News Release Media Contact: Steve Lightfoot, 512-389-4701,
steve.lightfoot@tpwd.texas.gov
March 17, 2015
One New Positive Found in 2014–15 Trans Pecos CWD Surveillance
AUSTIN – Chronic wasting disease (CWD) was detected in only one of 222
tissue samples that were collected from hunter harvested deer and elk from the
Trans Pecos ecoregion during the 2014–15 season as part of a CWD surveillance
effort. This sample was collected from a mule deer buck harvested in the Hueco
Mountain area of far West Texas.
“Without the hunter check stations and the strong cooperation of hunters
and landowners, we would know very little about the prevalence of the disease or
where it exists,” said Mitch Lockwood, Big Game Program Director with the Texas
Parks and Wildlife Department.
Also included in the sampling effort last season, 143 deer and elk brought
to check stations were tested for bovine tuberculosis as part of a cooperative
effort between TPWD and Texas Animal Health Commission to monitor for bovine
tuberculosis. No positives were found.
To date, 839 deer and elk have been tested through the CWD check stations
and strategic sampling that occurred during the summer of 2012; 282 were in the
Containment Zone, 205 were in the adjacent High Risk Zone, 117 were in the
Buffer Zone, and 235 were outside of the CWD zones. The disease has been
detected in only 7 animals, all within the Hueco Mountain area, indicating a
disease prevalence of 10–15 percent within that population.
“Additional sampling is necessary to develop more confidence in the
geographic extent and prevalence of the disease, but the fact that CWD has not
been detected in Texas outside of the Hueco Mountain area of northern El Paso
and Hudspeth counties is encouraging,” said Lockwood.
CWD is a member of the group of diseases called transmissible spongiform
encephalopathies (TSEs). Other diseases in this group include scrapie in sheep,
bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE or mad cow disease) in cattle, and
Cruetzfeldt-Jakob disease in humans. CWD among cervids is a progressive, fatal
disease that commonly results in altered behavior as a result of microscopic
changes made to the brain of affected animals. An animal may carry the disease
for years without outward indication, but in the latter stages, signs may
include listlessness, lowering of the head, weight loss, repetitive walking in
set patterns, and a lack of responsiveness. CWD is not known to affect humans or
livestock.
There is no vaccine or cure for CWD, but steps have been taken to minimize
the risk of the disease spreading from beyond the area where it currently
exists. The Texas Parks and Wildlife and Texas Animal Health commissions adopted
rules to restrict movement of deer, elk, and other susceptible species within or
from the CWD Zones as well increase surveillance efforts.
More details about CWD and the 2014-15 findings can be found online at https://tpwd.texas.gov/wildlife/diseases/chronic-wasting-disease/test-results
SL 2015-03-17
TRANS PECOS ???
where have I heard that before, Trans Pecos ???
small amount of sample cwd testing taken to date in Texas, is really a
joke. with as many game farms that are in Texas, the amount of testing
therefrom, and the testing in the wild for cwd in Texas, considering I tried
telling the TAHC around 2002 that cwd was waltzing across Texas from the border
of New Mexico, in the Trans Pacos region, around the WSMR, over a decade ago,
and to finally have New Mexico force Texas to test in that area in 2012, and low
and behold 4 cases of cwd were discovered in Texas, right there, considering all
this, all this tells us is that those 600+ cervids did not have detectible cwd,
from what tests they were using. it does not say much for the rest of the
3,600,000 deer in Texas. ...just saying....kind regards, terry
TEXAS OLD STATISTICS BELOW FOR PAST CWD TESTING;
Subject: CWD testing in Texas
Date: Sun, 25 Aug 2002 19:45:14 –0500
From: Kenneth Waldrup
To: flounder@wt.net
CC: mcoats@tahc.state.tx.us
Dear Dr. Singletary,
In Fiscal Year 2001, seven deer from Texas were tested by the National
Veterinary Services Laboratory (NVSL) for CWD (5 fallow deer and 2 white-tailed
deer). In Fiscal Year 2002, seven elk from Texas were tested at NVSL (no deer).
During these two years, an additional six elk and one white-tailed deer were
tested at the Texas Veterinary Medical Diagnostic Laboratory (TVMDL). In Fiscal
Year 2002, four white-tailed deer (free-ranging clinical suspects) and at least
eight other white-tailed deer have been tested at TVMDL. One elk has been tested
at NVSL. All of these animals have been found negative for CWD. Dr. Jerry Cooke
of the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department also has records of 601 clinically
ill white-tailed deer which were necropsied at Texas A&M during the late
1960's and early 1970's, and no spongiform encepalopathies were noted.
Thank you for your consideration.
Ken Waldrup, DVM, PhD Texas Animal Health Commission
========================
TEXAS CWD STATUS
Captive Cervids
There have been no reported CWD infections of captive elk or deer in Texas.
There is currently no mandatory surveillance program for susceptible cervids
kept on game farms, although, there has been voluntary surveillance since 1999,
which requires owners of participating herds to maintain an annual herd
inventory and submit samples for all mortalities of animals over 16 months of
age.
snip...
SO, i thought i would just see where these Ecoregions were, and just how
the CWD testing was distributed. YOU would think that with the cluster of CWD
bordering TEXAS at the WPMR in NM, you would have thought this would be where
the major CWD testing samples were to have been taken? wrong! let's have a look
at the sample testing. here is map of CWD in NM WPMR bordering TEXAS;
NEW MEXICO 7 POSITIVE CWD WHITE SANDS MISSILE RANGE MAP
NEXT, let's have a look at the overall distribution of CWD in Free-Ranging
Cervids and see where the CWD cluster in NM WSMR borders TEXAS;
Current Distribution of Chronic Wasting Disease in Free-Ranging Cervids
NOW, the MAP of the Exoregion where the samples were taken to test for CWD;
CWD SURVEILLANCE SAMPLE SUBMISSIONS TEXAS
Ecoregions of TEXAS
IF you look at the area around the NM WSMR where the CWD cluster was and
where it borders TEXAS, that ecoregion is called Trans Pecos region. Seems if my
Geography and my Ciphering is correct ;-) that region only tested 55% of it's
goal. THE most important area on the MAP and they only test some 96 samples,
this in an area that has found some 7 positive animals? NOW if we look at the
only other border where these deer from NM could cross the border into TEXAS,
this area is called the High Plains ecoregion, and again, we find that the
sampling for CWD was pathetic. HERE we find that only 9% of it's goal of CWD
sampling was met, only 16 samples were tested from some 175 that were suppose to
be sampled.
AS i said before;
> SADLY, they have not tested enough from the total population to
> know if CWD is in Texas or not.
BUT now, I will go one step further and state categorically that they are
not trying to find it. just the opposite it seems, they are waiting for CWD to
find them, as with BSE/TSE in cattle, and it will eventually...
SEE UPDATED REPORTS AND MORE HERE ;
Monday, March 26, 2012
Texas Prepares for Chronic Wasting Disease CWD Possibility in Far West
Texas
Monday, March 26, 2012
3 CASES OF CWD FOUND NEW MEXICO MULE DEER SEVERAL MILS FROM TEXAS BORDER
Friday, June 01, 2012
*** TEXAS DEER CZAR TO WISCONSIN ASK TO EXPLAIN COMMENTS
there has been 6 documented cases of Chronic Wasting Disease CWD in TEXAS.
all in wild cervids that strolled on across the border right where I told them
it was some 10 years previously, and tried to get them to test there. not until
the state of New Mexico humiliated Texas into cwd testing there, did they find
it. amazing what you will find when you look. same reason why usdainc et al
stopped testing for BSE mad cow disease. course, Texas covered up two of those
cases, and got caught on the last case. finally, after scientist from around the
world, and myself, wrote to the OIG Honorable Phyliss Fong, did they send that
sample to Weybridge, England, and low and behold, that sample came back
positive. they shut the extensive BSE surveillance program down after the two
atypical BSE cases were detected back to back. these are just the facts as I
have come to know them...Four New Positives Found in Trans Pecos CWD
Surveillance. Disease not discovered outside Containment Zone...AUSTIN – Nearly
300 tissue samples were collected from hunter harvested mule deer from the Trans
Pecos ecoregion of far West Texas during the 2012-13 season for Chronic Wasting
Disease (CWD) testing. Texas A&M Veterinary Medical Diagnostic Laboratory
and National Veterinary Services Laboratories (NVSL) have confirmed CWD in four
of those samples. All CWD-positive deer were harvested within the CWD
Containment Zone...Including the two positives reported from TPWD’s strategic
sampling effort last summer, and the three positives reported by New Mexico Game
and Fish last year, CWD has been detected in 9 of 31 deer sampled in the Hueco
Mountains... http://tpwd.texas.gov/newsmedia/releases/?req=20130211c
IF you look at the area around the NM WSMR where the CWD cluster was and
where it borders TEXAS, that ecoregion is called Trans Pecos region. Seems if my
Geography and my Ciphering is correct ;-) that region only tested 55% of it's
goal. THE most important area on the MAP and they only test some 96 samples,
this in an area that has found some 7 positive animals? NOW if we look at the
only other border where these deer from NM could cross the border into TEXAS,
this area is called the High Plains ecoregion, and again, we find that the
sampling for CWD was pathetic. HERE we find that only 9% of it's goal of CWD
sampling was met, only 16 samples were tested from some 175 that were suppose to
be sampled.
AS i said before;
> SADLY, they have not tested enough from the total population to >
know if CWD is in Texas or not.
BUT now, I will go one step further and state categorically that they are
not trying to find it. just the opposite it seems, they are waiting for CWD to
find them, as with BSE/TSE in cattle, and it will eventually... snip...see full
text ;
Singeltary Submission TAHC on CWD rule proposal
Saturday, July 07, 2012
TEXAS Animal Health Commission Accepting Comments on Chronic Wasting
Disease Rule Proposal
Considering the seemingly high CWD prevalence rate in the Sacramento and
Hueco Mountains of New Mexico, CWD may be well established in the population and
in the environment in Texas at this time.
Media Contacts:
Steve Lightfoot, TPWD, 512-389-4701, steve.lightfoot@tpwd.state.tx.us
Yvonne "Bonnie" Ramirez, TAHC, 512-719-0710,
bonnie.ramirez@tahc.state.tx.us
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
July 10, 2012
Chronic Wasting Disease Detected in Far West Texas
AUSTIN -- Samples from two mule deer recently taken in far West Texas have
been confirmed positive for Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD). These are the first
cases of CWD detected in Texas deer. Wildlife officials believe the event is
currently isolated in a remote part of the state near the New Mexico border.
snip...
###
Texas Animal Health Commission (TAHC) 2105 Kramer Lane Austin, Texas 78758
1-800-550-8242
TEXAS CHRONIC WASTING DISEASE CWD Four New Positives Found in Trans Pecos
News Release
Media Contact: Steve Lightfoot, 512-389-4701,
steve.lightfoot@tpwd.state.tx.us
Feb. 11, 2013
Four New Positives Found in Trans Pecos CWD Surveillance
Disease not discovered outside Containment Zone
AUSTIN – Nearly 300 tissue samples were collected from hunter harvested
mule deer from the Trans Pecos ecoregion of far West Texas during the 2012-13
season for Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD) testing. Texas A&M Veterinary
Medical Diagnostic Laboratory and National Veterinary Services Laboratories
(NVSL) have confirmed CWD in four of those samples. All CWD-positive deer were
harvested within the CWD Containment Zone.
SL 2013-02-11
7 MR. BROWN: Madam Chairman, Members, 8 my name is Kirby Brown with the
Texas Wildlife 9 Association. We want to thank the Commission and 10 the staff
for their efforts in this. And, Madam 11 Chairman, your leadership in this
action that's 12 going forward, we appreciate the rapid response, 13 the
professionalism and the science being brought 14 to bear on the issue. We think
that's all very 15 important. 16 We are continuing to work with the 17 Texas
Animal Health Commission on the issue. Our 18 meeting over the next few weeks --
in fact, Monday 19 we have a meeting with Commissioner Wood. And 20 although our
membership continues to have real 21 concern about CWD and entry into the wild,
we 22 think the voluntary actions that are taking place 23 are proceeding at a
rapid pace at this point in 24 time. And we'd like to see that continue. And we
25 believe that's a process, especially with the . 38 1 response that we can get
for herd health plans 2 from the Texas Animal Health Commission staff, 3 which
is -- they're literally overwhelmed right 4 now with so many issues that they
have on their 5 plate. We think this is a good process, we think 6 it's an
effective process, and we appreciate your 7 consideration in that regard. So
with that, 8 that's all I have to say. Thank you very much. 9 CHAIRMAN IDSAL:
After Karl, we have 10 Ellis Gilleland. 11 MR. KINSEL: I second entirely what 12
Kirby just said, but I also wanted to bring it to 13 y'all's attention that the
letter is drafted going 14 out to all scientific breeders, all 467, both TWA 15
and TDA have individually drafted that letter. We 16 intend to do that jointly
to continue showing our 17 joint support and our joint efforts. As soon as 18 we
get clarification from TAHC, that will go as a 19 cover letter on form 0008 of
the Texas Animal 20 Health Commission to enroll as many as possible 21 into the
program. Thank you. 22 CHAIRMAN IDSAL: We may have some 23 questions.
Commissioner Fitzsimons has a question 24 of Mr. Kinsel.
snip...
19 The second thing I want to say is, 20 voluntary law does not work.
George W. Bush 21 approved that. The cold fired power plants 22 throughout this
state that are grandfathered from 23 30, 40 years ago are still belching. They
keep 24 the shell, they rebuild the guts and keep the same 25 within the
grandfather clause. Voluntary -- you . 43 1 lawyers know that. People will take
advantage of 2 voluntary law. It does not work. And it's not in 3 your mission
statement. Everybody want to do 4 this? No. Okay. Don't do it. Everybody don't 5
want to do it? Yeah, okay, do it. That's not 6 government. That's not what
you're being paid to 7 do. So forget about the voluntary stuff. Make a 8 law.
Jerry gave you a good first step. Make a 9 law, there it is. Now, get the
voluntary 10 compliance once you've got the law. That's where 11 you want the
voluntary. Not voluntary eons and 12 eons. There's no -- that's not law. That's
an 13 anarchy. 14 The third thing I want to mention, 15 there's no precedence
for voluntary law. The 16 precedence are coherent laws. We are a nation of 17
laws. Rabies -- let's bring it down to home. 18 Rabies in Texas. Take away the
rabies law and 19 what have we got? We've got a bunch of dead 20 people without
rabies law. There's got to be a 21 CWD law or in a year or two or five years
from now 22 we're going to all be in trouble and go back and 23 all these
(inaudible), well, let's go back and see 24 what happened. Well, we don't have
to do that. 25 Let's take the action now. Get the consensus, get . 44 1 the
voluntary, yeah, yeah, yeah, make a law. Now, 2 do it, and there's a penalty.
Please, the 3 politics are not a factor in this. The heck with 4 them. They can
start dipping ice cream at Dairy 5 Queen or something. They don't have to raise
a 6 deer. Thank you. 7 CHAIRMAN IDSAL: Does staff have any 8 comments or
response on these comments? Does the 9 Commission have any comments? 10 If there
are no comments, is there a 11 motion on this item? 12 COMMISSIONER MONTGOMERY:
Joseph. 13 CHAIRMAN IDSAL: Joseph, did you 14 have a comment? 15 COMMISSIONER
FITZSIMONS: I would 16 move we would adopt the second recommendation. 17
COMMISSIONER MONTGOMERY: Which is 18 to withdraw -- to postpone it? 19
COMMISSIONER RAMOS: To postpone it. 20 CHAIRMAN IDSAL: To postpone it. 21
COMMISSIONER RAMOS: If that's your 22 motion, I'll second that. 23 CHAIRMAN
IDSAL: All in favor? 24 COMMISSIONER FITZSIMONS: And 25 republish.
http://tpwd.texas.gov/business/feedback/meetings/2002/0530/transcripts/public_hearing/
Tuesday, July 10, 2012
Tuesday, July 10, 2012
Chronic Wasting Disease Detected in Far West Texas
Monday, February 11, 2013
TEXAS CHRONIC WASTING DISEASE CWD Four New Positives Found in Trans
Pecos
Thursday, October 03, 2013
TAHC ADOPTS CWD RULE THAT the amendments ***REMOVE*** the requirement for a
specific fence height for captives
Texas Animal Health Commission (TAHC) ANNOUNCEMENT October 3, 2013
Friday, March 14, 2014
TEXAS 2013-2014 CWD TESTING FINDS NO POSITIVES !
Friday, April 04, 2014
No New Positives Found in 2013-14 Trans Pecos CWD Surveillance
http://chronic-wasting-disease.blogspot.com/2014/04/no-new-positives-found-in-2013-14-trans.html
Saturday, February 04, 2012
Saturday, February 04, 2012
*** Wisconsin 16 age limit on testing dead deer Game Farm CWD Testing
Protocol Needs To Be Revised
Approximately 4,200 fawns, defined as deer under 1 year of age, were
sampled from the eradication zone over the last year. The majority of fawns
sampled were between the ages of 5 to 9 months, though some were as young as 1
month.
*** Two of the six fawns with CWD detected were 5 to 6 months old.
All six of the positive fawns were taken from the core area of the CWD
eradication zone where the highest numbers of positive deer have been
identified. ...
snip...
"Finding CWD prions in both lymph and brain tissues of deer this young is
slightly surprising," said Langenberg, "and provides information that CWD
infection and illness may progress more rapidly in a white-tailed deer than
previously suspected. Published literature suggests that CWD doesn't cause
illness in a deer until approximately 16 months of age. Our fawn data shows that
a few wild white-tailed deer may become sick from CWD or may transmit the
disease before they reach that age of 16 months." ... see full text and more
here ; Saturday, February 04, 2012
Wisconsin 16 MONTH age limit on testing dead deer Game Farm CWD Testing
Protocol Needs To Be Revised
Thursday, July 03, 2014
*** How Chronic Wasting Disease is affecting deer population and what’s the
risk to humans and pets?
Tuesday, July 01, 2014
*** CHRONIC WASTING DISEASE CWD TSE PRION DISEASE, GAME FARMS, AND
POTENTIAL RISK FACTORS THERE FROM
===========================================
spreading cwd around...
Between 1996 and 2002, chronic wasting disease was diagnosed in 39 herds of
farmed elk in Saskatchewan in a single epidemic. All of these herds were
depopulated as part of the Canadian Food Inspection Agency’s (CFIA) disease
eradication program. Animals, primarily over 12 mo of age, were tested for the
presence CWD prions following euthanasia. Twenty-one of the herds were linked
through movements of live animals with latent CWD from a single infected source
herd in Saskatchewan, 17 through movements of animals from 7 of the secondarily
infected herds.
***The source herd is believed to have become infected via importation of
animals from a game farm in South Dakota where CWD was subsequently diagnosed
(7,4). A wide range in herd prevalence of CWD at the time of herd depopulation
of these herds was observed. Within-herd transmission was observed on some
farms, while the disease remained confined to the introduced animals on other
farms.
spreading cwd around...
Friday, May 13, 2011
Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD) outbreaks and surveillance program in the
Republic of Korea
Hyun-Joo Sohn, Yoon-Hee Lee, Min-jeong Kim, Eun-Im Yun, Hyo-Jin Kim,
Won-Yong Lee, Dong-Seob Tark, In- Soo Cho, Foreign Animal Disease Research
Division, National Veterinary Research and Quarantine Service, Republic of Korea
Chronic wasting disease (CWD) has been recognized as an important prion
disease in native North America deer and Rocky mountain elks. The disease is a
unique member of the transmissible spongiform encephalopathies (TSEs), which
naturally affects only a few species. CWD had been limited to USA and Canada
until 2000.
On 28 December 2000, information from the Canadian government showed that a
total of 95 elk had been exported from farms with CWD to Korea. These consisted
of 23 elk in 1994 originating from the so-called “source farm” in Canada, and 72
elk in 1997, which had been held in pre export quarantine at the “source
farm”.Based on export information of CWD suspected elk from Canada to Korea, CWD
surveillance program was initiated by the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry
(MAF) in 2001.
All elks imported in 1997 were traced back, however elks imported in 1994
were impossible to identify. CWD control measures included stamping out of all
animals in the affected farm, and thorough cleaning and disinfection of the
premises. In addition, nationwide clinical surveillance of Korean native
cervids, and improved measures to ensure reporting of CWD suspect cases were
implemented.
Total of 9 elks were found to be affected. CWD was designated as a
notifiable disease under the Act for Prevention of Livestock Epidemics in 2002.
Additional CWD cases - 12 elks and 2 elks - were diagnosed in 2004 and
2005.
Since February of 2005, when slaughtered elks were found to be positive,
all slaughtered cervid for human consumption at abattoirs were designated as
target of the CWD surveillance program. Currently, CWD laboratory testing is
only conducted by National Reference Laboratory on CWD, which is the Foreign
Animal Disease Division (FADD) of National Veterinary Research and Quarantine
Service (NVRQS).
In July 2010, one out of 3 elks from Farm 1 which were slaughtered for the
human consumption was confirmed as positive. Consequently, all cervid – 54 elks,
41 Sika deer and 5 Albino deer – were culled and one elk was found to be
positive. Epidemiological investigations were conducted by Veterinary
Epidemiology Division (VED) of NVRQS in collaboration with provincial veterinary
services.
Epidemiologically related farms were found as 3 farms and all cervid at
these farms were culled and subjected to CWD diagnosis. Three elks and 5
crossbreeds (Red deer and Sika deer) were confirmed as positive at farm 2.
All cervids at Farm 3 and Farm 4 – 15 elks and 47 elks – were culled and
confirmed as negative.
Further epidemiological investigations showed that these CWD outbreaks were
linked to the importation of elks from Canada in 1994 based on circumstantial
evidences.
In December 2010, one elk was confirmed as positive at Farm 5.
Consequently, all cervid – 3 elks, 11 Manchurian Sika deer and 20 Sika deer –
were culled and one Manchurian Sika deer and seven Sika deer were found to be
positive. This is the first report of CWD in these sub-species of deer.
Epidemiological investigations found that the owner of the Farm 2 in CWD
outbreaks in July 2010 had co-owned the Farm 5.
In addition, it was newly revealed that one positive elk was introduced
from Farm 6 of Jinju-si Gyeongsang Namdo. All cervid – 19 elks, 15 crossbreed
(species unknown) and 64 Sika deer – of Farm 6 were culled, but all confirmed as
negative.
”The occurrence of CWD must be viewed against the contest of the locations
in which it occurred. It was an incidental and unwelcome complication of the
respective wildlife research programmes. Despite it’s subsequent recognition as
a new disease of cervids, therefore justifying direct investigation, no specific
research funding was forthcoming. The USDA veiwed it as a wildlife problem and
consequently not their province!” ...page 26.
Sunday, January 06, 2013
USDA TO PGC ONCE CAPTIVES ESCAPE
*** "it‘s no longer its business.”
Sunday, July 13, 2014
Louisiana deer mystery unleashes litigation 6 does still missing from CWD
index herd in Pennsylvania Great Escape
Saturday, June 29, 2013
PENNSYLVANIA CAPTIVE CWD INDEX HERD MATE YELLOW *47 STILL RUNNING LOOSE IN
INDIANA, YELLOW NUMBER 2 STILL MISSING, AND OTHERS ON THE RUN STILL IN LOUISIANA
Tuesday, June 11, 2013
*** CWD GONE WILD, More cervid escapees from more shooting pens on the
loose in Pennsylvania
Wednesday, September 04, 2013
***cwd - cervid captive livestock escapes, loose and on the run in the
wild...
Friday, January 30, 2015
*** Scrapie: a particularly persistent pathogen ***
Tuesday, January 06, 2015
APHIS Provides Additional Information on Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD)
Indemnity Requests January 5, 2015 05:26 PM EST
31 Jan 2015 at 20:14 GMT
*** Singeltary reply ;
ruminant feed ban for cervids in the United States ?
31 Jan 2015 at 20:14 GMT
*** The potential impact of prion diseases on human health was greatly
magnified by the recognition that interspecies transfer of BSE to humans by beef
ingestion resulted in vCJD. While changes in animal feed constituents and
slaughter practices appear to have curtailed vCJD, there is concern that CWD of
free-ranging deer and elk in the U.S. might also cross the species barrier.
Thus, consuming venison could be a source of human prion disease. Whether BSE
and CWD represent interspecies scrapie transfer or are newly arisen prion
diseases is unknown. Therefore, the possibility of transmission of prion disease
through other food animals cannot be ruled out. There is evidence that vCJD can
be transmitted through blood transfusion. There is likely a pool of unknown size
of asymptomatic individuals infected with vCJD, and there may be asymptomatic
individuals infected with the CWD equivalent. These circumstances represent a
potential threat to blood, blood products, and plasma supplies.
Monday, November 3, 2014
Persistence of ovine scrapie infectivity in a farm environment following
cleaning and decontamination
*** Conclusion. CWD prions (as inferred by prion seeding activity by
RT-QuIC) are shed in urine of infected deer as early as 6 months post
inoculation and throughout the subsequent disease course. Further studies are in
progress refining the real-time urinary prion assay sensitivity and we are
examining more closely the excretion time frame, magnitude, and sample variables
in relationship to inoculation route and prionemia in naturally and
experimentally CWD-infected cervids.
*** Conclusions. During the pre-symptomatic stage of CWD infection and
throughout the course of disease deer may be shedding multiple LD50 doses per
day in their saliva. CWD prion shedding through saliva and excreta may account
for the unprecedented spread of this prion disease in nature. Acknowledgments.
Supported by NIH grant RO1-NS-061902 and grant D12ZO-045 from the Morris Animal
Foundation.
*** We conclude that TSE infectivity is likely to survive burial for long
time periods with minimal loss of infectivity and limited movement from the
original burial site. However PMCA results have shown that there is the
potential for rainwater to elute TSE related material from soil which could lead
to the contamination of a wider area. These experiments reinforce the importance
of risk assessment when disposing of TSE risk materials.
*** The results show that even highly diluted PrPSc can bind efficiently to
polypropylene, stainless steel, glass, wood and stone and propagate the
conversion of normal prion protein. For in vivo experiments, hamsters were ic
injected with implants incubated in 1% 263K-infected brain homogenate. Hamsters,
inoculated with 263K-contaminated implants of all groups, developed typical
signs of prion disease, whereas control animals inoculated with non-contaminated
materials did not.
PRION 2014 CONFERENCE
CHRONIC WASTING DISEASE CWD
A FEW FINDINGS ;
Conclusions. To our knowledge, this is the first established experimental
model of CWD in TgSB3985. We found evidence for co-existence or divergence of
two CWD strains adapted to Tga20 mice and their replication in TgSB3985 mice.
Finally, we observed phenotypic differences between cervid-derived CWD and
CWD/Tg20 strains upon propagation in TgSB3985 mice. Further studies are underway
to characterize these strains.
We conclude that TSE infectivity is likely to survive burial for long time
periods with minimal loss of infectivity and limited movement from the original
burial site. However PMCA results have shown that there is the potential for
rainwater to elute TSE related material from soil which could lead to the
contamination of a wider area. These experiments reinforce the importance of
risk assessment when disposing of TSE risk materials.
The results show that even highly diluted PrPSc can bind efficiently to
polypropylene, stainless steel, glass, wood and stone and propagate the
conversion of normal prion protein. For in vivo experiments, hamsters were ic
injected with implants incubated in 1% 263K-infected brain homogenate. Hamsters,
inoculated with 263K-contaminated implants of all groups, developed typical
signs of prion disease, whereas control animals inoculated with non-contaminated
materials did not.
Our data establish that meadow voles are permissive to CWD via peripheral
exposure route, suggesting they could serve as an environmental reservoir for
CWD. Additionally, our data are consistent with the hypothesis that at least two
strains of CWD circulate in naturally-infected cervid populations and provide
evidence that meadow voles are a useful tool for CWD strain typing.
Conclusion. CWD prions are shed in saliva and urine of infected deer as
early as 3 months post infection and throughout the subsequent >1.5 year
course of infection. In current work we are examining the relationship of
prionemia to excretion and the impact of excreted prion binding to surfaces and
particulates in the environment.
*** Conclusion. CWD prions (as inferred by prion seeding activity by
RT-QuIC) are shed in urine of infected deer as early as 6 months post
inoculation and throughout the subsequent disease course. Further studies are in
progress refining the real-time urinary prion assay sensitivity and we are
examining more closely the excretion time frame, magnitude, and sample variables
in relationship to inoculation route and prionemia in naturally and
experimentally CWD-infected cervids.
Conclusions. Our results suggested that the odds of infection for CWD is
likely controlled by areas that congregate deer thus increasing direct
transmission (deer-to-deer interactions) or indirect transmission
(deer-to-environment) by sharing or depositing infectious prion proteins in
these preferred habitats. Epidemiology of CWD in the eastern U.S. is likely
controlled by separate factors than found in the Midwestern and endemic areas
for CWD and can assist in performing more efficient surveillance efforts for the
region.
Conclusions. During the pre-symptomatic stage of CWD infection and
throughout the course of disease deer may be shedding multiple LD50 doses per
day in their saliva. CWD prion shedding through saliva and excreta may account
for the unprecedented spread of this prion disease in nature.
see full text and more ;
Monday, June 23, 2014
*** PRION 2014 CONFERENCE CHRONIC WASTING DISEASE CWD
*** Infectious agent of sheep scrapie may persist in the environment for at
least 16 years***
Gudmundur Georgsson1, Sigurdur Sigurdarson2 and Paul Brown3
New studies on the heat resistance of hamster-adapted scrapie agent:
Threshold survival after ashing at 600°C suggests an inorganic template of
replication
Prion Infected Meat-and-Bone Meal Is Still Infectious after Biodiesel
Production
Detection of protease-resistant cervid prion protein in water from a
CWD-endemic area
A Quantitative Assessment of the Amount of Prion Diverted to Category 1
Materials and Wastewater During Processing
Rapid assessment of bovine spongiform encephalopathy prion inactivation by
heat treatment in yellow grease produced in the industrial manufacturing process
of meat and bone meals
Friday, December 14, 2012
DEFRA U.K. What is the risk of Chronic Wasting Disease CWD being introduced
into Great Britain? A Qualitative Risk Assessment October 2012
Tuesday, December 16, 2014
Evidence for zoonotic potential of ovine scrapie prions
Hervé Cassard,1, n1 Juan-Maria Torres,2, n1 Caroline Lacroux,1, Jean-Yves
Douet,1, Sylvie L. Benestad,3, Frédéric Lantier,4, Séverine Lugan,1, Isabelle
Lantier,4, Pierrette Costes,1, Naima Aron,1, Fabienne Reine,5, Laetitia
Herzog,5, Juan-Carlos Espinosa,2, Vincent Beringue5, & Olivier Andréoletti1,
Affiliations Contributions Corresponding author Journal name: Nature
Communications Volume: 5, Article number: 5821 DOI: doi:10.1038/ncomms6821
Received 07 August 2014 Accepted 10 November 2014 Published 16 December 2014
Article tools Citation Reprints Rights & permissions Article metrics
Abstract
Although Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE) is the cause of variant
Creutzfeldt Jakob disease (vCJD) in humans, the zoonotic potential of scrapie
prions remains unknown. Mice genetically engineered to overexpress the human
prion protein (tgHu) have emerged as highly relevant models for gauging the
capacity of prions to transmit to humans. These models can propagate human
prions without any apparent transmission barrier and have been used used to
confirm the zoonotic ability of BSE. Here we show that a panel of sheep scrapie
prions transmit to several tgHu mice models with an efficiency comparable to
that of cattle BSE. The serial transmission of different scrapie isolates in
these mice led to the propagation of prions that are phenotypically identical to
those causing sporadic CJD (sCJD) in humans. These results demonstrate that
scrapie prions have a zoonotic potential and raise new questions about the
possible link between animal and human prions.
Subject terms: Biological sciences• Medical research At a glance
why do we not want to do TSE transmission studies on chimpanzees $
5. A positive result from a chimpanzee challenged severly would likely
create alarm in some circles even if the result could not be interpreted for
man. I have a view that all these agents could be transmitted provided a large
enough dose by appropriate routes was given and the animals kept long enough.
Until the mechanisms of the species barrier are more clearly understood it might
be best to retain that hypothesis.
snip...
R. BRADLEY
Suspect symptoms
What if you can catch old-fashioned CJD by eating meat from a sheep
infected with scrapie?
28 Mar 01
Most doctors believe that sCJD is caused by a prion protein deforming by
chance into a killer. But Singeltary thinks otherwise. He is one of a number of
campaigners who say that some sCJD, like the variant CJD related to BSE, is
caused by eating meat from infected animals. Their suspicions have focused on
sheep carrying scrapie, a BSE-like disease that is widespread in flocks across
Europe and North America.
Now scientists in France have stumbled across new evidence that adds weight
to the campaigners' fears. To their complete surprise, the researchers found
that one strain of scrapie causes the same brain damage in mice as sCJD.
"This means we cannot rule out that at least some sCJD may be caused by
some strains of scrapie," says team member Jean-Philippe Deslys of the French
Atomic Energy Commission's medical research laboratory in Fontenay-aux-Roses,
south-west of Paris. Hans Kretschmar of the University of Göttingen, who
coordinates CJD surveillance in Germany, is so concerned by the findings that he
now wants to trawl back through past sCJD cases to see if any might have been
caused by eating infected mutton or lamb...
2001
Suspect symptoms
What if you can catch old-fashioned CJD by eating meat from a sheep
infected with scrapie?
28 Mar 01
Like lambs to the slaughter
31 March 2001
by Debora MacKenzie Magazine issue 2284.
FOUR years ago, Terry Singeltary watched his mother die horribly from a
degenerative brain disease. Doctors told him it was Alzheimer's, but Singeltary
was suspicious. The diagnosis didn't fit her violent symptoms, and he demanded
an autopsy. It showed she had died of sporadic Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease.
Most doctors believe that sCJD is caused by a prion protein deforming by
chance into a killer. But Singeltary thinks otherwise. He is one of a number of
campaigners who say that some sCJD, like the variant CJD related to BSE, is
caused by eating meat from infected animals. Their suspicions have focused on
sheep carrying scrapie, a BSE-like disease that is widespread in flocks across
Europe and North America.
Now scientists in France have stumbled across new evidence that adds weight
to the campaigners' fears. To their complete surprise, the researchers found
that one strain of scrapie causes the same brain damage in mice as sCJD.
"This means we cannot rule out that at least some sCJD may be caused by
some strains of scrapie," says team member Jean-Philippe Deslys of the French
Atomic Energy Commission's medical research laboratory in Fontenay-aux-Roses,
south-west of Paris. Hans Kretschmar of the University of Göttingen, who
coordinates CJD surveillance in Germany, is so concerned by the findings that he
now wants to trawl back through past sCJD cases to see if any might have been
caused by eating infected mutton or lamb.
Scrapie has been around for centuries and until now there has been no
evidence that it poses a risk to human health. But if the French finding means
that scrapie can cause sCJD in people, countries around the world may have
overlooked a CJD crisis to rival that caused by BSE.
Deslys and colleagues were originally studying vCJD, not sCJD. They
injected the brains of macaque monkeys with brain from BSE cattle, and from
French and British vCJD patients. The brain damage and clinical symptoms in the
monkeys were the same for all three. Mice injected with the original sets of
brain tissue or with infected monkey brain also developed the same symptoms.
As a control experiment, the team also injected mice with brain tissue from
people and animals with other prion diseases: a French case of sCJD; a French
patient who caught sCJD from human-derived growth hormone; sheep with a French
strain of scrapie; and mice carrying a prion derived from an American scrapie
strain. As expected, they all affected the brain in a different way from BSE and
vCJD. But while the American strain of scrapie caused different damage from
sCJD, the French strain produced exactly the same pathology.
"The main evidence that scrapie does not affect humans has been
epidemiology," says Moira Bruce of the neuropathogenesis unit of the Institute
for Animal Health in Edinburgh, who was a member of the same team as Deslys.
"You see about the same incidence of the disease everywhere, whether or not
there are many sheep, and in countries such as New Zealand with no scrapie." In
the only previous comparisons of sCJD and scrapie in mice, Bruce found they were
dissimilar.
But there are more than 20 strains of scrapie, and six of sCJD. "You would
not necessarily see a relationship between the two with epidemiology if only
some strains affect only some people," says Deslys. Bruce is cautious about the
mouse results, but agrees they require further investigation. Other trials of
scrapie and sCJD in mice, she says, are in progress.
People can have three different genetic variations of the human prion
protein, and each type of protein can fold up two different ways. Kretschmar has
found that these six combinations correspond to six clinical types of sCJD: each
type of normal prion produces a particular pathology when it spontaneously
deforms to produce sCJD.
But if these proteins deform because of infection with a disease-causing
prion, the relationship between pathology and prion type should be different, as
it is in vCJD. "If we look at brain samples from sporadic CJD cases and find
some that do not fit the pattern," says Kretschmar, "that could mean they were
caused by infection."
There are 250 deaths per year from sCJD in the US, and a similar incidence
elsewhere. Singeltary and other US activists think that some of these people
died after eating contaminated meat or "nutritional" pills containing dried
animal brain. Governments will have a hard time facing activists like Singeltary
if it turns out that some sCJD isn't as spontaneous as doctors have insisted.
Deslys's work on macaques also provides further proof that the human
disease vCJD is caused by BSE. And the experiments showed that vCJD is much more
virulent to primates than BSE, even when injected into the bloodstream rather
than the brain. This, says Deslys, means that there is an even bigger risk than
we thought that vCJD can be passed from one patient to another through
contaminated blood transfusions and surgical instruments.
Friday, January 30, 2015
*** Scrapie: a particularly persistent pathogen ***
Monday, November 3, 2014
Persistence of ovine scrapie infectivity in a farm environment following
cleaning and decontamination
PPo3-22:
Detection of Environmentally Associated PrPSc on a Farm with Endemic
Scrapie
Ben C. Maddison,1 Claire A. Baker,1 Helen C. Rees,1 Linda A. Terry,2 Leigh
Thorne,2 Susan J. Belworthy2 and Kevin C. Gough3 1ADAS-UK LTD; Department of
Biology; University of Leicester; Leicester, UK; 2Veterinary Laboratories
Agency; Surry, KT UK; 3Department of Veterinary Medicine and Science; University
of Nottingham; Sutton Bonington, Loughborough UK
Key words: scrapie, evironmental persistence, sPMCA
Ovine scrapie shows considerable horizontal transmission, yet the routes of
transmission and specifically the role of fomites in transmission remain poorly
defined. Here we present biochemical data demonstrating that on a
scrapie-affected sheep farm, scrapie prion contamination is widespread. It was
anticipated at the outset that if prions contaminate the environment that they
would be there at extremely low levels, as such the most sensitive method
available for the detection of PrPSc, serial Protein Misfolding Cyclic
Amplification (sPMCA), was used in this study. We investigated the distribution
of environmental scrapie prions by applying ovine sPMCA to samples taken from a
range of surfaces that were accessible to animals and could be collected by use
of a wetted foam swab. Prion was amplified by sPMCA from a number of these
environmental swab samples including those taken from metal, plastic and wooden
surfaces, both in the indoor and outdoor environment. At the time of sampling
there had been no sheep contact with these areas for at least 20 days prior to
sampling indicating that prions persist for at least this duration in the
environment. These data implicate inanimate objects as environmental reservoirs
of prion infectivity which are likely to contribute to disease transmission.
2012
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
snip...
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.
2011
*** After a natural route of exposure, 100% of white-tailed deer were
susceptible to scrapie.
31 Jan 2015 at 20:14 GMT
*** Ruminant feed ban for cervids in the United States? ***
31 Jan 2015 at 20:14 GMT
Friday, December 14, 2012
DEFRA U.K. What is the risk of Chronic Wasting Disease CWD being introduced
into Great Britain? A Qualitative Risk Assessment October 2012
snip...
In the USA, under the Food and Drug Administration’s BSE Feed Regulation
(21 CFR 589.2000) most material (exceptions include milk, tallow, and gelatin)
from deer and elk is prohibited for use in feed for ruminant animals. With
regards to feed for non-ruminant animals, under FDA law, CWD positive deer may
not be used for any animal feed or feed ingredients. For elk and deer considered
at high risk for CWD, the FDA recommends that these animals do not enter the
animal feed system. However, this recommendation is guidance and not a
requirement by law.
Animals considered at high risk for CWD include:
1) animals from areas declared to be endemic for CWD and/or to be CWD
eradication zones and
2) deer and elk that at some time during the 60-month period prior to
slaughter were in a captive herd that contained a CWD-positive animal.
Therefore, in the USA, materials from cervids other than CWD positive
animals may be used in animal feed and feed ingredients for non-ruminants.
The amount of animal PAP that is of deer and/or elk origin imported from
the USA to GB can not be determined, however, as it is not specified in TRACES.
It may constitute a small percentage of the 8412 kilos of non-fish origin
processed animal proteins that were imported from US into GB in 2011.
Overall, therefore, it is considered there is a __greater than negligible
risk___ that (nonruminant) animal feed and pet food containing deer and/or elk
protein is imported into GB.
There is uncertainty associated with this estimate given the lack of data
on the amount of deer and/or elk protein possibly being imported in these
products.
snip...
36% in 2007 (Almberg et al., 2011). In such areas, population declines of
deer of up to 30 to 50% have been observed (Almberg et al., 2011). In areas of
Colorado, the prevalence can be as high as 30% (EFSA, 2011). The clinical signs
of CWD in affected adults are weight loss and behavioural changes that can span
weeks or months (Williams, 2005). In addition, signs might include excessive
salivation, behavioural alterations including a fixed stare and changes in
interaction with other animals in the herd, and an altered stance (Williams,
2005). These signs are indistinguishable from cervids experimentally infected
with bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE). Given this, if CWD was to be
introduced into countries with BSE such as GB, for example, infected deer
populations would need to be tested to differentiate if they were infected with
CWD or BSE to minimise the risk of BSE entering the human food-chain via
affected venison.
snip...
The rate of transmission of CWD has been reported to be as high as 30% and
can approach 100% among captive animals in endemic areas (Safar et al., 2008).
snip...
In summary, in endemic areas, there is a medium probability that the soil
and surrounding environment is contaminated with CWD prions and in a
bioavailable form. In rural areas where CWD has not been reported and deer are
present, there is a greater than negligible risk the soil is contaminated with
CWD prion.
snip...
In summary, given the volume of tourists, hunters and servicemen moving
between GB and North America, the probability of at least one person travelling
to/from a CWD affected area and, in doing so, contaminating their clothing,
footwear and/or equipment prior to arriving in GB is greater than negligible.
For deer hunters, specifically, the risk is likely to be greater given the
increased contact with deer and their environment. However, there is significant
uncertainty associated with these estimates.
snip...
Therefore, it is considered that farmed and park deer may have a higher
probability of exposure to CWD transferred to the environment than wild deer
given the restricted habitat range and higher frequency of contact with tourists
and returning GB residents.
snip...
Friday, December 14, 2012
DEFRA U.K. What is the risk of Chronic Wasting Disease CWD being introduced
into Great Britain? A Qualitative Risk Assessment October 2012
*** The potential impact of prion diseases on human health was greatly
magnified by the recognition that interspecies transfer of BSE to humans by beef
ingestion resulted in vCJD. While changes in animal feed constituents and
slaughter practices appear to have curtailed vCJD, there is concern that CWD of
free-ranging deer and elk in the U.S. might also cross the species barrier.
Thus, consuming venison could be a source of human prion disease. Whether BSE
and CWD represent interspecies scrapie transfer or are newly arisen prion
diseases is unknown. Therefore, the possibility of transmission of prion disease
through other food animals cannot be ruled out. There is evidence that vCJD can
be transmitted through blood transfusion. There is likely a pool of unknown size
of asymptomatic individuals infected with vCJD, and there may be asymptomatic
individuals infected with the CWD equivalent. These circumstances represent a
potential threat to blood, blood products, and plasma supplies.
Monday, March 09, 2015
Chronic Wasting Disease CWD TSE prion and human animal risk factor there
from
Terry S. Singeltary Sr.
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