Big CWD press release coming

[flounder9]

Large-scale PMCA screening of retropharyngeal lymph nodes and in white-tailed deer and comparisons with ELISA and IHC: the Texas CWD study

Rebeca Benaventea, Paulina Sotoa, Mitch Lockwoodb, and Rodrigo Moralesa

aDepartment of Neurology, McGovern Medical School, University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, Texas, USA; bTexas Park and Wildlife Department, Texas, USA

Chronic wasting disease (CWD) is a transmissible spongiform encephalopathy that affects various species of cervids, and both free-ranging and captive animals. Until now, CWD has been detected in 3 continents: North America, Europe, and Asia. CWD prevalence in some states may reach 30% of total animals. In Texas, the first case of CWD was reported in a free-range mule deer in Hudspeth and now it has been detected in additional 14 counties.

Currently, the gold standard techniques used for CWD screening and detection are ELISA and immunohistochemistry (IHC) of obex and retropharyngeal lymph nodes (RPLN). Unfortunately, these methods are known for having a low diagnostic sensitivity. Hence, many CWD-infected animals at pre-symptomatic stages may be misdiagnosed. Two promising in vitro prion amplification techniques, including the real-time quaking-induced conversion (RT-QuIC) and the protein misfolding cyclic amplification (PMCA) have been used to diagnose CWD and other prion diseases in several tissues and bodily fluids. Considering the low cost and speed of RT-QuIC, two recent studies have communicated the potential of this technique to diagnose CWD prions in RPLN samples. Unfortunately, the data presented in these articles suggest that identification of CWD positive samples is comparable to the currently used ELISA and IHC protocols. Similar studies using the PMCA technique have not been reported.

Aims: Compare the CWD diagnostic potential of PMCA with ELISA and IHC in RPLN samples from captive and free-range white-tailed deer.

Material and Methods: In this study we analyzed 1,003 RPLN from both free-ranging and captive white-tailed deer collected in Texas. Samples were interrogated with the PMCA technique for their content of CWD prions. PMCA data was compared with the results obtained through currently approved techniques.

Results: Our results show a 15-fold increase in CWD detection in free-range deer compared with ELISA. Our results unveil the presence of prion infected animals in Texas counties with no previous history of CWD. In the case of captive deer, we detected a 16% more CWD positive animals when compared with IHC. Interestingly, some of these positive samples displayed differences in their electroforetic mobilities, suggesting the presence of different prion strains within the State of Texas.

Conclusions: PMCA sensitivity is significantly higher than the current gold standards techniques IHC and ELISA and would be a good tool for rapid CWD screening.

Funded by: USDA

Grant number: AP20VSSPRS00C143

https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/19336896.2022.2091286

[flounder9]

Chronic wasting disease detection in environmental and biological samples from a taxidermy site

Paulina Sotoa,b, J. Hunter Reedc, Mitch Lockwoodc, and Rodrigo Moralesa,b
aDepartment of Neurology, McGovern Medical School, University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, Texas, USA; bUniversidad Bernardo O’Higgins, Santiago, Chile; cTexas Parks and Wildlife Department, Texas, USA

Chronic wasting disease (CWD) is a transmissible spongiform encephalopathy affecting captive and free-ranging cervids (e.g., mule deer, white-tailed deer, elk, reindeer, and moose). Nowadays, CWD is widely distributed in North America. It is suggested that CWD spreads due to direct animal contact or through exposure to contaminated environments previously inhabited by infected animals. CWD may also be spread through the movement of infected animals and carcasses. Taxidermy practices involve processing deer tissues (or whole animal carcasses). In many cases, the CWD status of processed animals is unknown. This can generate risks of disease spread and transmission. Taxidermy practices include different steps involving physical, chemical, and biological procedures. Without proper tissue handling or disposal practices, taxidermist facilities may become a focus of prion infectivity.

Aims: In this study, we evaluated the presence of infectious prions in a taxidermy facility believed to be exposed to CWD. Detection was performed using the Protein Misfolding Cyclic Amplification (PMCA) technique in biological and inert environmental samples.

Methods: We collected biological and environmental samples (plants, soils, insects, excreta, and others) from a taxidermy facility, and we tested these samples using the PMCA technique. In addition, we swabbed different surfaces possibly exposed to CWD-infected animals. For the PMCA reaction, we directly used a swab piece or 10 µL of 20% w/v homogenized samples.

Results: The PMCA analysis demonstrated CWD seeding activity in some of the components of this facility, including insects involved in head processing, soils, and a trash dumpster.

Conclusions: Different areas of this property were used for various taxidermy procedures. We were able to detect the presence of prions in i) soils that were in contact with the heads of dead animals, ii) insects involved in the cleaning of skulls, and iii) an empty dumpster where animal carcasses were previously placed. This is the first report demonstrating that swabbing is a helpful method to screen for prion infectivity on surfaces potentially contaminated with CWD. These findings are relevant as this swabbing and amplification strategy may be used to evaluate the disease status of other free-ranging and captive settings where there is a concern for CWD transmissions, such as at feeders and water troughs with CWD-exposed properties. This approach could have substantial implications for free-ranging cervid surveillance as well as in epidemiological investigations of CWD.

Funded by: USDA

Grant number: AP20VSSPRS00C143

PRION 2022 ABSTRACTS, AND A BIG THANK YOU TO
On behalf of the Prion2020/2022 Congress Organizing Committee and the NeuroPrion Association, we heartily invite you to join us for the International Conference Prion2020/2022 from 13.-16. September 2022 in Göttingen.

Prion 2022 Conference abstracts: pushing the boundaries

https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/19336896.2022.2091286

kind regards, terry

[Gumbo Man]

So what is this report telling us? That the feds are going to start inspecting Taxidermy facilities CWD exposure resulting in possible soil abatement and further clean up measures and policies?

[flounder9]

So what is this report telling us? That the feds are going to start inspecting Taxidermy facilities CWD exposure resulting in possible soil abatement and further clean up measures and policies?

one would hope that's already happening, been a long time coming...imo.

[Sippy]

Figured I’d beat you to the panic.

This breeder hasn’t brought in any deer in 7 years…
Client is a trace out facility. This won’t be fun.

[trophy8]

Figured I’d beat you to the panic.

This breeder hasn’t brought in any deer in 7 years…
Client is a trace out facility. This won’t be fun.

So it’s either been there dormant in a deer for 7 years or naturally occurred?

[Box-R]

Readers Digest version ?

[Sippy]

So it’s either been there dormant in a deer for 7 years or naturally occurred?

Beats me

[cantexduck]

Anyone notice the new testing zone down south ? Stops short of several large well know low fence ranches………

[Sippy]

Anyone notice the new testing zone down south ? Stops short of several large well know low fence ranches………

Convenient isn’t it.

[flounder9]

So it’s either been there dormant in a deer for 7 years or naturally occurred?

negative...imo!

terrible mess we got ourselves into for sure.

there are so many different ways to bring cwd into a given area, i cannot count all of them, i.e. trucking cwd ie vehicle, equipment, cloths, source from other cwd exposed area and transported in, semen, tse prp exposed animal protein feed or grain and hay exposed to cwd, scavengers, rocky raccoon, as the crow flies, water, environmental factors to many to list here, through body fluids like feces, saliva, blood, or urine, either through direct contact or indirectly through environmental contamination of soil, food or water, and brought in. casual contact with a wild cervid that had cwd.

no cervid has every been proven to spontaneously develop cwd tse prp, or any other species as far as that goes...

***Moreover, sporadic disease has never been observed in breeding colonies or primate research laboratories, most notably among hundreds of animals over several decades of study at the National Institutes of Health25, and in nearly twenty older animals continuously housed in our own facility.***

Even if the prevailing view is that sporadic CJD is due to the spontaneous formation of CJD prions, it remains possible that its apparent sporadic nature may, at least in part, result from our limited capacity to identify an environmental origin.

https://www.nature.com/articles/srep11573

Plants can also represent an important reservoir for CWD contamination and transmission. CWD contaminated pastures can remain infectious for at least 2 years after prion exposure [65]. Regarding the uptake of prions by plants, results are more controversial. One study, using protein misfolding cyclic amplification (PMCA), an ultrasensitive technique for the detection of prions, demonstrated that grass plants exposed to brain or excretions from CWD-infected cervids can uptake prions from the soil and transport them to the aerial parts of the plant [71]. Another study, however, showed that wheat plants do not transport CWD prions from the roots to the stems [72].

It is possible that wild rodents represent a reservoir for CWD in ecosystems considering that these animals are scavengers, and one of the main sources of food for predators. In addition, they can be accidentally consumed by deer or livestock since rodent carcasses contaminate pastures and forage [118].

https://veterinaryresearch.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s13567-021-00986-y

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...

http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20130908115835/http://www.defra.gov.uk/animal-diseases/files/qra_chronic-wasting-disease-121029.pdf

We report that oral exposure to as little as 300 nanograms (ng) of CWD-positive brain or to saliva containing seeding activity equivalent to 300 ng of CWD-positive brain, were sufficient to transmit CWD disease. This was true whether the inoculum was administered as a single bolus or divided as three weekly 100 ng exposures. However, when the 300 ng total dose was apportioned as 10, 30 ng doses delivered over 12 weeks, no infection occurred. While low-dose exposures to prions of brain or saliva origin prolonged the time from inoculation to first detection of infection, once infection was established, we observed no differences in disease pathogenesis. These studies suggest that the CWD minimum infectious dose approximates 100 to 300 ng CWD-positive brain (or saliva equivalent), and that CWD infection appears to conform more with a threshold than a cumulative dose dynamic.

https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0237410

i am thinking of that 10,000,000 POUNDS OF BLOOD LACED MEAT AND BONE MEAL IN COMMERCE WARNING LETTER back in 2007, see;

MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 19, 2022

589.2001 BSE TSE regulations which prohibits the use of high-risk cattle material in feed for all animal species 2022

https://animalhealthreportpriontse.blogspot.com/2022/09/5892001-bse-tse-regulations-which.html

FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 23, 2022

SPILLOVER CWD TSE PRION INTO DIFFERENT SPECIES, pigs, sheep, cattle, camel, and humans, what if?

https://chronic-wasting-disease.blogspot.com/2022/09/spillover-cwd-tse-prion-into-different.html

SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 24, 2022

Texas Chronic Wasting Disease Confirmed at a Limestone County Deer Breeding Facility

https://chronic-wasting-disease.blogspot.com/2022/09/texas-chronic-wasting-disease-confirmed.html

kind regards, terry

[trophy8]

Anyone notice the new testing zone down south ? Stops short of several large well know low fence ranches………

Nah. The breeder haters will have a reason as to why. TWA makes no secret who they represent.

Kinda like Covid. “We don’t know enough about it to truly fix it. So we will make knee jerk reactions that fit our agenda because the blame has to be placed somewhere”. Meanwhile lives are ruined over it.

[kyle1974]

Anyone notice the new testing zone down south ? Stops short of several large well know low fence ranches………

Because that’s the real “big money” that’s driving this CWD train.

[SCHC]

From what I’ve read, Horace Gore and James Kroll believe it has been around for many years and was only “found” when they began a test for it.

[M16]

From what I’ve read, Horace Gore and James Kroll believe it has been around for many years and was only “found” when they began a test for it.

Well that settles it!