Wednesday, July 15, 2015

Additional BSE TSE prion testing detects pathologic lesion in unusual brain location and PrPsc by PMCA only, how many cases have we missed?

Additional BSE TSE prion testing detects pathologic lesion in unusual brain location and PrPsc by PMCA only, how many cases have we missed?

 

 

how many have been consumed?

 

how many are exposed?

 

how many more will die?

 

iatrogenic, what if?

 

P.108: Successful oral challenge of adult cattle with classical BSE

 

Sandor Dudas1,*, Kristina Santiago-Mateo1, Tammy Pickles1, Catherine Graham2, and Stefanie Czub1 1Canadian Food Inspection Agency; NCAD Lethbridge; Lethbridge, Alberta, Canada; 2Nova Scotia Department of Agriculture; Pathology Laboratory; Truro, Nova Scotia, Canada

 

Classical Bovine spongiform encephalopathy (C-type BSE) is a feed- and food-borne fatal neurological disease which can be orally transmitted to cattle and humans. Due to the presence of contaminated milk replacer, it is generally assumed that cattle become infected early in life as calves and then succumb to disease as adults.

 

Here we challenged three 14 months old cattle per-orally with 100 grams of C-type BSE brain to investigate age-related susceptibility or resistance. During incubation, the animals were sampled monthly for blood and feces and subjected to standardized testing to identify changes related to neurological disease.

 

At 53 months post exposure, progressive signs of central nervous system disease were observed in these 3 animals, and they were euthanized. Two of the C-BSE animals tested strongly positive using standard BSE rapid tests,

 

***however in 1 C-type challenged animal, Prion 2015 Poster Abstracts S67 PrPsc was not detected using rapid tests for BSE.

 

***Subsequent testing resulted in the detection of pathologic lesion in unusual brain location and PrPsc detection by PMCA only.

 

Our study demonstrates susceptibility of adult cattle to oral transmission of classical BSE. We are further examining explanations for the unusual disease presentation in the third challenged animal.

 

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

 

HOUND STUDY

 

*** AS implied in the Inset 25 we must not _ASSUME_ that transmission of BSE to other species will invariably present pathology typical of a scrapie-like disease. ***

 

snip...

 


 

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

 

IBNC Tauopathy or TSE Prion disease, it appears, no one is sure

 

Posted by flounder on 03 Jul 2015 at 16:53 GMT

 


 

 

BSE prions propagate as either variant CJD-like or sporadic CJD-like prion strains in transgenic mice expressing human prion protein

 

*** Surprisingly, however, BSE transmission to these transgenic mice, in addition to producing a vCJD-like phenotype, can also result in a distinct molecular phenotype that is indistinguishable from that of sporadic CJD with PrPSc type 2.

 

These data suggest that more than one BSEderived prion strain might infect humans;

 

***it is therefore possible that some patients with a phenotype consistent with sporadic CJD may have a disease arising from BSE exposure.

 

snip...

 

These studies further strengthen the evidence that vCJD is caused by a BSE-like prion strain.

 

Also, remarkably, the key neuropathological hallmark of vCJD, the presence of abundant florid PrP plaques, can be recapitulated on BSE or vCJD transmission to these mice.

 

***However, the most surprising aspect of the studies was the finding that an alternate pattern of disease can be induced in 129MM Tg35 mice from primary transmission of BSE, with a molecular phenotype indistinguishable from that of a subtype of sporadic CJD. This finding has important potential implications as it raises the possibility that some humans infected with BSE prions may develop a clinical disease indistinguishable from classical CJD associated with type 2 PrPSc. This is, in our experience, the commonest molecular sub-type of sporadic CJD. In this regard, it is of interest that the reported incidence of sporadic CJD has risen in the UK since the 1970s (Cousens et al., 1997)...

 


 

 

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

 

Subject: re-BSE prions propagate as either variant CJD-like or sporadic CJD

 

Date: Thu, 28 Nov 2002 10:23:43 -0000

 

From: "Asante, Emmanuel A" e.asante@ic.ac.uk

 

To: "'flounder@wt.net'" flounder@wt.net

 

Dear Terry,

 

I have been asked by Professor Collinge to respond to your request. I am a Senior Scientist in the MRC Prion Unit and the lead author on the paper. I have attached a pdf copy of the paper for your attention.

 

Thank you for your interest in the paper.

 

In respect of your first question, the simple answer is, ***yes. As you will find in the paper, we have managed to associate the alternate phenotype to type 2 PrPSc, the commonest sporadic CJD. It is too early to be able to claim any further sub-classification in respect of Heidenhain variant CJD or Vicky Rimmer's version. It will take further studies, which are on-going, to establish if there are sub-types to our initial finding which we are now reporting. The main point of the paper is that, as well as leading to the expected new variant CJD phenotype, BSE transmission to the 129-methionine genotype can lead to an alternate phenotype which is indistinguishable from type 2 PrPSc.

 

I hope reading the paper will enlighten you more on the subject. If I can be of any further assistance please to not hesitate to ask. Best wishes.

 

Emmanuel Asante

 

<>

 

____________________________________

 

Dr. Emmanuel A Asante MRC Prion Unit & Neurogenetics Dept. Imperial College School of Medicine (St. Mary's) Norfolk Place, LONDON W2 1PG Tel: +44 (0)20 7594 3794 Fax: +44 (0)20 7706 3272 email: e.asante@ic.ac.uk (until 9/12/02) New e-mail: e.asante@prion.ucl.ac.uk (active from now)

 

____________________________________

 

 

***Our study demonstrates susceptibility of adult cattle to oral transmission of classical BSE. ***

 

P.86: Estimating the risk of transmission of BSE and scrapie to ruminants and humans by protein misfolding cyclic amplification

 

Morikazu Imamura, Naoko Tabeta, Yoshifumi Iwamaru, and Yuichi Murayama National Institute of Animal Health; Tsukuba, Japan

 

To assess the risk of the transmission of ruminant prions to ruminants and humans at the molecular level, we investigated the ability of abnormal prion protein (PrPSc) of typical and atypical BSEs (L-type and H-type) and typical scrapie to convert normal prion protein (PrPC) from bovine, ovine, and human to proteinase K-resistant PrPSc-like form (PrPres) using serial protein misfolding cyclic amplification (PMCA).

 

Six rounds of serial PMCA was performed using 10% brain homogenates from transgenic mice expressing bovine, ovine or human PrPC in combination with PrPSc seed from typical and atypical BSE- or typical scrapie-infected brain homogenates from native host species. In the conventional PMCA, the conversion of PrPC to PrPres was observed only when the species of PrPC source and PrPSc seed matched. However, in the PMCA with supplements (digitonin, synthetic polyA and heparin), both bovine and ovine PrPC were converted by PrPSc from all tested prion strains. On the other hand, human PrPC was converted by PrPSc from typical and H-type BSE in this PMCA condition.

 

Although these results were not compatible with the previous reports describing the lack of transmissibility of H-type BSE to ovine and human transgenic mice, ***our findings suggest that possible transmission risk of H-type BSE to sheep and human. Bioassay will be required to determine whether the PMCA products are infectious to these animals.

 

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

 

***Our study demonstrates susceptibility of adult cattle to oral transmission of classical BSE. ***

 

P.86: Estimating the risk of transmission of BSE and scrapie to ruminants and humans by protein misfolding cyclic amplification

 

Morikazu Imamura, Naoko Tabeta, Yoshifumi Iwamaru, and Yuichi Murayama National Institute of Animal Health; Tsukuba, Japan

 

To assess the risk of the transmission of ruminant prions to ruminants and humans at the molecular level, we investigated the ability of abnormal prion protein (PrPSc) of typical and atypical BSEs (L-type and H-type) and typical scrapie to convert normal prion protein (PrPC) from bovine, ovine, and human to proteinase K-resistant PrPSc-like form (PrPres) using serial protein misfolding cyclic amplification (PMCA).

 

Six rounds of serial PMCA was performed using 10% brain homogenates from transgenic mice expressing bovine, ovine or human PrPC in combination with PrPSc seed from typical and atypical BSE- or typical scrapie-infected brain homogenates from native host species. In the conventional PMCA, the conversion of PrPC to PrPres was observed only when the species of PrPC source and PrPSc seed matched. However, in the PMCA with supplements (digitonin, synthetic polyA and heparin), both bovine and ovine PrPC were converted by PrPSc from all tested prion strains. On the other hand, human PrPC was converted by PrPSc from typical and H-type BSE in this PMCA condition.

 

Although these results were not compatible with the previous reports describing the lack of transmissibility of H-type BSE to ovine and human transgenic mice, ***our findings suggest that possible transmission risk of H-type BSE to sheep and human. Bioassay will be required to determine whether the PMCA products are infectious to these animals.

 

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

 


 


 

***however in 1 C-type challenged animal, Prion 2015 Poster Abstracts S67 PrPsc was not detected using rapid tests for BSE.

 

***Subsequent testing resulted in the detection of pathologic lesion in unusual brain location and PrPsc detection by PMCA only.

 

IBNC Tauopathy or TSE Prion disease, it appears, no one is sure

 

Posted by flounder on 03 Jul 2015 at 16:53 GMT

 


 

 Tuesday, November 02, 2010

 

*** BSE - ATYPICAL LESION DISTRIBUTION (RBSE 92-21367) statutory (obex only) diagnostic criteria CVL 1992 ***

 

Greetings BSE-L members et al,

 

THIS seems to be another lesson on 'how not to find BSE' via the 'statutory (obex only) diagnostic criteria'. However, this was some 10 years before Dr. Detwiler was warning of this very practice, and how they would be 'MISSING' cases of BSE if USED, which the USDA et al seemed to use as the 'GOLD STANDARD'. NOW we see the UK used it. This seems to put a different light on the true numbers of BSE mad cow cases that were documented, or, better yet, how many were NOT documented $$$ IN THE USA AND ABROAD ???

 

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

 

ATYPICAL LESION DISTRIBUTION (RBSE 92/21367)

 

A 6 year old, home bred (HB), Friesian x Holstein cow in a dairy herd in Aberdeenshirer submitted as a suspect BSE case in the negative study (SE0203), has been diagnosed as BSE negative on standard, statutory (obex only), diagnostic criteria at CVL.

 

Further examination by Dr Jeffrey at Lasswade, as required by the project design, has revealed vacuolar change in the septal nucleus and putamen which co-localised with PrP immunoreactivity. No significant lesions were found in any other part of the brain, neither was PrP found in the medulla.

 

It is important to note that examination of four brain blocks used earlier in the epidemic would not have detected the lesion but a 16 block study (as used in the very days of BSE) would.

 

FURTHER INFORMATION

 

The herd of origin has had 15, HB, suspect cases of BSE since July 1989 and a further case is still alive.

 

2. Of the 15, eight have been confirmed by standard histopathology and seven diagnosed negative (including the above case).

 

3. Fixed brain tissue from the negative cases exists at Lasswade (because they always collect whole brain in Scotland) but has not so far been examined further. No frozen tissue was collected so neither SAF nor PrP detection (by immunoblotting) has been attempted.

 

4. Mr Wells agrees with Dr Jeffrey's and Dr Simmons' findings.

 

FURTHER ACTION IN PROGRESS

 

1. The brain tissue from the negative cases will be examined in detail by conventional histopathology and ICC.

 

2. Kevin Taylor and his veterinary colleagues have been alerted to the situation.

 

OTHER RECOMMENDED ACTIONS

 

1. TRANSMISSION Attempt transmission from the 'case' to standard mice strains. (Note: In regard to strain typing, formalin may have modified strain phenotype - we need to discuss with NPU). Further transmission studies (eg in cattle) might be suggested if primary transmission in mice fails. These proposals have funding implications.

 

CODE 18-77

 

93/2.17/1.1

 

2. PrP GENOTYPING - Although only fixed brain tissue is available we are considering genotyping from parents/offspring/fixed brain. As a first step we are attempting to extract DNA from the fixed brain and to amplify the PrP gene by PCR.

 

3. John Wilesmith has interrogated the data base for the herd history. Other than the high proportion of negative cases nothing significant is apparent.

 

4. Familial relationships between suspect (including positive and negative) cases in this herd could be examined and tracings of breeding animals initiated.

 

5. Consideration might be given to collecting frozen spinal cord from new cases in this herd or in dispersals from it for (SAF/PrP examination).

 

CONCLUSIONS

 

1. At present it is unclear whether or not this is a singleton incident or whether the other negative cases in this herd show a similar lesion.

 

2. The discovery might indicate the existence of a different strain of BSE from that present in the general epidemic or an unusual response by an individual host.

 

3. If further atypical lesion distribution cases are revealed in this herd then implications of misdiagnosis of 'negative' cases in other herds may not be insignificant.

 

4. If this is a new strain all the implications need to be considered including whether or not to proceed with the further investigation of future cases negative for BSE on obex examination alone and from which whole brains are available (as in Scotland) or collected in the future. Also perhaps investigation of the tissue distribution of infectivity in these animals might be considered.

 

5. Animal and public health controls in place should be sufficient since all tissues (other than brain for diagnosis) are incinerated.

 

We observe that Dr Tyrrell would wish to be informed of this at an early opportunity and that the SEAC would wish to discuss it at their meeting in April.

 

R BRADLEY

 

M DAWSON

 

17 February 1993

 

CVO - for information and comment on further action please

 

cc Mr K C Taylor

 

Dr B J Shreeve

 

93/2.17/1.2

 

This minute is re-issued with a wider distribution.

 

The information contained herein should not be disseminated further except on the basis of "NEED TO KNOW".

 

Mr Scudamore

 

Mr R C Lowson

 

Dr D Matthews

 

Mr I Robertson

 

Dr K MacOwan

 

Mr C Randall

 

Mr J W Wilesmith

 

Mr G A H Wells

 

Dr M Jeffrey

 

Dr M Simmons

 

93/2.17/1.3

 


 

IN CONFIDENCE

 

BSE - ATYPICAL LESION DISTRIBUTION (RBSE 92-21367)

 


 

1992

 

NEW BRAIN DISORDER

 

3. WHAT ABOUT REPORTS OF NEW FORM OF BSE ?

 

THE VETERINARY RECORD HAS PUBLISHED AN ARTICLE ON A NEW BRAIN DISORDER OF CATTLE DISCOVERED THROUGH OUR CONTROL MEASURES FOR BSE. ALTHOUGH IT PRESENTS SIMILAR CLINICAL SIGNS TO BSE THERE ARE MAJOR DIFFERENCES IN HISTOPATHOLOGY AND INCUBATION PERIODS BETWEEN THE TWO. MUST EMPHASISE THAT THIS IS _NOT_ BSE.

 

4. IS THIS NEW BRAIN DISORDER A THREAT ?

 

WE DO NOT EVEN KNOW WHETHER THE AGENT OF THIS DISEASE IS TRANSMISSIBLE. IN ANY CASE, CASES SO FAR IDENTIFIED HAD SHOWN SIMILAR SYMPTOMS TO THOSE OF BSE, AND THEREFORE HAVE BEEN SLAUGHTERED AND INCINERATED, SO THAT IF A TRANSMISSIBLE AGENT WERE INVOLVED IT WOULD HAVE BEEN ELIMINATED. ...

 


 

Tuesday, November 17, 2009

 

SEAC NEW RESULTS ON IDIOPATHIC BRAINSTEM NEURONAL CHROMATOLYSIS (IBNC) FROM THE VETERINARY LABORATORIES AGENCY (VLA) SEAC 103/1

 


 

NEW RESULTS ON IDIOPATHIC BRAINSTEM NEURONAL CHROMATOLYSIS "All of the 15 cattle tested showed that the brains had abnormally accumulated PrP" 2009

 


 

NOW, read the following please, and then ask yourself, WHY the USDA et al were ONLY TESTING THE OBEX PART OF THE BRAIN in USA cattle for BSE $$$

 

BECAUSE they knew that would be the least likely way to find BSE/TSE in USA cattle $$$...TSS

 

=========

 

Discussion

 

In the five cats in this study with a spongiform encephalopathy, fibrils were observed by electron microscopy and their major protein, Prpsc, was identified by SDS-PAGE and Western blot. The fibrils were similar to those described in sheep with scrapie (Rubenstein and others 1987, Gibson and others 1987, Scott and others 1987, Dawson and others 1987), cattle with bovine spongiform encephalopathy (Wells and others 1987, Hope and others 1988, Scott and others 1990) and humans with Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (Merz and others 1984).

 

In sheep with scrapie, fibrils can be readily detected in several areas of the brain, including cerebral cortex (Stack and others 1991).

 

By contrast, the frequency with which fibrils were detected in cattle with BSE, DEPENDED ON THE REGION OF THE BRAIN SAMPLED; THE HIGHEST YIELD BEING OBTAINED FROM MEDULLA, MIDBRAIN, THALAMUS AND BASAL NUCLEI WHERE VACUOLA CHANGES ARE PRESENT (Scott and others 1990). This correlation between PrPsc accumulation and vacuolar pathology is also well established in laboratory animal models of scrapie (Bruce and others 1989). Because of the widespread distribution of changes in FSE (Whatt and others 1991) and the requirement, in the present study, not to compromise the histopathological examination of the brain, the frontal region of the cerebrum was therefore selected for fibril and PrPsc examinations. However, studies of the sensitivity of fibril detection in different parts of the brain in cats with FSE are required to determine whether detection can be made as readliy in other regions as in the frontal cerebral cortex.

 

IT IS OF INTEREST, that fibrils were detected in the brains of 3 cats (cases 9, 13, & 18) WITHOUT histopathological evidence of spongiform encephalopathy, and that in only one of them, (case 9), a Western blot for modified PrP was positive. There are precedents for the occurrence of abnormal PrP in the organs of animals incubation scrapie prior to clinical signs and/or spongiform encephalopathy...

 

snip...

 

(please see full text (and one might start downloading these documents for future use, as some disappear never to re-appear, as in some of the FDA's. ...TSS)

 


 

PLEASE NOTE *

 

Over the next 8-10 weeks, approximately 40% of all the adult mink on the farm died from TME.

 

snip...

 

The rancher was a ''dead stock'' feeder using mostly (>95%) downer or dead dairy cattle...

 


 

AND THE USDA ET AL KNEW IT TOO ;

 

"These 9,200 cases were different because brain tissue samples were preserved with formalin, which makes them suitable for only one type of test--immunohistochemistry, or IHC."

 

THIS WAS DONE FOR A REASON!

 

THE IHC test has been proven to be the LEAST LIKELY to detect BSE/TSE in the bovine, and these were probably from the most high risk cattle pool, the ones the USDA et al, SHOULD have been testing. ...TSS

 

USDA 2003

 

We have to be careful that we don't get so set in the way we do things that we forget to look for different emerging variations of disease. We've gotten away from collecting the whole brain in our systems. We're using the brain stem and we're looking in only one area. In Norway, they were doing a project and looking at cases of Scrapie, and they found this where they did not find lesions or PRP in the area of the obex. They found it in the cerebellum and the cerebrum. It's a good lesson for us. Ames had to go back and change the procedure for looking at Scrapie samples. In the USDA, we had routinely looked at all the sections of the brain, and then we got away from it. They've recently gone back. Dr. Keller: Tissues are routinely tested, based on which tissue provides an 'official' test result as recognized by APHIS.

 

Dr. Detwiler: That's on the slaughter. But on the clinical cases, aren't they still asking for the brain? But even on the slaughter, they're looking only at the brainstem. We may be missing certain things if we confine ourselves to one area.

 

snip.............

 

Dr. Detwiler: It seems a good idea, but I'm not aware of it. Another important thing to get across to the public is that the negatives do not guarantee absence of infectivity. The animal could be early in the disease and the incubation period. Even sample collection is so important. If you're not collecting the right area of the brain in sheep, or if collecting lymphoreticular tissue, and you don't get a good biopsy, you could miss the area with the PRP in it and come up with a negative test. There's a new, unusual form of Scrapie that's been detected in Norway. We have to be careful that we don't get so set in the way we do things that we forget to look for different emerging variations of disease. We've gotten away from collecting the whole brain in our systems. We're using the brain stem and we're looking in only one area. In Norway, they were doing a project and looking at cases of Scrapie, and they found this where they did not find lesions or PRP in the area of the obex. They found it in the cerebellum and the cerebrum. It's a good lesson for us. Ames had to go back and change the procedure for looking at Scrapie samples. In the USDA, we had routinely looked at all the sections of the brain, and then we got away from it. They've recently gone back.

 

Dr. Keller: Tissues are routinely tested, based on which tissue provides an 'official' test result as recognized by APHIS .

 

Dr. Detwiler: That's on the slaughter. But on the clinical cases, aren't they still asking for the brain? But even on the slaughter, they're looking only at the brainstem. We may be missing certain things if we confine ourselves to one area.

 

snip...

 

FULL TEXT;

 

Completely Edited Version PRION ROUNDTABLE

 

Accomplished this day, Wednesday, December 11, 2003, Denver, Colorado

 

END...TSS

 

==========

 

Subject: USDA OIG SEMIANNUAL REPORT TO CONGRESS FY 2007 1st Half (bogus BSE sampling FROM HEALTHY USDA CATTLE)

 

Date: June 21, 2007 at 2:49 pm PST

 

Owner and Corporation Plead Guilty to Defrauding Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE) Surveillance Program

 

An Arizona meat processing company and its owner pled guilty in February 2007 to charges of theft of Government funds, mail fraud, and wire fraud. The owner and his company defrauded the BSE Surveillance Program when they falsified BSE Surveillance Data Collection Forms and then submitted payment requests to USDA for the services. In addition to the targeted sample population (those cattle that were more than 30 months old or had other risk factors for BSE), the owner submitted to USDA, or caused to be submitted, BSE obex (brain stem) samples from healthy USDA-inspected cattle. As a result, the owner fraudulently received approximately $390,000. Sentencing is scheduled for May 2007.

 

snip...

 

Topics that will be covered in ongoing or planned reviews under Goal 1 include:

 

soundness of BSE maintenance sampling (APHIS),

 

implementation of Performance-Based Inspection System enhancements for specified risk material (SRM) violations and improved inspection controls over SRMs (FSIS and APHIS),

 

snip...

 

The findings and recommendations from these efforts will be covered in future semiannual reports as the relevant audits and investigations are completed.

 

4 USDA OIG SEMIANNUAL REPORT TO CONGRESS FY 2007 1st Half

 


 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Statement May 4, 2004 Media Inquiries: 301-827-6242 Consumer Inquiries: 888-INFO-FDA

 

Statement on Texas Cow With Central Nervous System Symptoms

 

On Friday, April 30 th , the Food and Drug Administration learned that a cow with central nervous system symptoms had been killed and shipped to a processor for rendering into animal protein for use in animal feed.

 

FDA, which is responsible for the safety of animal feed, immediately began an investigation. On Friday and throughout the weekend, FDA investigators inspected the slaughterhouse, the rendering facility, the farm where the animal came from, and the processor that initially received the cow from the slaughterhouse.

 

FDA's investigation showed that the animal in question had already been rendered into "meat and bone meal" (a type of protein animal feed). Over the weekend FDA was able to track down all the implicated material. That material is being held by the firm, which is cooperating fully with FDA.

 


 


 

THE USDA JUNE 2004 ENHANCED BSE SURVEILLANCE PROGRAM WAS TERRIBLY FLAWED ;

 

CDC DR. PAUL BROWN TSE EXPERT COMMENTS 2006

 

In an article today for United Press International, science reporter Steve Mitchell writes:

 

Analysis: What that mad cow means

 

By STEVE MITCHELL UPI Senior Medical Correspondent

 

WASHINGTON, March 15 (UPI) -- The U.S. Department of Agriculture was quick to assure the public earlier this week that the third case of mad cow disease did not pose a risk to them, but what federal officials have not acknowledged is that this latest case indicates the deadly disease has been circulating in U.S. herds for at least a decade.

 

The second case, which was detected last year in a Texas cow and which USDA officials were reluctant to verify, was approximately 12 years old.

 

These two cases (the latest was detected in an Alabama cow) present a picture of the disease having been here for 10 years or so, since it is thought that cows usually contract the disease from contaminated feed they consume as calves. The concern is that humans can contract a fatal, incurable, brain-wasting illness from consuming beef products contaminated with the mad cow pathogen.

 

"The fact the Texas cow showed up fairly clearly implied the existence of other undetected cases," Dr. Paul Brown, former medical director of the National Institutes of Health's Laboratory for Central Nervous System Studies and an expert on mad cow-like diseases, told United Press International. "The question was, 'How many?' and we still can't answer that."

 

Brown, who is preparing a scientific paper based on the latest two mad cow cases to estimate the maximum number of infected cows that occurred in the United States, said he has "absolutely no confidence in USDA tests before one year ago" because of the agency's reluctance to retest the Texas cow that initially tested positive.

 

USDA officials finally retested the cow and confirmed it was infected seven months later, but only at the insistence of the agency's inspector general.

 

"Everything they did on the Texas cow makes everything they did before 2005 suspect," Brown said.

 

Despite this, Brown said the U.S. prevalence of mad cow, formally known as bovine spongiform encephalopathy, or BSE, did not significantly threaten human or cattle health.

 

"Overall, my view is BSE is highly unlikely to pose any important risk either in cattle feed or human feed," he said.

 

However, Jean Halloran of Consumers Union in Yonkers, N.Y., said consumers should be troubled by the USDA's secrecy and its apparent plan to dramatically cut back the number of mad cow tests it conducts.

 

"Consumers should be very concerned about how little we know about the USDA's surveillance program and the failure of the USDA to reveal really important details," Halloran told UPI. "Consumers have to be really concerned if they're going to cut back the program," she added.

 

Last year the USDA tested more than 300,000 animals for the disease, but it has proposed, even in light of a third case, scaling back the program to 40,000 tests annually.

 

"They seem to be, in terms of actions and policies, taking a lot more seriously the concerns of the cattle industry than the concerns of consumers," Halloran said. "It's really hard to know what it takes to get this administration to take action to protect the public."

 

The USDA has insisted that the safeguards of a ban on incorporating cow tissue into cattle feed (which is thought to spread the disease) and removal of the most infectious parts of cows, such as the brain and spinal cord, protect consumers. But the agency glosses over the fact that both of these systems have been revealed to be inadequately implemented.

 

The feed ban, which is enforced by the Food and Drug Administration, has been criticized by the Government Accountability Office in two reports, the most recent coming just last year. The GAO said the FDA's enforcement of the ban continues to have weaknesses that "undermine the nation's firewall against BSE."

 

USDA documents released last year showed more than 1,000 violations of the regulations requiring the removal of brains and spinal cords in at least 35 states, Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands, with some plants being cited repeatedly for infractions. In addition, a violation of similar regulations that apply to beef exported to Japan is the reason why Japan closed its borders to U.S. beef in January six weeks after reopening them.

 

Other experts also question the adequacy of the USDA's surveillance system. The USDA insists the prevalence of mad cow disease is low, but the agency has provided few details of its surveillance program, making it difficult for outside experts to know if the agency's monitoring plan is sufficient.

 

"It's impossible to judge the adequacy of the surveillance system without having a breakdown of the tested population by age and risk status," Elizabeth Mumford, a veterinarian and BSE expert at Safe Food Solutions in Bern, Switzerland, a company that provides advice on reducing mad cow risk to industry and governments, told UPI.

 

"Everybody would be happier and more confident and in a sense it might be able to go away a little bit for (the USDA) if they would just publish a breakdown on the tests," Mumford added.

 

UPI requested detailed records about animals tested under the USDA's surveillance plan via the Freedom of Information Act in May 2004 but nearly two years later has not received any corresponding documents from the agency, despite a federal law requiring agencies to comply within 30 days. This leaves open the question of whether the USDA is withholding the information, does not have the information or is so haphazardly organized that it cannot locate it.

 

Mumford said the prevalence of the disease in U.S. herds is probably quite low, but there have probably been other cases that have so far gone undetected. "They're only finding a very small fraction of that low prevalence," she said.

 

Mumford expressed surprise at the lack of concern about the deadly disease from American consumers. "I would expect the U.S. public to be more concerned," she said.

 

Markus Moser, a molecular biologist and chief executive officer of Prionics, a Swiss firm that manufactures BSE test kits, told UPI one concern is that if people are infected, the mad cow pathogen could become "humanized" or more easily transmitted from person to person.

 

"Transmission would be much easier, through all kinds of medical procedures" and even through the blood supply, Moser said.

 

© Copyright 2006 United Press International, Inc. All Rights Reserved

 


 


 

CDC - Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy and Variant Creutzfeldt ... Dr. Paul Brown is Senior Research Scientist in the Laboratory of Central Nervous System ... Address for correspondence: Paul Brown, Building 36, Room 4A-05, ...

 


 

PAUL BROWN COMMENT TO ME ON THIS ISSUE

 

Tuesday, September 12, 2006 11:10 AM

 

"Actually, Terry, I have been critical of the USDA handling of the mad cow issue for some years, and with Linda Detwiler and others sent lengthy detailed critiques and recommendations to both the USDA and the Canadian Food Agency." ........TSS

 


 

OR, what the Honorable Phyllis Fong of the OIG found ;

 

Audit Report Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE) Surveillance Program ­ Phase II and Food Safety and Inspection Service

 

Controls Over BSE Sampling, Specified Risk Materials, and Advanced Meat Recovery Products - Phase III

 

Report No. 50601-10-KC January 2006

 

Finding 2 Inherent Challenges in Identifying and Testing High-Risk Cattle Still Remain

 


 

THIS is just ONE month report, of TWO recalls of prohibited banned MBM, which is illegal, mixed with 85% blood meal, which is still legal, but yet we know the TSE/BSE agent will transmit blood. we have this l-BSE in North America that is much more virulent and there is much concern with blood issue and l-BSE as there is with nvCJD in humans. some are even starting to be concerned with sporadic CJD and blood, and there are studies showing transmission there as well. ... this is one month recall page, where 10 MILLION POUNDS OF BANNED MAD COW FEED WENT OUT INTO COMMERCE, TO BE FED OUT. very little of the product that reaches commerce is ever returned via recall, very, very little. this was 2007, TEN YEARS AFTER THE AUGUST 4, 1997, PARTIAL AND VOLUNTARY MAD COW FEED BAN IN THE USA, that was nothing but ink on paper. i have listed the tonnage of mad cow feed that was in ALABAMA in one of the links too, this is where the infamous g-h-BSEalabama case was, a genetic relation matching the new sporadic CJD in the USA. seems this saga just keeps getting better and better.......$$$

 

10,000,000+ LBS. of PROHIBITED BANNED MAD COW FEED I.E. BLOOD LACED MBM IN COMMERCE USA 2007

 

snip...see full text ;

 

Tuesday, November 02, 2010

 

IN CONFIDENCE

 

The information contained herein should not be disseminated further except on the basis of "NEED TO KNOW".

 

BSE - ATYPICAL LESION DISTRIBUTION (RBSE 92-21367) statutory (obex only) diagnostic criteria CVL 1992

 


 

2009 UPDATE ON ALABAMA AND TEXAS MAD COWS 2005 and 2006

 


 

Comments on technical aspects of the risk assessment were then submitted to FSIS.

 

Comments were received from Food and Water Watch, Food Animal Concerns Trust (FACT), Farm Sanctuary, R-CALF USA, Linda A Detwiler, and Terry S. Singeltary.

 

This document provides itemized replies to the public comments received on the 2005 updated Harvard BSE risk assessment. Please bear the following points in mind:

 


 

Owens, Julie

 

From: Terry S. Singeltary Sr. [flounder9@verizon.net]

 

Sent: Monday, July 24, 2006 1:09 PM

 

To: FSIS RegulationsComments

 

Subject: [Docket No. FSIS-2006-0011] FSIS Harvard Risk Assessment of Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE)

 

Page 1 of 98

 


 

FSIS, USDA, REPLY TO SINGELTARY

 


 

Friday, April 19, 2013

 

APHIS 2013 Stakeholder Meeting (March 2013) BSE TSE PRION

 


 

Saturday, December 15, 2012

 

Bovine spongiform encephalopathy: the effect of oral exposure dose on attack rate and incubation period in cattle -- an update 5 December 2012

 


 

 ========

 

Thursday, May 02, 2013

 

$$$ Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD) Texas Important Update on OBEX ONLY TESTING $$$

 


 

 Wednesday, July 01, 2015

 

TEXAS Chronic Wasting Disease Detected in Medina County Captive Deer

 


 

Thursday, July 09, 2015

 

TEXAS Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD) Herd Plan for Trace-Forward Exposed Herd with Testing of Exposed Animals

 


 

Tuesday, July 14, 2015

 

Texas Parks and Wildlife Commission Special Meeting Thursday on Chronic Wasting Disease CWD

 


 

Wednesday, March 18, 2015

 

Chronic Wasting Disease CWD Confirmed Texas Trans Pecos March 18, 2015

 


 

Wednesday, March 25, 2015

 

Chronic Wasting Disease CWD Cases Confirmed In New Mexico 2013 and 2014 UPDATE 2015

 


 

Thursday, May 02, 2013

 

*** Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD) Texas Important Update on OBEX ONLY TEXTING

 


 

Monday, February 11, 2013

 

TEXAS CHRONIC WASTING DISEASE CWD Four New Positives Found in Trans Pecos

 


 

Tuesday, July 10, 2012

 

Chronic Wasting Disease Detected in Far West Texas

 


 

Monday, March 26, 2012

 

Texas Prepares for Chronic Wasting Disease CWD Possibility in Far West Texas

 


 

***for anyone interested, here is some history of CWD along the Texas, New Mexico border, and my attempt to keep up with it...terry

 

snip...

 

see history CWD Texas, New Mexico Border ;

 

Monday, March 26, 2012

 

3 CASES OF CWD FOUND NEW MEXICO MULE DEER SEVERAL MILES FROM TEXAS BORDER

 


 

Sunday, October 04, 2009

 

CWD NEW MEXICO SPREADING SOUTH TO TEXAS 2009 2009 Summary of Chronic Wasting Disease in New Mexico New Mexico Department of Game and Fish

 


 

Friday, May 22, 2015

 

*** Chronic Wasting Disease and Program Updates - 2014 NEUSAHA Annual Meeting 12-14 May 2014

 


 

Sunday, July 12, 2015

 

*** Insights into CWD and BSE species barriers using real-time conversion

 


 

DEFRA Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs

 

Area 307, London, SW1P 4PQ Telephone: 0207 904 6000 Direct line: 0207 904 6287 E-mail: h.mcdonagh.defra.gsi.gov.uk

 

GTN: FAX:

 

Mr T S Singeltary P.O. Box 42 Bacliff Texas USA 77518

 

21 November 2001

 

Dear Mr Singeltary

 

TSE IN HOUNDS

 

Thank you for e-mail regarding the hounds survey. I am sorry for the long delay in responding.

 

As you note, the hound survey remains unpublished. However the Spongiform Encephalopathy Advisory Committee (SEAC), the UK Government's independent Advisory Committee on all aspects related to BSE-like disease, gave the hound study detailed consideration at their meeting in January 1994. As a summary of this meeting published in the BSE inquiry noted, the Committee were clearly concerned about the work that had been carried out, concluding that there had clearly been problems with it, particularly the control on the histology, and that it was more or less inconclusive. However was agreed that there should be a re-evaluation of the pathological material in the study.

 

Later, at their meeting in June 95, The Committee re-evaluated the hound study to see if any useful results could be gained from it. The Chairman concluded that there were varying opinions within the Committee on further work. It did not suggest any further transmission studies and thought that the lack of clinical data was a major weakness.

 

Overall, it is clear that SEAC had major concerns about the survey as conducted. As a result it is likely that the authors felt that it would not stand up to r~eer review and hence it was never published. As noted above, and in the detailed minutes of the SEAC meeting in June 95, SEAC considered whether additional work should be performed to examine dogs for evidence of TSE infection. Although the Committee had mixed views about the merits of conducting further work, the Chairman noted that when the Southwood Committee made their recommendation to complete an assessment of possible spongiform disease in dogs, no TSEs had been identified in other species and hence dogs were perceived as a high risk population and worthy of study. However subsequent to the original recommendation, made in 1990, a number of other species had been identified with TSE ( e.g. cats) so a study in hounds was less

 

critical. For more details see- http://www.bseinquiry, gov.uk/files/yb/1995/06/21005001 .pdf

 

As this study remains unpublished, my understanding is that the ownership of the data essentially remains with the original researchers. Thus unfortunately, I am unable to help with your request to supply information on the hound survey directly. My only suggestion is that you contact one of the researchers originally involved in the project, such as Gerald Wells. He can be contacted at the following address.

 

Dr Gerald Wells, Veterinary Laboratories Agency, New Haw, Addlestone, Surrey, KT 15 3NB, UK

 

You may also wish to be aware that since November 1994 all suspected cases of spongiform encephalopathy in animals and poultry were made notifiable. Hence since that date there has been a requirement for vets to report any suspect SE in dogs for further investigation. To date there has never been positive identification of a TSE in a dog.

 

I hope this is helpful

 

Yours sincerely 4

 

HUGH MCDONAGH BSE CORRESPONDENCE SECTION

 

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

 

HOUND SURVEY

 

I am sorry, but I really could have been a co-signatory of Gerald's minute.

 

I do NOT think that we can justify devoting any resources to this study, especially as larger and more important projects such as the pathogenesis study will be quite demanding.

 

If there is a POLITICAL need to continue with the examination of hound brains then it should be passed entirely to the VI Service.

 

J W WILESMITH Epidemiology Unit 18 October 1991

 

Mr. R Bradley

 

cc: Mr. G A H Wells

 


 

3.3. Mr R J Higgins in conjunction with Mr G A Wells and Mr A C Scott would by the end of the year, indentify the three brains that were from the ''POSITIVE'' end of the lesion spectrum.

 


 

TSE in dogs have not been documented simply because OF THE ONLY STUDY, those brain tissue samples were screwed up too. see my investigation of this here, and to follow, later follow up, a letter from defra, AND SEE SUSPICIOUS BRAIN TISSUE SAF's. ...TSS

 


 

TSE & HOUNDS

 

GAH WELLS (very important statement here...TSS)

 

HOUND STUDY

 

AS implied in the Inset 25 we must not _ASSUME_ that transmission of BSE to other species will invariably present pathology typical of a scrapie-like disease.

 

snip...

 


 

76 pages on hound study;

 

snip...

 


 

The spongiform changes were not pathognomonic (ie. conclusive proof) for prion disease, as they were atypical, being largely present in white matter rather than grey matter in the brain and spinal cord. However, Tony Scott, then head of electron microscopy work on TSEs, had no doubt that these SAFs were genuine and that these hounds therefore must have had a scrapie-like disease. I reviewed all the sections myself (original notes appended) and although the pathology was not typical, I could not exclude the possibility that this was a scrapie-like disorder, as white matter vacuolation is seen in TSEs and Wallerian degeneration was also present in the white matter of the hounds, another feature of scrapie.

 

38.I reviewed the literature on hound neuropathology, and discovered that micrographs and descriptive neuropathology from papers on 'hound ataxia' mirrored those in material from Robert Higgins' hound survey. Dr Tony Palmer (Cambridge) had done much of this work, and I obtained original sections from hound ataxia cases from him. This enabled me provisionally to conclude that Robert Higgins had in all probability detected hound ataxia, but also that hound ataxia itself was possibly a TSE. Gerald Wells confirmed in 'blind' examination of single restricted microscopic fields that there was no distinction between the white matter vacuolation present in BSE and scrapie cases, and that occurring in hound ataxia and the hound survey cases.

 

39.Hound ataxia had reportedly been occurring since the 1930's, and a known risk factor for its development was the feeding to hounds of downer cows, and particularly bovine offal. Circumstantial evidence suggests that bovine offal may also be causal in FSE, and TME in mink. Despite the inconclusive nature of the neuropathology, it was clearly evident that this putative canine spongiform encephalopathy merited further investigation.

 

40.The inconclusive results in hounds were never confirmed, nor was the link with hound ataxia pursued. I telephoned Robert Higgins six years after he first sent the slides to CVL. I was informed that despite his submitting a yearly report to the CVO including the suggestion that the hound work be continued, no further work had been done since 1991. This was surprising, to say the very least.

 

41.The hound work could have provided valuable evidence that a scrapie-like agent may have been present in cattle offal long before the BSE epidemic was recognised. The MAFF hound survey remains unpublished.

 

Histopathological support to various other published MAFF experiments

 

42.These included neuropathological examination of material from experiments studying the attempted transmission of BSE to chickens and pigs (CVL 1991) and to mice (RVC 1994).

 


 

It was thought likely that at least some, and probably all, of the cases in zoo animals were caused by the BSE agent. Strong support for this hypothesis came from the findings of Bruce and others (1994) ( Bruce, M.E., Chree, A., McConnell, I., Foster, J., Pearson, G. & Fraser, H. (1994) Transmission of bovine spongiform encephalopathy and scrapie to mice: strain variation and species barrier. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B 343, 405-411: J/PTRSL/343/405 ), who demonstrated that the pattern of variation in incubation period and lesion profile in six strains of mice inoculated with brain homogenates from an affected kudu and the nyala, was similar to that seen when this panel of mouse strains was inoculated with brain from cattle with BSE. The affected zoo bovids were all from herds that were exposed to feeds that were likely to have contained contaminated ruminant-derived protein and the zoo felids had been exposed, if only occasionally in some cases, to tissues from cattle unfit for human consumption.

 

snip...

 


 

NEW URL ;

 


 

Friday, March 8, 2013

 

Dogs may have been used to make Petfood and animal feed

 


 


 

 

 

OR-09: Canine spongiform encephalopathy—A new form of animal prion disease

 

Monique David, Mourad Tayebi UT Health; Houston, TX USA

 

It was also hypothesized that BSE might have originated from an unrecognized sporadic or genetic case of bovine prion disease incorporated into cattle feed or even cattle feed contaminated with prion-infected human remains.1 However, strong support for a genetic origin of BSE has recently been demonstrated in an H-type BSE case exhibiting the novel mutation E211K.2 Furthermore, a specific prion protein strain causing BSE in cattle is believed to be the etiological agent responsible for the novel human prion disease, variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (vCJD).3 Cases of vCJD have been identified in a number countries, including France, Italy, Ireland, the Netherlands, Canada, Japan, US and the UK with the largest number of cases. Naturally occurring feline spongiform encephalopathy of domestic cats4 and spongiform encephalopathies of a number of zoo animals so-called exotic ungulate encephalopathies5,6 are also recognized as animal prion diseases, and are thought to have resulted from the same BSE-contaminated food given to cattle and humans, although and at least in some of these cases, a sporadic and/or genetic etiology cannot be ruled out. The canine species seems to display resistance to prion disease and no single case has so far been reported.7,8 Here, we describe a case of a 9 week old male Rottweiler puppy presenting neurological deficits; and histological examination revealed spongiform vacuolation characteristic of those associated with prion diseases.9 Initial biochemical studies using anti-PrP antibodies revealed the presence of partially proteinase K-resistant fragment by western blotting. Furthermore, immunohistochemistry revealed spongiform degeneration consistent with those found in prion disease and displayed staining for PrPSc in the cortex.

 

Of major importance, PrPSc isolated from the Rottweiler was able to cross the species barrier transmitted to hamster in vitro with PMCA and in vivo (one hamster out of 5). Futhermore, second in vivo passage to hamsters, led to 100% attack rate (n = 4) and animals displayed untypical lesional profile and shorter incubation period.

 

In this study, we show that the canine species might be sensitive to prion disease and that PrPSc isolated from a dog can be transmitted to dogs and hamsters in vitro using PMCA and in vivo to hamsters.

 

If our preliminary results are confirmed, the proposal will have a major impact on animal and public health and would certainly lead to implementing new control measures for ‘canine spongiform encephalopathy’ (CSE).

 

References 1. Colchester AC, Colchester NT. The origin of bovine spongiform encephalopathy: the human prion disease hypothesis. Lancet 2005; 366:856-61; PMID:16139661; http:// dx.doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(05)67218-2.

 

2. Richt JA, Hall SM. BSE case associated with prion protein gene mutation. PLoS Pathog 2008; 4:e1000156; PMID:18787697; http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal. ppat.1000156.

 

3. Collinge J. Human prion diseases and bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE). Hum Mol Genet 1997; 6:1699-705; PMID:9300662; http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/ hmg/6.10.1699.

 

4. Wyatt JM, Pearson GR, Smerdon TN, Gruffydd-Jones TJ, Wells GA, Wilesmith JW. Naturally occurring scrapie-like spongiform encephalopathy in five domestic cats. Vet Rec 1991; 129:233-6; PMID:1957458; http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/vr.129.11.233.

 

5. Jeffrey M, Wells GA. Spongiform encephalopathy in a nyala (Tragelaphus angasi). Vet Pathol 1988; 25:398-9; PMID:3232315; http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/030098588802500514.

 

6. Kirkwood JK, Wells GA, Wilesmith JW, Cunningham AA, Jackson SI. Spongiform encephalopathy in an arabian oryx (Oryx leucoryx) and a greater kudu (Tragelaphus strepsiceros). Vet Rec 1990; 127:418-20; PMID:2264242.

 

7. Bartz JC, McKenzie DI, Bessen RA, Marsh RF, Aiken JM. Transmissible mink encephalopathy species barrier effect between ferret and mink: PrP gene and protein analysis. J Gen Virol 1994; 75:2947-53; PMID:7964604; http://dx.doi.org/10.1099/0022-1317- 75-11-2947.

 

8. Lysek DA, Schorn C, Nivon LG, Esteve-Moya V, Christen B, Calzolai L, et al. Prion protein NMR structures of cats, dogs, pigs, and sheep. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2005; 102:640-5; PMID:15647367; http://dx.doi.org/10.1073/pnas.0408937102.

 

9. Budka H. Neuropathology of prion diseases. Br Med Bull 2003; 66:121-30; PMID:14522854; http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/bmb/66.1.121.

 


 

Monday, March 26, 2012

 

CANINE SPONGIFORM ENCEPHALOPATHY: A NEW FORM OF ANIMAL PRION DISEASE

 


 

Monday, March 8, 2010

 

Canine Spongiform Encephalopathy aka MAD DOG DISEASE

 


 

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

 

2013

 

Strain characteristics of the in vitro-adapted rabbit and dog BSE agent remained invariable with respect to the original cattle BSE prion, suggesting that the naturally low susceptibility of rabbits and dogs to prion infections should not alter their zoonotic potential if these animals became infected with BSE.

 

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

 

Neurobiology of Disease

 

Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy Induces Misfolding of Alleged Prion-Resistant Species Cellular Prion Protein without Altering Its Pathobiological Features

 

Enric Vidal3, Natalia Fernández-Borges1, Belén Pintado4, Montserrat Ordóñez3, Mercedes Márquez6, Dolors Fondevila5,6, Juan María Torres7, Martí Pumarola5,6, and Joaquín Castilla1,2 + Author Affiliations

 

1CIC bioGUNE, 48160 Derio, Bizkaia, Spain,

 

2IKERBASQUE, Basque Foundation for Science, 48011 Bilbao, Bizkaia, Spain,

 

3Centre de Recerca en Sanitat Animal, Campus de la Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB)-IRTA, 08193 Bellaterra, Barcelona, Spain,

 

4Centro Nacional de Biotecnología, Campus de Cantoblanco, 28049 Cantoblanco, Madrid, Spain,

 

5Department of Animal Medicine and Surgery, Veterinary Faculty, UAB, 08193 Bellaterra (Cerdanyola del Vallès), Barcelona, Spain,

 

6Murine Pathology Unit, Centre de Biotecnologia Animal i Teràpia Gènica, UAB, 08193 Bellaterra (Cerdanyola del Vallès), Barcelona, Spain, and

 

7Centro de Investigación en Sanidad Animal-Instituto Nacional de Investigación y Tecnología Agraria y Alimentaria, 28130 Valdeolmos, Madrid, Spain

 

Author contributions: E.V., N.F.-B., and J.C. designed research; E.V., N.F.-B., B.P., M.O., M.M., D.F., and J.C. performed research; E.V., N.F.-B., B.P., and J.C. contributed unpublished reagents/analytic tools; E.V., N.F.-B., B.P., M.O., M.M., D.F., J.M.T., M.P., and J.C. analyzed data; E.V. and J.C. wrote the paper.

 

Abstract

 

Bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) prions were responsible for an unforeseen epizootic in cattle which had a vast social, economic, and public health impact. This was primarily because BSE prions were found to be transmissible to humans. Other species were also susceptible to BSE either by natural infection (e.g., felids, caprids) or in experimental settings (e.g., sheep, mice). However, certain species closely related to humans, such as canids and leporids, were apparently resistant to BSE. In vitro prion amplification techniques (saPMCA) were used to successfully misfold the cellular prion protein (PrPc) of these allegedly resistant species into a BSE-type prion protein. The biochemical and biological properties of the new prions generated in vitro after seeding rabbit and dog brain homogenates with classical BSE were studied. Pathobiological features of the resultant prion strains were determined after their inoculation into transgenic mice expressing bovine and human PrPC. Strain characteristics of the in vitro-adapted rabbit and dog BSE agent remained invariable with respect to the original cattle BSE prion, suggesting that the naturally low susceptibility of rabbits and dogs to prion infections should not alter their zoonotic potential if these animals became infected with BSE. This study provides a sound basis for risk assessment regarding prion diseases in purportedly resistant species.

 

Received January 18, 2013. Revision received March 7, 2013. Accepted March 23, 2013. Copyright © 2013 the authors 0270-6474/13/337778-09$15.00/0

 


 

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.

 


 

Veterinary Pathology Onlinevet.sagepub.com Published online before print February 27, 2014, doi: 10.1177/0300985814524798 Veterinary Pathology February 27, 2014 0300985814524798

 

Lesion Profiling and Subcellular Prion Localization of Cervid Chronic Wasting Disease in Domestic Cats

 

D. M. Seelig1⇑ A. V. Nalls1 M. Flasik2 V. Frank1 S. Eaton2 C. K. Mathiason1 E. A. Hoover1 1Department of Microbiology, Immunology, and Pathology, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO, USA 2Department of Biomedical Sciences, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO, USA D. M. Seelig, University of Minnesota, Department of Veterinary Clinical Sciences, Room 339 VetMedCtrS, 6192A (Campus Delivery Code), 1352 Boyd Ave, St Paul, MN 55108, USA. Email address: dseelig@umn.edu

 

Abstract

 

Chronic wasting disease (CWD) is an efficiently transmitted, fatal, and progressive prion disease of cervids with an as yet to be fully clarified host range. While outbred domestic cats (Felis catus) have recently been shown to be susceptible to experimental CWD infection, the neuropathologic features of the infection are lacking. Such information is vital to provide diagnostic power in the event of natural interspecies transmission and insights into host and strain interactions in interspecies prion infection. Using light microscopy and immunohistochemistry, we detail the topographic pattern of neural spongiosis (the “lesion profile”) and the distribution of misfolded prion protein in the primary and secondary passage of feline CWD (FelCWD). We also evaluated cellular and subcellular associations between misfolded prion protein (PrPD) and central nervous system neurons and glial cell populations. From these studies, we (1) describe the novel neuropathologic profile of FelCWD, which is distinct from either cervid CWD or feline spongiform encephalopathy (FSE), and (2) provide evidence of serial passage-associated interspecies prion adaptation. In addition, we demonstrate through confocal analysis the successful co-localization of PrPD with neurons, astrocytes, microglia, lysosomes, and synaptophysin, which, in part, implicates each of these in the neuropathology of FelCWD. In conclusion, this work illustrates the simultaneous role of both host and strain in the development of a unique FelCWD neuropathologic profile and that such a profile can be used to discriminate between FelCWD and FSE.

 

prion chronic wasting disease immunohistochemistry interspecies cat feline spongiform encephalopathy transmissible spongiform encephalopathy adaptation species barrier

 


 

Monday, August 8, 2011 Susceptibility of Domestic Cats to CWD Infection

 

Oral.29: Susceptibility of Domestic Cats to CWD Infection

 

Amy Nalls, Nicholas J. Haley, Jeanette Hayes-Klug, Kelly Anderson, Davis M. Seelig, Dan S. Bucy, Susan L. Kraft, Edward A. Hoover and Candace K. Mathiason†

 

Colorado State University; Fort Collins, CO USA†Presenting author; Email: ckm@lamar.colostate.edu

 

Domestic and non-domestic cats have been shown to be susceptible to one prion disease, feline spongiform encephalopathy (FSE), thought to be transmitted through consumption of bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) contaminated meat. Because domestic and free ranging felids scavenge cervid carcasses, including those in CWD affected areas, we evaluated the susceptibility of domestic cats to CWD infection experimentally. Groups of n = 5 cats each were inoculated either intracerebrally (IC) or orally (PO) with CWD deer brain homogenate. Between 40–43 months following IC inoculation, two cats developed mild but progressive symptoms including weight loss, anorexia, polydipsia, patterned motor behaviors and ataxia—ultimately mandating euthanasia. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) on the brain of one of these animals (vs. two age-matched controls) performed just before euthanasia revealed increased ventricular system volume, more prominent sulci, and T2 hyperintensity deep in the white matter of the frontal hemisphere and in cortical grey distributed through the brain, likely representing inflammation or gliosis. PrPRES and widely distributed peri-neuronal vacuoles were demonstrated in the brains of both animals by immunodetection assays. No clinical signs of TSE have been detected in the remaining primary passage cats after 80 months pi. Feline-adapted CWD was sub-passaged into groups (n=4 or 5) of cats by IC, PO, and IP/SQ routes. Currently, at 22 months pi, all five IC inoculated cats are demonstrating abnormal behavior including increasing aggressiveness, pacing, and hyper responsiveness.

 

*** Two of these cats have developed rear limb ataxia. Although the limited data from this ongoing study must be considered preliminary, they raise the potential for cervid-to-feline transmission in nature.

 


 


 

AD.63:

 

Susceptibility of domestic cats to chronic wasting disease

 

Amy V.Nalls,1 Candace Mathiason,1 Davis Seelig,2 Susan Kraft,1 Kevin Carnes,1 Kelly Anderson,1 Jeanette Hayes-Klug1 and Edward A. Hoover1 1Colorado State University; Fort Collins, CO USA; 2University of Minnesota; Saint Paul, MN USA

 

Domestic and nondomestic cats have been shown to be susceptible to feline spongiform encephalopathy (FSE), almost certainly caused by consumption of bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE)-contaminated meat. Because domestic and free-ranging nondomestic felids scavenge cervid carcasses, including those in areas affected by chronic wasting disease (CWD), we evaluated the susceptibility of the domestic cat (Felis catus) to CWD infection experimentally. Cohorts of 5 cats each were inoculated either intracerebrally (IC) or orally (PO) with CWD-infected deer brain. At 40 and 42 mo post-inoculation, two IC-inoculated cats developed signs consistent with prion disease, including a stilted gait, weight loss, anorexia, polydipsia, patterned motor behaviors, head and tail tremors, and ataxia, and progressed to terminal disease within 5 mo. Brains from these two cats were pooled and inoculated into cohorts of cats by IC, PO, and intraperitoneal and subcutaneous (IP/SC) routes. Upon subpassage, feline-adapted CWD (FelCWD) was transmitted to all IC-inoculated cats with a decreased incubation period of 23 to 27 mo. FelCWD was detected in the brains of all the symptomatic cats by western blotting and immunohistochemistry and abnormalities were seen in magnetic resonance imaging, including multifocal T2 fluid attenuated inversion recovery (FLAIR) signal hyper-intensities, ventricular size increases, prominent sulci, and white matter tract cavitation. Currently, 3 of 4 IP/SQ and 2 of 4 PO inoculared cats have developed abnormal behavior patterns consistent with the early stage of feline CWD.

 

*** These results demonstrate that CWD can be transmitted and adapted to the domestic cat, thus raising the issue of potential cervid-to- feline transmission in nature.

 


 

www.landesbioscience.com

 

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

 


 


 

FELINE SPONGIFORM ENCEPHALOPATHY FSE

 


 


 

Herds infected with Chronic Wasting Disease in Canada in 2015 The CFIA works with provincial governments and industry to conduct regular Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD) surveillance. Ongoing provincial surveillance for CWD varies with each particular province's perceived threat and infection status. Testing is mandatory in Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta and the Yukon; it is voluntary, completed by random submission, or organized through policy in other provinces and territories.

 

In addition, CWD is a reportable disease under the Health of Animals Regulations. This means that all suspected cases must be reported to the CFIA.

 

Current as of: 2015-06-30

 

Domestic cervid herds confirmed to be infected with CWD in Canada in 2015

 

Date confirmed Location Animal type infected

 

June 11 Saskatchewan Elk

 

April 9 Saskatchewan Deer

 

March 19 Saskatchewan Elk

 

January 16 Alberta Elk

 


 

Flocks infected with Scrapie in Canada in 2015 The CFIA, in co-operation with provincial governments and industry, launched a national scrapie surveillance program in 2005. Under the program, producers are encouraged to report animals that die on the farm or exhibit symptoms of the disease.

 

In addition, scrapie is a reportable disease under the Health of Animals Regulations. This means that all suspected cases must be reported to the CFIA.

 

Current as of: 2015-06-30

 

Sheep flocks and/or goat herds confirmed to be infected with classical scrapie in Canada in 2015

 

Date confirmed Location Animal type infected

 

January 5 Ontario Goat

 

May 22 Quebec Sheep

 

June 16 Ontario Sheep

 


 

Confirmed Cases of Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE) in 2015 BSE is a reportable disease under the Health of Animals Regulations. This means that all suspected cases must be reported to the CFIA.

 

Current as of: 2015-06-30

 

The following table lists individual animals confirmed to be infected with BSE in Canada in 2015.

 

Date confirmed Location Animal type infected Age of Animal

 

February 11 Alberta Beef cow 70 months

 


 

Saturday, February 14, 2015

 

Canadian Food Inspection Agency Confirms Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE) in Alberta

 


 

SNIP...see more TSE prion stats from Canada with CJD update as well...

 

Friday, July 10, 2015

 

*** CANADA TRANSMISSIBLE SPONGIFORM ENCEPHALOPATHY TSE PRION UPDATE ***

 


 

Sunday, June 14, 2015

 

Larry’s Custom Meats Inc. Recalls Beef Tongue Products That May Contain Specified Risk Materials BSE TSE Prion

 


 

spontaneous atypical BSE ???

 

if that's the case, then France is having one hell of an epidemic of atypical BSE, probably why they stopped testing for BSE, problem solved $$$

 

As of December 2011, around 60 atypical BSE cases have currently been reported in 13 countries, *** with over one third in France.

 


 

so 20 cases of atypical BSE in France, compared to the remaining 40 cases in the remaining 12 Countries, divided by the remaining 12 Countries, about 3+ cases per country, besides Frances 20 cases. you cannot explain this away with any spontaneous BSe. ...TSS

 

Sunday, October 5, 2014

 

France stops BSE testing for Mad Cow Disease

 


 

Thursday, July 24, 2014

 

*** Protocol for further laboratory investigations into the distribution of infectivity of Atypical BSE SCIENTIFIC REPORT OF EFSA New protocol for Atypical BSE investigations

 


 

*** PRION 2015 ORAL AND POSTER CONGRESSIONAL ABSTRACTS ***

 

THANK YOU PRION 2015 TAYLOR & FRANCIS, Professor Chernoff, and Professor Aguzzi et al, for making these PRION 2015 Congressional Poster and Oral Abstracts available freely to the public. ...Terry S. Singeltary Sr.

 

O.05: Transmission of prions to primates after extended silent incubation periods: Implications for BSE and scrapie risk assessment in human populations

 

Emmanuel Comoy, Jacqueline Mikol, Val erie Durand, Sophie Luccantoni, Evelyne Correia, Nathalie Lescoutra, Capucine Dehen, and Jean-Philippe Deslys Atomic Energy Commission; Fontenay-aux-Roses, France

 

Prion diseases (PD) are the unique neurodegenerative proteinopathies reputed to be transmissible under field conditions since decades. The transmission of Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE) to humans evidenced that an animal PD might be zoonotic under appropriate conditions. Contrarily, in the absence of obvious (epidemiological or experimental) elements supporting a transmission or genetic predispositions, PD, like the other proteinopathies, are reputed to occur spontaneously (atpical animal prion strains, sporadic CJD summing 80% of human prion cases). Non-human primate models provided the first evidences supporting the transmissibiity of human prion strains and the zoonotic potential of BSE. Among them, cynomolgus macaques brought major information for BSE risk assessment for human health (Chen, 2014), according to their phylogenetic proximity to humans and extended lifetime. We used this model to assess the zoonotic potential of other animal PD from bovine, ovine and cervid origins even after very long silent incubation periods. We recently observed the direct transmission of a natural classical scrapie isolate to macaque after a 10-year silent incubation period, with features similar to some reported for human cases of sporadic CJD, albeit requiring fourfold longe incubation than BSE. Scrapie, as recently evoked in humanized mice (Cassard, 2014), is the third potentially zoonotic PD (with BSE and L-type BSE), ***thus questioning the origin of human sporadic cases. We will present an updated panorama of our different transmission studies and discuss the implications of such extended incubation periods on risk assessment of animal PD for human health.

 

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

 

***thus questioning the origin of human sporadic cases...TSS

 

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

 

*** LATE-BREAKING ABSTRACTS PRION 2015 CONFERENCE ***

 

O18

 

Zoonotic Potential of CWD Prions

 

Liuting Qing1, Ignazio Cali1,2, Jue Yuan1, Shenghai Huang3, Diane Kofskey1, Pierluigi Gambetti1, Wenquan Zou1, Qingzhong Kong1 1Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, Ohio, USA, 2Second University of Naples, Naples, Italy, 3Encore Health Resources, Houston, Texas, USA

 

Chronic wasting disease (CWD) is a widespread and expanding prion disease in free-ranging and captive cervid species in North America. The zoonotic potential of CWD prions is a serious public health concern. Current literature generated with in vitro methods and in vivo animal models (transgenic mice, macaques and squirrel monkeys) reports conflicting results. The susceptibility of human CNS and peripheral organs to CWD prions remains largely unresolved. In our earlier bioassay experiments using several humanized transgenic mouse lines, we detected protease-resistant PrPSc in the spleen of two out of 140 mice that were intracerebrally inoculated with natural CWD isolates, but PrPSc was not detected in the brain of the same mice. Secondary passages with such PrPSc-positive CWD-inoculated humanized mouse spleen tissues led to efficient prion transmission with clear clinical and pathological signs in both humanized and cervidized transgenic mice. Furthermore, a recent bioassay with natural CWD isolates in a new humanized transgenic mouse line led to clinical prion infection in 2 out of 20 mice. ***These results indicate that the CWD prion has the potential to infect human CNS and peripheral lymphoid tissues and that there might be asymptomatic human carriers of CWD infection.

 

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

 

***These results indicate that the CWD prion has the potential to infect human CNS and peripheral lymphoid tissues and that there might be asymptomatic human carriers of CWD infection.***

 

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

 

Saturday, May 30, 2015

 

PRION 2015 ORAL AND POSTER CONGRESSIONAL ABSTRACTS

 


 


 

Thursday, August 12, 2010

 

Seven main threats for the future linked to prions

 

***Also, a link is suspected between atypical BSE and some apparently sporadic cases of Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease in humans. These atypical BSE cases constitute an unforeseen first threat that could sharply modify the European approach to prion diseases.

 

Second threat

 

snip...

 


 

Monday, October 10, 2011

 

EFSA Journal 2011 The European Response to BSE: A Success Story

 

snip...

 

*** but the possibility that a small proportion of human cases so far classified as "sporadic" CJD are of zoonotic origin could not be excluded. Moreover, transmission experiments to non-human primates suggest that some TSE agents in addition to Classical BSE prions in cattle (namely L-type Atypical BSE, Classical BSE in sheep, transmissible mink encephalopathy (TME) and chronic wasting disease (CWD) agents) might have zoonotic potential.

 

snip...

 


 


 

***In addition, non-human primates are specifically susceptible for atypical BSE as demonstrated by an approximately 50% shortened incubation time for L-type BSE as compared to C-type. Considering the current scientific information available, it cannot be assumed that these different BSE types pose the same human health risks as C-type BSE or that these risks are mitigated by the same protective measures.

 


 

Thursday, June 04, 2015

 

Catholic Medical Center v. Civil No. 14-cv-180-JL Opinion No. 2015 DNH 110 Fireman’s Fund Insurance Company Creutzfeldt Jakob Disease TSE Prion tainted medical instruments

 

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT DISTRICT OF NEW HAMPSHIRE

 


 

Tuesday, May 26, 2015

 

Minimise transmission risk of CJD and vCJD in healthcare settings Last updated 15 May 2015

 


 

2015 PRION CONFERENCE

 

*** RE-P.164: Blood transmission of prion infectivity in the squirrel monkey: The Baxter study

 

***suggest that blood donations from cases of GSS (and perhaps other familial forms of TSE) carry more risk than from vCJD cases, and that little or no risk is associated with sCJD. ***

 

ran across an old paper from 1984 ;

 

***The occurrence of contact cases raises the possibility that transmission in families may be effected by an unusually virulent strain of the agent. ***

 


 

***suggest that blood donations from cases of GSS (and perhaps other familial forms of TSE) carry more risk than from vCJD cases, and that little or no risk is associated with sCJD...see;

 

 P.164: Blood transmission of prion infectivity in the squirrel monkey: The Baxter study

 

Paul Brown1, Diane Ritchie2, James Ironside2, Christian Abee3, Thomas Kreil4, and Susan Gibson5 1NIH (retired); Bethesda, MD USA; 2University of Edinburgh; Edinburgh, UK; 3University of Texas; Bastrop, TX USA; 4Baxter Bioscience; Vienna, Austria; 5University of South Alabama; Mobile, AL USA

 

Five vCJD disease transmissions and an estimated 1 in 2000 ‘silent’ infections in UK residents emphasize the continued need for information about disease risk in humans. A large study of blood component infectivity in a non-human primate model has now been completed and analyzed. Among 1 GSS, 4 sCJD, and 3 vCJD cases, only GSS leukocytes transmitted disease within a 5–6 year surveillance period. A transmission study in recipients of multiple whole blood transfusions during the incubation and clinical stages of sCJD and vCJD in ic-infected donor animals was uniformly negative. These results, together with other laboratory studies in rodents and nonhuman primates and epidemiological observations in humans, ***suggest that blood donations from cases of GSS (and perhaps other familial forms of TSE) carry more risk than from vCJD cases, and that little or no risk is associated with sCJD. The issue of decades-long incubation periods in ‘silent’ vCJD carriers remains open.

 

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

 

***suggest that blood donations from cases of GSS (and perhaps other familial forms of TSE) carry more risk than from vCJD cases, and that little or no risk is associated with sCJD...see;

 

Wednesday, December 11, 2013

 

*** Detection of Infectivity in Blood of Persons with Variant and Sporadic Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease ***

 


 

THE BAXTER STUDY...SEE MORE HERE ;

 


 


 

 From: Terry S. Singeltary Sr.

 

Sent: Saturday, November 15, 2014 9:29 PM

 

To: Terry S. Singeltary Sr.

 

Subject: THE EPIDEMIOLOGY OF CREUTZFELDT-JAKOB DISEASE R. G. WILL 1984

 

THE EPIDEMIOLOGY OF CREUTZFELDT-JAKOB DISEASE

 

R. G. WILL

 

1984

 

snip...

 


 

THE BAXTER STUDY...SEE MORE HERE ;

 


 


 

Friday, January 10, 2014

 

vpspr, sgss, sffi, TSE, an iatrogenic by-product of gss, ffi, familial type prion disease, what it ??? Greetings Friends, Neighbors, and Colleagues,

 

vpspr, sgss, sffi, TSE, an iatrogenic by-product of gss, ffi, familial type prion disease, what it ???

 

Confucius is confused again.

 

I was just sitting and thinking about why there is no genetic link to some of these TSE prion sGSS, sFFi, and it’s really been working on my brain, and then it hit me today.

 

what if, vpspr, sgss, sffi, TSE prion disease, was a by-product from iatrogenic gss, ffi, familial type prion disease ???

 

it could explain the cases of no genetic link to the gss, ffi, familial type prion disease, to the family.

 

sporadic and familial is a red herring, in my opinion, and underestimation is spot on, due to the crude prehistoric diagnostic procedures and criteria and definition of a prion disease.

 

I say again, what if, iatrogenic, what if, with all these neurological disorders, with a common denominator that is increasingly showing up in the picture, called the prion.

 

I urge all scientist to come together here, with this as the utmost of importance about all these neurological disease that are increasingly showing up as a prion mechanism, to put on the front burners, the IATROGENIC aspect and the potential of transmission there from, with diseases/disease??? in question.

 

by definition, could they be a Transmissible Spongiform Encephalopathy TSE prion type disease, and if so, what are the iatrogenic chances of transmission?

 

this is very important, and should be at the forefront of research, and if proven, could be a monumental breakthrough in science and battle against the spreading of these disease/diseases.

 

the US National Library of Medicine National Institutes of Health pub-med site, a quick search of the word SPORADIC will give you a hit of 40,747. of those, there are a plethora of disease listed under sporadic. sporadic simply means (UNKNOWN).

 


 

the US National Library of Medicine National Institutes of Health pub-med site, a quick search of the word FAMILIAL will give you a hit of 921,815. of those, there are a plethora of disease listed under familial.

 


 

again, sporadic and familial is a red herring, in my opinion.

 

also, in my opinion, when you start have disease such as sporadic Fatal Familial Insomnia, (and or sporadic GSS, or the VPSPr type prion disease), and there is NO familial genetic linkage to the family of the diseased, I have serious questions there as to a familial type disease, and thus, being defined as such.

 

*UPDATE* NOVEMBER 16, 2014 vpspr, sgss, sffi, TSE, an iatrogenic by-product of gss, ffi, familial type prion disease, what it ??? Friday, January 10, 2014

 

Greetings again Friends, Neighbors, and Colleagues,

 

snip...see ;

 


 

Monday, June 29, 2015

 

RESTRICTED – POLICY CJD IN ADOLESCENTS (16 year old Vickey Rimmer), FARMERS WITH BSE HERDS, AND FARMERS WIFE with Sporadic CJD

 


 


 


 

Tuesday, April 21, 2015

 

Transmissible Spongiform Encephalopathy Advisory Committee TSEAC MEETING SCHEDULED FOR June 1, 2015

 


 

 A CONTRIBUTION TO THE NEUROPATHOLOGY OF THE RED-NECKED OSTRICH (STRUTHIO CAMELUS) - SPONGIFORM ENCEPHALOPATHY

 


 

4.21 Three cases of SE’s with an unknown infectious agent have been reported in ostriches (Struthio Camellus) in two zoos in north west Germany (Schoon @ Brunckhorst, 1999, Verh ber Erkeg Zootiere 33:309-314). These birds showed protracted central nervous symptoms with ataxia, disturbances of balance and uncoordinated feeding behaviour. The diet of these birds had included poultry meat meal, some of which came from cattle emergency slaughter cases.

 


 

SE1806

 

TRANSMISSION STUDIES OF BSE TO DOMESTIC FOWL BY ORAL EXPOSURE TO BRAIN HOMOGENATE

 

1 challenged cock bird was necropsied (41 months p.i.) following a period of ataxia, tremor, limb abduction and other neurological signs. Histopathological examination failed to reveal any significant lesions of the central or peripheral nervous systems...

 

1 other challenged cock bird is also showing ataxia (43 months p.i.).

 

snip...

 

94/01.19/7.1

 


 

A notification of Spongiform Encephalopathy was introduced in October 1996 in respect of ungulates, poultry and any other animal.

 

4.23 MAFF have carried out their own transmission experiments with hens. In these experiments, some of the chickens exposed to the BSE agent showed neurological symptoms. However MAFF have not so far published details of the symptoms seen in chickens. Examination of brains from these chickens did not show the typical pathology seen in other SE’s. 4.24 A farmer in Kent in November 1996 noticed that one of his 20 free range hens, the oldest, aged about 30 months was having difficulty entering its den and appeared frightened and tended to lose its balance when excited. Having previously experienced BSE cattle on his farm, he took particular notice of the bird and continued to observe it over the following weeks. It lost weight, its balance deteriorated and characteristic tremors developed which were closely associated with the muscles required for standing. In its attempts to maintain its balance it would claw the ground more than usual and the ataxia progressively developed in the wings and legs, later taking a typical form of paralysis with a clumsy involuntary jerky motion. Violent tremors of the entire body, particularly the legs, became common, sparked off by the slightest provocation. This is similar to that seen in many BSE cases where any excitement may result in posterior ataxia, often with dropping of the pelvis, kicking and a general nervousness. Three other farmers and a bird breeder from the UK are known to have reported having hens with similar symptoms. The bird breeder who has been exhibiting his birds for show purposes for 20 years noticed birds having difficulty getting on to their perch and holding there for any length of time without falling. Even though the bird was eating normally, he noticed a weight loss of more than a pound in a bird the original weight of which was 5 pounds. 4.25 Histological examination of the brain revealed degenerative pathological changes in hens with a minimal vacuolation. The presence of PrP immunostaining of the brain sections revealed PrP-sc positive plaques and this must be regarded as very strong evidence to demonstrate that the hens had been incubating Spongiform Encephalopathy.

 


 

OPINION on : NECROPHAGOUS BIRDS AS POSSIBLE TRANSMITTERS OF TSE/BSE ADOPTED BY THE SCIENTIFIC STEERING COMMITTEE AT ITS MEETING OF 7-8 NOVEMBER 2002

 

OPINION

 

1. Necrophagous birds as possible transmitters of BSE. The SSC considers that the evaluation of necrophagous birds as possible transmitters of BSE, should theoretically be approached from a broader perspective of mammals and birds which prey on, or are carrion eaters (scavengers) of mammalian species. Thus, carnivorous and omnivorous mammals, birds of prey (vultures, falcons, eagles, hawks etc.), carrion eating birds (crows, magpies etc.) in general could be considered possible vectors of transmission and/or spread of TSE infectivity in the environment. In view also of the occurrence of Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD) in various deer species it should not be accepted that domestic cattle and sheep are necessarily the only source of TSE agent exposure for carnivorous species. While some information is available on the susceptibility of wild/exotic/zoo animals to natural or experimental infection with certain TSE agents, nothing is known of the possibility of occurrence of TSE in wild animal populations, other than among the species of deer affected by CWD in the USA.

 

1 The carrion birds are animals whose diet regularly or occasionally includes the consumption of carcasses, including possibly TSE infected ruminant carcasses.

 

C:\WINNT\Profiles\bredagi.000\Desktop\Necrophagous_OPINION_0209_FINAL.doc

 


 

snip...

 

skroll down to the bottom ;

 


 

Sunday, July 07, 2013

 

Could avian scavengers translocate infectious prions to disease-free areas initiating new foci of chronic wasting disease?

 

Prion. 2013 Jul 3;7(4). [Epub ahead of print]

 


 

 

ZOO TSE THAT HAS BEEN DOCUMENTED

 

Below, the entire scientific literature of 46 papers on zoo TSE, many obscure and expensive to obtain, are summarized from full text. The overall picture that emerges is appalling -- the British zoo cover-up has not only affected animals in their own zoos but also other zoos worldwide through the sale of contaminated speciality chows and through export and exchange of rare and endangered species involved in conservation programs.

All the zoos involved are named by name here (unlike in the journal articles). Why protect a zoo that feeds cheetahs split spinal cords from cattle throughout the BSE epidemic? (Better to have tossed them the zoo veterinarian.) Names are important for zoos which would not want to export their healthy animals to these facilities or import possibly preclinical animals for their own endangered species breeding programs or release into wild populations. Medical scientists doing unrelated research want to know if animals in their programs are already incubating prion disease. Ravensden, Marwell, Chester, Port Lympne, London, Whipsnade, Woburn, and Edinburgh are 8 known BSE affected British zoos. Woburn Safari Park apparently killed the lion by feeding it split cattle spinal cords and skulls.

http://www.mad-cow.org/zoo_cites_annotated.html

The table below summarizes results in the 1999 PNAS paper. Penetrance of the disease is very high and many animals did not yet display symptoms . This paper was the first (and only one) to look at non-symptomatic zoo animals for prion infection (shown below in red). In the TSE column of the table, '+' signs indicate confirmed, 'p' indicates suspicious/probable, '-' means CNS study negative for TSE.(shown as brown), 'pc' means positive diagnosis in preclinical animal.
PNAS 96:4046-4051 199 30 Mar 1999 full text
see comment PNAS 96[9] 4738-4739, April 27, 1999 by Will and Ironside
C R Acad Sci III 1997 Dec;320(12):971-9 N Bons et al.
C R Acad Sci III 1996 Aug;319(8):733-6
Lancet Volume 348, Number 9019  6 July 1996
The 82 zoo animals with BSE:

Id   TSE  Genus     Species  Subsp       Birth  Origin          Death Place of Death
654  x  Microcebus  murinus  -            1997  U.Montpellier   1998  U.Montpellier
656  x  Microcebus  murinus  -            1997  U.Montpellier   1998  U.Montpellier
481  +  Eulemur     fulvus  mayottensis   1974  Madagascar      1992  Montpellier zoo
474  +  Eulemur     fulvus  mayottensis   1974  Madagascar      1990  Montpellier zoo
584  -  Eulemur     fulvus  mayottensis   1984  Montpellier     1991  Montpellier zoo
455  +  Eulemur     fulvus  mayottensis   1983  Montpellier     1989  Montpellier zoo
 -   +  Eulemur     fulvus  mayottensis   1988  Montpellier     1992  Montpellier zoo
 -   +  Eulemur     fulvus  mayottensis   1995  Montpellier     1996  Montpellier zoo
 -   +  Eulemur     fulvus  albifrons     1988  Paris           1992  Montpellier zoo
 -   +  Eulemur     fulvus  albifrons     1988  Paris           1990  Montpellier zoo
 -   +  Eulemur     fulvus  albifrons     1988  Paris           1992  Montpellier zoo
456  +  Eulemur     fulvus  albifrons     1988  Paris           1990  Montpellier zoo
586  +  Eulemur     mongoz  -             1979  Madagascar      1998  Montpellier zoo
 -   p  Eulemur     mongoz  -             1989  Mulhouse        1991  Montpellier zoo
 -   p  Eulemur     mongoz  -             1989  Mulhouse        1990  Montpellier zoo
 -   p  Eulemur     macaco  -             1986  Montpellier     1996  Montpellier zoo
 -   p  Lemur       catta   -             1976  Montpellier     1994  Montpellier zoo
 -   p  Varecia     variegata variegata   1985  Mulhouse        1990  Montpellier zoo
 -   p  Varecia     variegata variegata   1993  xxx             1994  Montpellier zoo
455  +  Macaca      mulatta  -            1986  Ravensden UK    1992  Montpellier zoo
 -   p  Macaca      mulatta  -            1986  Ravensden UK    1993  Montpellier zoo
 -   p  Macaca      mulatta  -            1988  Ravensden UK    1991  Montpellier zoo
 -   p  Saimiri     sciureus -            1987  Frejus France   1990  Frejus zoo
700  pc eulemur     hybrid   -               -  Besancon zoo    1998  Besancon zoo
701  pc eulemur     hybrid   -               -  Besancon zoo    1998  Besancon zoo
702  pc eulemur     hybrid   -               -  Besancon zoo    1998  Besancon zoo
703  pc eulemur     hybrid   -               -  Besancon zoo    1998  Besancon zoo
704  pc eulemur     hybrid   -               -  Besancon zoo    1998  Besancon zoo
705  pc eulemur     hybrid   -               -  Besancon zoo    1998  Besancon zoo
706  pc eulemur     hybrid   -               -  Strasbourg zoo  1998  Strasbourg zoo
707  pc eulemur     hybrid   -               -  Strasbourg zoo  1998  Strasbourg zoo
708  pc eulemur     hybrid   -               -  Strasbourg zoo  1998  Strasbourg zoo
709  pc eulemur     hybrid   -               -  Strasbourg zoo  1998  Strasbourg zoo
710  pc eulemur     hybrid   -               -  Strasbourg zoo  1998  Strasbourg zoo
711  pc eulemur     hybrid   -               -  Strasbourg zoo  1998  Strasbourg zoo
712  pc eulemur     hybrid   -               -  Strasbourg zoo  1998  Strasbourg zoo
713  pc eulemur     hybrid   -               -  Strasbourg zoo  1998  Strasbourg zoo
714  pc eulemur     hybrid   -               -  Strasbourg zoo  1998  Strasbourg zoo
715  pc eulemur     hybrid   -               -  Strasbourg zoo  1998  Strasbourg zoo
716  pc eulemur     hybrid   -               -  Strasbourg zoo  1998  Strasbourg zoo
717  pc eulemur     hybrid   -               -  Strasbourg zoo  1998  Strasbourg zoo
 x   p  genus       species  -               -  Lille zoo       1996  Lille zoo
 y   p  genus       species  -               -  Lille zoo       1996  Lille zoo
 z   p  genus       species  -               -  Lille zoo       1996  Lille zoo


1    +  Actinonyx   jubatus  cheetah      1986  Marwell zoo     1991  Pearle Coast AU
Duke +  Actinonyx   jubatus  cheetah      1984  Marwell zoo     1992  Colchester zoo? UK
Saki +  Actinonyx   jubatus  cheetah      1986  Marwell zoo     1993  unknown UK
Mich +  Actinonyx   jubatus  cheetah      1986  Whipsnade       1993  Whipsnade UK
Fr1  +  Actinonyx   jubatus  cheetah      1987  Whipsnade       1997  Safari de Peaugres FR
Fr2  +  Actinonyx   jubatus  cheetah      1991  Marwell zoo     1997  Safari de Peaugres Fr
xx   +  Actinonyx   jubatus  cheetah      19xx  xxx zoo         199x  Fota zoo IR
yy   +  Actinonyx   jubatus  cheetah      19xx  yyy zoo         1996+ yyyy zoo UK
zz   +  Actinonyx   jubatus  cheetah      19xx  zzz zoo         1996+ yyyy zoo UK

aaa  +  Felis       concolor puma         1986  Chester zoo     1991  Chester zoo UK
yy   +  Felis       concolor puma         1980  yyy zoo         1995  yyyy zoo UK
zz   +  Felis       concolor puma         1978  zzz zoo         1995  zzzz zoo UK

xxx  +  Felis       pardalis ocelot       1987  xxx             1994  Chester zoo UK
zzz  +  Felis       pardalis ocelot       1980  zzz             1995  zzzz zoo UK

85   +  Felis       catus    cat          1990+ various         1999+ various UK LI NO 
19   +  Canis       familia. dog          1992+ various         1999+ various UK 

Fota +  Panthera    tigris   tiger        1981  xxx zoo         1995  xxxx zoo UK
yy   +  Panthera    tigris   tiger        1983  yyy zoo         1998  yyyy zoo UK

Lump +  Panthera    leo      lion         1986  Woburn SP       1998  Edinburgh zoo UK [since 1994]

1    +  Taurotragus oryx     eland        1987  Port Lympne     1989  Port Lympne zoo UK
Moll +  Taurotragus oryx     eland        1989  xx UK           1991  not Port Lympne UK
Nedd +  Taurotragus oryx     eland        1989  xx UK           1991  not Port Lympne UK
Elec +  Taurotragus oryx     eland        1990  xx UK           1992  not Port Lympne Uk
Daph p  Taurotragus oryx     eland        1988  xx UK           1990  not Port Lympne UK
zzz  +  Taurotragus oryx     eland        1991  zz UK           1994  zzz UK 
yyy  +  Taurotragus oryx     eland        1993  yy UK           1995  yyy UK 


Fran p  Tragelaphus strepsi. kudu         1985  London zoo      1987  London zoo UK
Lind +  Tragelaphus strepsi. kudu         1987  London zoo      1989  London zoo UK
Karl +  Tragelaphus strepsi. kudu         1988  London zoo      1990  London zoo UK
Kaz  +  Tragelaphus strepsi. kudu         1988  London zoo      1991  London zoo UK
Bamb pc Tragelaphus strepsi. kudu         1988  London zoo      1991  London zoo UK
Step -  Tragelaphus strepsi. kudu         1984  London zoo      1991  London zoo UK
346  pc Tragelaphus strepsi. kudu         1990  London zoo      1992  London zoo UK
324  +  Tragelaphus strepsi. kudu         1989  Marwell zoo     1992  London zoo UK

xxx  +  Tragelaphus angasi   nyala        1983  Marwell zoo     1986  Marwell zoo UK

yy   +  Oryx        gazella  gemsbok      1983  Marwell zoo     1986  Marwell zoo UK
zz   +  Oryx        gazella  gemsbok      1994+ zzz zoo         1996+ zzzz zoo UK

xx   +  Oryx        dammah   scim oryx    1990  xxxx zoo        1993  Chester zoo UK

yy   +  Oryx        leucoryx arab oryx    1986  Zurich zoo      1991  London zoo UK

yy   +  Bos         taurus   ankole cow   1987 yyy zoo          1995  yyyy zoo UK
zz   +  Bos         taurus   ankole cow   1986 zzz zoo          1991  zzzz zoo UK

xx   +  Bison       bison    Eu bison     1989 xxx zoo          1996  xxxx zoo UK



http://www.mad-cow.org/zoo_cites_annotated.html

TSE - UK: EXOTIC ANIMALS
Sat, 7 Jun 1997
a HREF="dpreslar@fas.org">Dorothy Preslar
Briefing to the TSE conference hosted by the New Zealand MAFF
In a written reply to the House of Commons, Agriculture Minister of State Jeff Rooker has provided details of Transmissible Spongiform Encephalopathy in animals other than livestock. His report includes confirmed cases of TSE in
2 ankole cows,
1 bison,
3 cheetah,
6 eland,
1 gemsbok,
6 kudu,
1 nyala,
2 ocelot,
1 Arabian oryx, 1 scimitar horned oryx,
3 pumas and
1 tiger,
77 domestic cats.

SE Diagnoses In Exotic Species

UK MAFF site as it appeared in August 1997
kudu 6
gemsbok 1
nyala 1
oryx 2
eland 6
cat (domestic) 78 
cheetah 4 + 1 Australia + 1 France + 1 Ireland
puma 3
tiger 1
ocelot 2
bison (bison bison) 1
ankole 2
 

BSE in Great Britain: A Progress Report

published  twice yearly  dated May 1996.
kudu 6
gemsbok 1
nyala 1
oryx 2
eland 6
cat 70
cheetah 2 UK + 1 AU + 1 ROI
puma 3
tiger 1
ocelot 2
ankole cow 2
 


 

 

TSEs in Exotic Ruminants TSEs have been detected in exotic ruminants in UK zoos since 1986. These include antelopes (Eland, Gemsbok, Arabian and Scimitar oryx, Nyala and Kudu), Ankole cattle and Bison. With hindsight the 1986 case in a Nyala was diagnosed before the first case of BSE was identified. The TSE cases in exotic ruminants had a younger onset age and a shorter clinical duration compared to that in cattle with BSE. All the cases appear to be linked to the BSE epidemic via the consumption of feed contaminated with the BSE agent. The epidemic has declined as a result of tight controls on feeding mammalian meat and bone meal to susceptible animals, particularly from August 1996.

 

References: Jeffrey, M. and Wells, G.A.H, (1988) Spongiform encephalopathy in a nyala (Tragelaphus angasi). Vet.Path. 25. 398-399

 

Kirkwood, J.K. et al (1990) Spongiform encephalopathy in an Arabian oryx (Oryx leucoryx) and a Greater kudu (Tragelaphus strepsiceros) Veterinary Record 127. 418-429.

 

Kirkwood, J.K. (1993) Spongiform encephalopathy in a herd of Greater kudu (Tragelaphus strepsiceros): epidemiological observations. Veterinary Record 133. 360-364

 

Kirkwood, J. K. and Cunningham, A.A. (1994) Epidemiological observations on spongiform encephalopathies in captive wild animals in the British Isles. Veterinary Record. 135. 296-303.

 

Food and Agriculture Organisation (1998) Manual on Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy.

 


 

 

Self-Propagative Replication of Ab Oligomers Suggests Potential Transmissibility in Alzheimer Disease

 

Received July 24, 2014; Accepted September 16, 2014; Published November 3, 2014

 


 

 

*** Singeltary comment ***

 


 

 

Saturday, December 13, 2014

 

Terry S. Singeltary Sr. Publications TSE prion disease

 

Diagnosis and Reporting of Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease

 

Singeltary, Sr et al. JAMA.2001; 285: 733-734. Vol. 285 No. 6, February 14, 2001 JAMA

 

snip...

 


 

 

 

Terry S. Singeltary Sr.

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