









Sunday, August 19, 2012



Susceptibility of cattle to the agent of chronic wasting disease from elk after intracranial inoculation 2012



Research Project: TRANSMISSION, DIFFERENTIATION, AND PATHOBIOLOGY OF TRANSMISSIBLE SPONGIFORM ENCEPHALOPATHIES Location: Virus and Prion Research Unit









PO-081: Chronic wasting disease in the cat— Similarities to feline spongiform encephalopathy (FSE)






















PO-081: Chronic wasting disease in the cat— Similarities to feline spongiform encephalopathy (FSE)












Thursday, May 31, 2012



CHRONIC WASTING DISEASE CWD PRION2012 Aerosol, Inhalation transmission, Scrapie, cats, species barrier, burial, and more








PO-039: A comparison of scrapie and chronic wasting disease in white-tailed deer



Justin Greenlee, Jodi Smith, Eric Nicholson US Dept. Agriculture; Agricultural Research Service, National Animal Disease Center; Ames, IA USA









Justin Greenlee, Jodi Smith, Eric Nicholson US Dept. Agriculture; Agricultural Research Service, National Animal Disease Center; Ames, IA USA



Interspecies transmission studies afford the opportunity to better understand the potential host range and origins of prion diseases. The purpose of these experiments was to determine susceptibility of white-tailed deer (WTD) to scrapie and to compare the resultant clinical signs, lesions, and molecular profiles of PrPSc to those of chronic wasting disease (CWD). We inoculated WTD intracranially (IC; n = 5) and by a natural route of exposure (concurrent oral and intranasal (IN); n = 5) with a US scrapie isolate.



All deer were inoculated with a 10% (wt/vol) brain homogenate from sheep with scrapie (1ml IC, 1 ml IN, 30 ml oral). All deer inoculated by the intracranial route had evidence of PrPSc accumulation. PrPSc was detected in lymphoid tissues as early as 7 months-post-inoculation (PI) and a single deer that was necropsied at 15.6 months had widespread distribution of PrPSc highlighting that PrPSc is widely distributed in the CNS and lymphoid tissues prior to the onset of clinical signs. IC inoculated deer necropsied after 20 months PI (3/5) had clinical signs, spongiform encephalopathy, and widespread distribution of PrPSc in neural and lymphoid tissues.



The results of this study suggest that there are many similarities in the manifestation of CWD and scrapie in WTD after IC inoculation including early and widespread presence of PrPSc in lymphoid tissues, clinical signs of depression and weight loss progressing to wasting, and an incubation time of 21-23 months. Moreover, western blots (WB) done on brain material from the obex region have a molecular profile similar to CWD and distinct from tissues of the cerebrum or the scrapie inoculum. However, results of microscopic and IHC examination indicate that there are differences between the lesions expected in CWD and those that occur in deer with scrapie: amyloid plaques were not noted in any sections of brain examined from these deer and the pattern of immunoreactivity by IHC was diffuse rather than plaque-like.



After a natural route of exposure, 100% of WTD were susceptible to scrapie. Deer developed clinical signs of wasting and mental depression and were necropsied from 28 to 33 months PI. Tissues from these deer were positive for PrPSc by IHC and WB. Similar to IC inoculated deer, samples from these deer exhibited two different molecular profiles: samples from obex resembled CWD whereas those from cerebrum were similar to the original scrapie inoculum. On further examination by WB using a panel of antibodies, the tissues from deer with scrapie exhibit properties differing from tissues either from sheep with scrapie or WTD with CWD. Samples from WTD with CWD or sheep with scrapie are strongly immunoreactive when probed with mAb P4, however, samples from WTD with scrapie are only weakly immunoreactive. In contrast, when probed with mAb’s 6H4 or SAF 84, samples from sheep with scrapie and WTD with CWD are weakly immunoreactive and samples from WTD with scrapie are strongly positive.



This work demonstrates that WTD are highly susceptible to sheep scrapie, but on first passage, scrapie in WTD is differentiable from CWD.









PO-039: A comparison of scrapie and chronic wasting disease in white-tailed deer



Justin Greenlee, Jodi Smith, Eric Nicholson US Dept. Agriculture; Agricultural Research Service, National Animal Disease Center; Ames, IA USA








White-tailed deer are susceptible to the agent of sheep scrapie by intracerebral inoculation



snip...



It is unlikely that CWD will be eradicated from free-ranging cervids, and the disease is likely to continue to spread geographically [10]. However, the potential that white-tailed deer may be susceptible to sheep scrapie by a natural route presents an additional confounding factor to halting the spread of CWD. This leads to the additional speculations that



1) infected deer could serve as a reservoir to infect sheep with scrapie offering challenges to scrapie eradication efforts and




2) CWD spread need not remain geographically confined to current endemic areas, but could occur anywhere that sheep with scrapie and susceptible cervids cohabitate.


This work demonstrates for the first time that white-tailed deer are susceptible to sheep scrapie by intracerebral inoculation with a high attack rate and that the disease that results has similarities to CWD. These experiments will be repeated with a more natural route of inoculation to determine the likelihood of the potential transmission of sheep scrapie to white-tailed deer. If scrapie were to occur in white-tailed deer, results of this study indicate that it would be detected as a TSE, but may be difficult to differentiate from CWD without in-depth biochemical analysis.














White-tailed Deer are Susceptible to Scrapie by Natural Route of Infection



Jodi D. Smith, Justin J. Greenlee, and Robert A. Kunkle; Virus and Prion Research Unit, National Animal Disease Center, USDA-ARS



Interspecies transmission studies afford the opportunity to better understand the potential host range and origins of prion diseases. Previous experiments demonstrated that white-tailed deer are susceptible to sheep-derived scrapie by intracranial inoculation. The purpose of this study was to determine susceptibility of white-tailed deer to scrapie after a natural route of exposure. Deer (n=5) were inoculated by concurrent oral (30 ml) and intranasal (1 ml) instillation of a 10% (wt/vol) brain homogenate derived from a sheep clinically affected with scrapie. Non-inoculated deer were maintained as negative controls. All deer were observed daily for clinical signs. Deer were euthanized and necropsied when neurologic disease was evident, and tissues were examined for abnormal prion protein (PrPSc) by immunohistochemistry (IHC) and western blot (WB). One animal was euthanized 15 months post-inoculation (MPI) due to an injury. At that time, examination of obex and lymphoid tissues by IHC was positive, but WB of obex and colliculus were negative. Remaining deer developed clinical signs of wasting and mental depression and were necropsied from 28 to 33 MPI. Tissues from these deer were positive for scrapie by IHC and WB. Tissues with PrPSc immunoreactivity included brain, tonsil, retropharyngeal and mesenteric lymph nodes, hemal node, Peyer’s patches, and spleen. This work demonstrates for the first time that white-tailed deer are susceptible to sheep scrapie by potential natural routes of inoculation. In-depth analysis of tissues will be done to determine similarities between scrapie in deer after intracranial and oral/intranasal inoculation and chronic wasting disease resulting from similar routes of inoculation.



see full text ;










*** Spraker suggested an interesting explanation for the occurrence of CWD. The deer pens at the Foot Hills Campus were built some 30-40 years ago by a Dr. Bob Davis. At or abut that time, allegedly, some scrapie work was conducted at this site. When deer were introduced to the pens they occupied ground that had previously been occupied by sheep.




(PLEASE NOTE SOME OF THESE OLD UK GOVERNMENT FILE URLS ARE SLOW TO OPEN, AND SOMETIMES YOU MAY HAVE TO CLICK ON MULTIPLE TIMES, PLEASE BE PATIENT, ANY PROBLEMS PLEASE WRITE ME PRIVATELY, AND I WILL TRY AND FIX OR SEND YOU OLD PDF FILE...TSS)









Wednesday, February 16, 2011



IN CONFIDENCE



SCRAPIE TRANSMISSION TO CHIMPANZEES



IN CONFIDENCE









Chronic Wasting Disease Susceptibility of Four North American Rodents



Chad J. Johnson1*, Jay R. Schneider2, Christopher J. Johnson2, Natalie A. Mickelsen2, Julia A. Langenberg3, Philip N. Bochsler4, Delwyn P. Keane4, Daniel J. Barr4, and Dennis M. Heisey2 1University of Wisconsin School of Veterinary Medicine, Department of Comparative Biosciences, 1656 Linden Drive, Madison WI 53706, USA 2US Geological Survey, National Wildlife Health Center, 6006 Schroeder Road, Madison WI 53711, USA 3Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, 101 South Webster Street, Madison WI 53703, USA 4Wisconsin Veterinary Diagnostic Lab, 445 Easterday Lane, Madison WI 53706, USA *Corresponding author email: cjohnson@svm.vetmed.wisc.edu



We intracerebrally challenged four species of native North American rodents that inhabit locations undergoing cervid chronic wasting disease (CWD) epidemics. The species were: deer mice (Peromyscus maniculatus), white-footed mice (P. leucopus), meadow voles (Microtus pennsylvanicus), and red-backed voles (Myodes gapperi). The inocula were prepared from the brains of hunter-harvested white-tailed deer from Wisconsin that tested positive for CWD. Meadow voles proved to be most susceptible, with a median incubation period of 272 days. Immunoblotting and immunohistochemistry confirmed the presence of PrPd in the brains of all challenged meadow voles. Subsequent passages in meadow voles lead to a significant reduction in incubation period. The disease progression in red-backed voles, which are very closely related to the European bank vole (M. glareolus) which have been demonstrated to be sensitive to a number of TSEs, was slower than in meadow voles with a median incubation period of 351 days. We sequenced the meadow vole and red-backed vole Prnp genes and found three amino acid (AA) differences outside of the signal and GPI anchor sequences. Of these differences (T56-, G90S, S170N; read-backed vole:meadow vole), S170N is particularly intriguing due its postulated involvement in "rigid loop" structure and CWD susceptibility. Deer mice did not exhibit disease signs until nearly 1.5 years post-inoculation, but appear to be exhibiting a high degree of disease penetrance. White-footed mice have an even longer incubation period but are also showing high penetrance. Second passage experiments show significant shortening of incubation periods. Meadow voles in particular appear to be interesting lab models for CWD. These rodents scavenge carrion, and are an important food source for many predator species. Furthermore, these rodents enter human and domestic livestock food chains by accidental inclusion in grain and forage. Further investigation of these species as potential hosts, bridge species, and reservoirs of CWD is required.







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Volume 18, Number 3—March 2012


Samuel E. Saunders1, Shannon L. Bartelt-Hunt, and Jason C. Bartz


Author affiliations: University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Omaha, Nebraska, USA (S.E. Saunders, S.L. Bartelt-Hunt); Creighton University, Omaha (J.C. Bartz)


Synopsis


Occurrence, Transmission, and Zoonotic Potential of Chronic Wasting Disease


snip...


Most epidemiologic studies and experimental work have suggested that the potential for CWD transmission to humans is low, and such transmission has not been documented through ongoing surveillance (2,3). In vitro prion replication assays report a relatively low efficiency of CWD PrPSc-directed conversion of human PrPc to PrPSc (30), and transgenic mice overexpressing human PrPc are resistant to CWD infection (31); these findings indicate low zoonotic potential. However, squirrel monkeys are susceptible to CWD by intracerebral and oral inoculation (32). Cynomolgus macaques, which are evolutionarily closer to humans than squirrel monkeys, are resistant to CWD infection (32). Regardless, the finding that a primate is orally susceptible to CWD is of concern...


snip...


Reasons for Caution There are several reasons for caution with respect to zoonotic and interspecies CWD transmission. First, there is strong evidence that distinct CWD strains exist (36). Prion strains are distinguished by varied incubation periods, clinical symptoms, PrPSc conformations, and CNS PrPSc depositions (3,32). Strains have been identified in other natural prion diseases, including scrapie, BSE, and CJD (3). Intraspecies and interspecies transmission of prions from CWD-positive deer and elk isolates resulted in identification of >2 strains of CWD in rodent models (36), indicating that CWD strains likely exist in cervids. However, nothing is currently known about natural distribution and prevalence of CWD strains. Currently, host range and pathogenicity vary with prion strain (28,37). Therefore, zoonotic potential of CWD may also vary with CWD strain. In addition, diversity in host (cervid) and target (e.g., human) genotypes further complicates definitive findings of zoonotic and interspecies transmission potentials of CWD.


Intraspecies and interspecies passage of the CWD agent may also increase the risk for zoonotic CWD transmission. The CWD prion agent is undergoing serial passage naturally as the disease continues to emerge. In vitro and in vivo intraspecies transmission of the CWD agent yields PrPSc with an increased capacity to convert human PrPc to PrPSc (30). Interspecies prion transmission can alter CWD host range (38) and yield multiple novel prion strains (3,28). The potential for interspecies CWD transmission (by cohabitating mammals) will only increase as the disease spreads and CWD prions continue to be shed into the environment. This environmental passage itself may alter CWD prions or exert selective pressures on CWD strain mixtures by interactions with soil, which are known to vary with prion strain (25), or exposure to environmental or gut degradation.


Given that prion disease in humans can be difficult to diagnose and the asymptomatic incubation period can last decades, continued research, epidemiologic surveillance, and caution in handling risky material remain prudent as CWD continues to spread and the opportunity for interspecies transmission increases. Otherwise, similar to what occurred in the United Kingdom after detection of variant CJD and its subsequent link to BSE, years of prevention could be lost if zoonotic transmission of CWD is subsequently identified,...


snip...









Sunday, January 22, 2012



Chronic Wasting Disease CWD cervids interspecies transmission








Saturday, September 01, 2012



Resistance of Soil-Bound Prions to Rumen Digestion









Friday, July 20, 2012



CWD found for first time in Iowa at hunting preserve









Wednesday, September 05, 2012



Additional Facility in Pottawatamie County Iowa Under Quarantine for CWD after 5 deer test positive








meanwhile, Texas is still floundering after two recent CWD confirmations, and a decade of CWD waltzing across it’s borders. what’s another decade, right $$$





Friday, September 07, 2012



Texas Wildlife Officials Considering New Deer Movement Rules in Response to CWD









Wednesday, October 03, 2012



TAHC Chronic Wasting Disease Rule What you need to know









Monday, September 17, 2012



Rapid Transepithelial Transport of Prions Following Inhalation









Friday, September 21, 2012



Chronic Wasting Disease CWD raises concerns about deer farms in Iowa







Friday, September 28, 2012



Stray elk renews concerns about deer farm security Minnesota









Friday, August 24, 2012



Diagnostic accuracy of rectal mucosa biopsy testing for chronic wasting disease within white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) herds in North America









Friday, August 31, 2012



COMMITTEE ON CAPTIVE WILDLIFE AND ALTERNATIVE LIVESTOCK and CWD 2009-2012 a review









Wednesday, June 01, 2011



Management of CWD in Canada: Past Practices, Current Conditions, Current Science, Future Risks and Options









Thursday, June 09, 2011



Detection of CWD prions in salivary, urinary, and intestinal tissues of deer: potential mechanisms of prion shedding and transmission









Thursday, February 17, 2011



Environmental Sources of Scrapie Prions









CWD, GAME FARMS, BAITING, AND POLITICS












Saturday, October 6, 2012




TRANSMISSION, DIFFERENTIATION, AND PATHOBIOLOGY OF TRANSMISSIBLE SPONGIFORM ENCEPHALOPATHIES 2011 Annual Report













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2011-2012 CWD TSE PRION UDATE USA





Thursday, June 2, 2011



USDA scrapie report for April 2011 NEW ATYPICAL NOR-98 SCRAPIE CASES Pennsylvania AND California















Thursday, October 11, 2012


Pennsylvania Confirms First Case CWD Adams County Captive Deer Tests Positive







I urge everyone to read the following reports, to help understand the overall aspect of the TSE prion disease in different species. ...tss





Saturday, October 6, 2012



*** TRANSMISSION, DIFFERENTIATION, AND PATHOBIOLOGY OF TRANSMISSIBLE SPONGIFORM ENCEPHALOPATHIES 2011 Annual Report








Friday, October 12, 2012



Texas Animal Health Commission (TAHC) is Now Accepting Comments on Rule Proposals for “Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD)” TO: comments@tahc.state.tx.us; Texas Animal Health Commission (TAHC)









TSS



posted by Terry S. Singeltary Sr. at 7:20 PM

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