Wednesday, December 21, 2016

TRANSMISSION, DIFFERENTIATION, AND PATHOBIOLOGY OF TRANSMISSIBLE SPONGIFORM ENCEPHALOPATHIES 2016 ANNUAL REPORT ARS RESEARCH   

  
       
2016 Annual Report

1a. Objectives (from AD-416):

1. Investigate the pathobiology of atypical transmissible spongiform encephalopathies (TSEs) in natural hosts. A. Investigate the pathobiology of atypical scrapie. B. Investigate the pathobiology of atypical bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE). 2. Investigate the horizontal transmission of TSEs. A. Assess the horizontal transmission of sheep scrapie in the absence of lambing. B. Determine routes of transmission in chronic wasting disease (CWD) infected premises. C. Assess oral transmission of CWD in reindeer. 3. Investigate determinants of CWD persistence. A. Determine CWD host range using natural routes of transmission. B. Investigate the pathobiology of CWD.

1b. Approach (from AD-416):

The studies will focus on three animal transmissible spongiform encephalopathy (TSE) agents found in the United States: bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE); scrapie of sheep and goats; and chronic wasting disease (CWD) of deer, elk, and moose. The research will address sites of accumulation, routes of infection, environmental persistence, and ante mortem diagnostics with an emphasis on controlled conditions and natural routes of infection. Techniques used will include clinical exams, histopathology, immunohistochemistry and biochemical analysis of proteins. The enhanced knowledge gained from this work will help mitigate the potential for unrecognized epidemic expansions of these diseases in populations of animals that could either directly or indirectly affect food animals.

3. Progress Report:

This is the final report for the project 5030-32000-103-00D that started 10/01/2011 and terminates 09/30/2016. Research efforts directed toward meeting objective 1 of our project plan include work in previous years starting with the inoculation of animals for studies designed to address the pathobiology of atypical scrapie, atypical bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), and a genetic version of BSE. Postmortem examination of the sheep inoculated with atypical scrapie has been initiated and laboratory analysis of the tissues is ongoing. Cattle inoculated with atypical BSE developed disease and evaluation of samples is currently underway. Cattle inoculated with a genetic form of BSE developed disease, and a manuscript reporting these results was published (2012). Comparisons of the stability of the disease agent from various BSE isolates have been completed and a study published (2013). Comprehensive laboratory comparisons of genetic BSE to atypical and classical BSE are ongoing. In research pertaining to objective 2, "Investigate the horizontal transmission of TSEs", we initiated a study to determine the risk of horizontal transmission of scrapie to neonatal or adult sheep in the absence of lambing of scrapie-infected ewes. At this time, scrapie-free ewes have lambed in the presence of sheep preclinically affected with scrapie. Both the lambs and ewes remain cohoused with the scrapie-affected sheep and are regularly examined for the onset of clinical signs suggestive of scrapie. Additional research demonstrated for the first time that chronic wasting disease is horizontally transmissible amongst reindeer, and a manuscript was published (2016) showing differences in susceptibility of sheep to the scrapie disease agent based on the prion genotype of the host animal, an important factor in horizontal transmission. Additional published research (2016) reports that the high degree of sequence conservation in the prion protein is not based on linkage to another gene and is specific to the prion protein. The fact that the observed sequence conservation of the prion gene is not due to linkage to another gene has implications for our understanding the normal functions of the prion protein.

4. Accomplishments

1. Different evolutionary pressures in domestic cattle influence the prion protein (PrP) and its nearest neighbor, a homolog of PrP known as doppel encoded by the PRND gene. The mammalian prion gene (PRNP) expresses a highly conserved protein termed the prion protein (PrP), best known as the causative agent of prion disease. Studies of PRNP knockout animals (animals that have had the PRNP gene deleted from their genome), including both mice and cattle, have failed to result in an overt change in animal behavior, health, or development. Some have used this to suggest that PrP is dispensable and that the high degree of sequence conservation is due to linkage to a nearby essential gene rather than due to high pressure to maintain the PrP sequence. In this work, ARS researchers in Ames, Iowa demonstrated the degree of sequence conservation in the nearest neighbor of PRNP, a gene known as PRND. We determined that in cattle PRND is not under any selective pressure and is not influencing PRNP nor is it being influenced in a manner similar to PRNP. This indicates an essential role for the protein PrP suggesting that the loss of prion function is simply not manifesting in the controlled environmental conditions used to raise the knockout animals. This has implications for understanding the normal function of the prion protein and for the use of PRNP knockout cattle in the production of prion free bovine products.
       
2. Reindeer are susceptible to chronic wasting disease (CWD) from various cervid sources and infected reindeer can transmit the disease to healthy reindeer. Chronic wasting disease (CWD) is a naturally-occurring, fatal prion disease of cervids. Reindeer are susceptible to CWD following experimental oral challenge. This study investigated the susceptibility of reindeer to intracranial inoculation of CWD from white-tailed deer, mule deer, or elk, and assessed for transmission to non-inoculated reindeer placed in direct (same pen) or indirect contact (adjacent pen but without nose-to-nose contact). Intracranially inoculated reindeer developed clinical disease from 21 months post-inoculation, and a specific disease associated protein was detected in 5 out of 6 reindeer that were in either direct or indirect contact. ARS researchers in Ames, Iowa demonstrated that reindeer are susceptible to CWD from various cervid sources and can transmit CWD to naïve reindeer through direct contact or indirectly through the environment. This has important regulatory implications for the transport of this species, especially following the recent discovery of CWD in a free-ranging reindeer of Norway.

3. Sheep prion protein genetics influences disease progression in sheep orally inoculated with scrapie. Sheep scrapie is a transmissible spongiform encephalopathy that can be transmitted through contact with affected animals resulting in significant economic losses in affected flocks. The prion protein gene (PRNP) profoundly influences the susceptibility of sheep to the scrapie agent and the tissue levels and distribution of the disease that is associated with the form of the prion protein (PrPSc) in affected sheep. ARS researchers in Ames, Iowa demonstrated the failure to detect PrPSc in nervous or lymphoid tissues of neonatal sheep of a specific PRNP genotype (ARQ/ARR) after oral inoculation with a U.S. scrapie isolate. Sheep of the ARQ/ARQ genotype receiving the same inoculum developed scrapie within 24 months. Lambs of the ARQ/ARR genotype that received the same inoculum by intracranial inoculation developed scrapie with a prolonged incubation period and with abnormal prion present within the central nervous system, but not peripheral lymphoid tissues. Results suggest that ARQ/ARR sheep are resistant to oral infection with the scrapie isolate used even during the neonatal period. This enhances the understanding of natural transmission of scrapie to sheep of specific genotypes in a production relevant setting including neonatal lambs.

5. Significant Activities that Support Special Target Populations:
None.

Review Publications

     
Haley, N.J., Siepker, C., Walter, W.D., Thomsen, B.V., Greenlee, J.J., Lehmkuhl, A.D., Richt, J.A. 2016. Antemortem detection of chronic wasting disease prions in nasal brush collections and rectal biopsy specimens from white-tailed deer by real time quaking-induced conversion. Journal of Clinical Microbiology. 54(4):1108-1116.

     
Vermette, M.S., Schleining, J.A., Greenlee, J.J., Smith, J.D. 2016. Genetic variation of the prion protein gene (PRNP) in alpaca (Vicugna pacos). Gene Reports. 4:213–217.

     

     






  
       
2016 Annual Report

1a. Objectives (from AD-416):

Objective 1: Determine whether goats are a transmission reservoir for ovine scrapie by developing and validating diagnostic methods for detecting goat scrapie. Determine the genetic predisposition and transmission route(s) of goat scrapie. Subobjective 1.1: Improve eradication efforts by developing improved methods for antemortem scrapie diagnosis. Subobjective 1.2: Determine if placenta and milk from goats are potential sources of scrapie to sheep. Objective 2: Develop methods to mitigate infectivity of soil-associated prions by screening soil microbes for potential candidates for bioremediation.

1b. Approach (from AD-416):

Scrapie is a complex and rare disorder affecting outbred farm animals held under a wide variety of husbandry conditions and exposed to an agent for which the transmissible and pathogenic events remain largely unknown. The work described in the research plan is an extension of the previous highly productive studies by this research group, addressing the need for implementation of federal regulations based on the best available science, often in the face of relatively small sample numbers in the natural host. The work includes development of specific management and diagnostic tools and is presented as an integrated series of research objectives. This approach was selected over a hypothesis based approach. After consulting Glass and Hall, the group determined that the work presented in the following plan was best represented by goal statements rather than hypotheses because the work increases the density of data necessary for progress and for support of current and proposed federal regulations. This project addresses only scrapie, the TSE of sheep and goats. Chronic wasting disease (CWD) is the TSE of North America cervids (deer and elk). No live animal work with CWD is included in this project plan since CWD is not endemic in Washington State, the disease appears to be highly communicable, the modes of transmission are unknown, and we do not have suitable biocontainment facilities to conduct CWD studies in large animals.

3. Progress Report:

This is the final report for this project, which ends October 1, 2016. The project included two goal-oriented objectives that fall under National Program 103, Animal Disease, and which address diagnostics, genetics, transmission, and environment as tools in an integrated control and eradication program. Substantial results were realized over the five years of this project period, which are being used by the regulatory agencies to enhance scrapie eradication programs. With regard to Objective 1, significant results were obtained to improve current and develop new diagnostic methods for prion infection. A methodology to measure misfolded prion protein in tissues was developed and used to demonstrate reduced accumulation associated with certain goat genotypes. Several factors were identified that affect the diagnostic performance of rectal mucosa biopsy in sheep and goats. The accuracy of rectal mucosa biopsy was determined for white-tailed deer with chronic wasting disease (CWD), the results alerting regulatory agencies of reduced diagnostic sensitivity when applied during early infection or to a certain deer genotype. With regard to a blood-based diagnostic, research identified the types of peripheral blood cells bearing scrapie prions in domestic sheep and goats, and demonstrated that relatively small amounts of blood should be sufficient for assay development. The surface expression of normal prion protein was characterized for different types of blood cells. The cell types accumulating misfolded prion proteins were identified in a blood-filtering tissue unique to ruminants. As potential alternative forms of a blood-based diagnostic, two biomarkers of infection were discovered using a transgenic mouse model of scrapie and new model cell culture systems permissive to scrapie prions from sheep were developed. Further, multiple factors associated with cellular permissiveness to scrapie infection were identified. To improve detection of prions when levels in tissue are very low—such as occurs in the blood or in the brain during early infection, significant progress was made in adapting two newer methods to small ruminant tissues for ultrasensitive detection. Specifically, serial protein misfolding cyclic amplification (sPMCA) was adapted to detection using white blood cells in sheep, and real-time quaking-induced conversion (RT-QuIC) was adapted to detection using brain samples from goats. With regard to the goal of determining if goats are a transmission reservoir of scrapie, the goat’s placenta and blood were both identified as significant transmission risks to other goats and sheep. Similar progress has been made in demonstrating the transmission risk associated with goat’s milk. With regard to the goal of determining the genetic predisposition of goats to scrapie infection, greatly prolonged scrapie incubation times were identified in goats bearing the prion protein gene polymorphisms GS127, NS146 or QK222. This knowledge impacts the potential use of genetic selection for goats naturally resistant to scrapie and also the application and interpretation of scrapie diagnostics in such goats. Relevant to the current use of genetic selection to manage scrapie infection risk in sheep, results demonstrate no adverse associations of prion protein genotype with the profile of circulating leukocytes—cells critical to a fully functional immune system.

4. Accomplishments

1. A bioassay that differentiates cross-species transmission of prion disease from cervids to sheep. The prevalence of scrapie in U.S. sheep is very low but final eradication may depend on identification and mitigation of novel sources of prions. In contrast to scrapie, the prevalence and geographic range of chronic wasting disease are increasing in deer and elk. While sheep are susceptible to experimental infection with chronic wasting disease prions, the natural occurrence of cross-species transmission is not known due to lack of an assay that differentiates these two types of prion infections in sheep. ARS researchers in Pullman, Washington, in collaboration with researchers at the Canadian Food Inspection Agency have developed a bioassay that differentiates in clinical sheep the brain infection caused by chronic wasting disease from elk and scrapie disease. The bioassay uses two strains of genetically modified mice: a strain modified to express the prion protein of sheep and another strain modified to express the prion protein of elk. The two mouse-strain bioassay thus has the potential to aid surveillance efforts to detect novel transmission events of chronic wasting disease prions from cervids to sheep should this occur in nature.
        
2. Ultrasensitive detection of classical scrapie prions in the brain of goats. Safe, rapid and highly sensitive methods to detect scrapie infection in both sheep and goats are needed to achieve and then maintain scrapie eradication status in the U.S. Current diagnostic assays utilize soft tissues obtained either by biopsy in live animals or by tissue collection after death. Furthermore, the diagnostic sensitivities of current assays are not sufficient for detection in samples with low prion levels, especially during early infection or in blood samples. Real-time quaking-induced conversion (RT-QuIC) is a rapid, ultrasensitive detection method that has been successfully adapted to detection of prions from several host species and in a variety of sample types, including scrapie in the brain of sheep. ARS researchers in Pullman, Washington, in collaboration with researchers at the National Institute for Allergy and Infectious Diseases Rocky Mountain Laboratories in Hamilton, Montana, have now adapted and optimized this method for use with brain samples from goats, including goats bearing prion protein gene polymorphisms not found in sheep. The RT-QuIC methods developed thus provide results for both sheep and goats more rapidly and with at least 10,000-fold greater sensitivity than conventional assays currently in use. This assay thus has the potential to speed and improve detection of infected small ruminants in regular surveillance channels and provides a foundation of knowledge which may facilitate eventually application to a blood-based detection assay.

3. Classical scrapie prions circulating in the blood of sheep associate with specific types of cells. Currently available commercial assays do not possess enough sensitivity to detect small ruminants infected with classical scrapie via a blood sample, even when that blood sample is infectious to other animals. New methods are being developed that provide much higher sensitivity for prions in some tissues, but appear to be inhibited by factors present in blood samples. One approach to improving the performance of both current and experimental methods is to enrich samples with the cells containing prions. ARS researchers in Pullman, Washington, used bioassay to definitively identify which specific types of cells in sheep blood associate with prions. This knowledge supports development of highly sensitive, blood-based assays for regulatory use in the U.S. National Scrapie Eradication Program.

4. Circulating white blood cell profiles in sheep are not associated with variation in prion protein genotype. Genetic selection based on the prion protein gene can be used to reduce the risk of scrapie infection in sheep, but the potential impact of such selection on the immune system has not been evaluated. The function of the prion protein is not completely understood but a potentially deleterious change in a critical part of the immune system—that is, a change in the profile of circulating white blood cells, has been associated with one variant of the prion protein gene found in some cattle. ARS researchers in Pullman, Washington, and Dubois, Idaho, studied ten variants of the prion protein gene in sheep, including the variant gene associated with reduced risk of scrapie infection, but found no alteration to circulating white blood cell profiles. Thus, sheep producers can continue to genetically select to reduce the risk of scrapie infection without concern of adversely affecting this part of the sheep immune system.

5. Potent small molecule inhibitors of scrapie prions identified using a cell culture system of sheep brain cells. There are great needs for development of potent, non-hazardous anti-infective agents to help mitigate prion diseases, including scrapie in sheep and goats. Large libraries of compounds have been screened for inhibitory activity but have generally been performed using rodent-derived cell culture systems infected with rodent- or culture-adapted prion isolates. Recently, a novel small molecule anti-viral agent, DB772, was discovered to have potent inhibitory activity against scrapie prions in cultures of brain cells derived from sheep. ARS researchers in Pullman, Washington, in collaboration with researchers at Washington State University, the University of Georgia, Georgia State University and Augusta University, have now used this sheep-relevant model of scrapie infection to identify eleven additional DB compounds with similar or improved inhibitory potency and lower cell toxicity. The results are an important advance in the rational design of anti-prion agents, providing new insights into the chemical structures critical to inhibitory activity, but also providing new tools with which the mechanisms of prion propagation can be better understood.

5. Significant Activities that Support Special Target Populations:
None.

Review Publications

     

     

     

     





Primate Biol., 3, 47–50, 2016 www.primate-biol.net/3/47/2016/ doi:10.5194/pb-3-47-2016 © Author(s) 2016. CC

Attribution 3.0 License.

Prions

Walter Bodemer German Primate Center, Kellnerweg 4, 37077 Göttingen, Germany Correspondence to: Walter Bodemer (wbodemer@dpz.eu)

Received: 15 June 2016 – Revised: 24 August 2016 – Accepted: 30 August 2016 – Published: 7 September 2016

Abstract.

Prions gained widespread public and scientific interest in the year 2000. At that time, the human neurological Creutzfeldt–Jakob disease (CJD) was known. However, new CJD cases were diagnosed but they could not be ascribed to one of the classical CJD categories i.e. sporadic (sCJD), hereditary or acquired. Hence, they were classified as variant CJD (vCJD). Later on, experimental evidence suggested that vCJD was caused by prions postulated as unique novel infectious agents and, for example, responsible for bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) also known as mad cow disease. The infection of humans by transmission of BSE prions also defined vCJD as a zoonotic disease. Prions, especially those associated with scrapie in sheep had been known for quite some time and misleadingly discussed as a slow virus. Therefore, this enigmatic pathogen and the transmission of this unusual infectious agent was a matter of a controversial scientific debate. An agent without nucleic acid did not follow the current dogma postulating DNA or RNA as inheritable information encoding molecules. Although numerous experimental results clearly demonstrated the infectious capacity of prions in several animal species, a model close to human was not readily available. Therefore, the use of rhesus monkeys (Macaca mulatta) served as a non-human primate model to elucidate prion infection under controlled experimental conditions. Not the least, transmission of BSE, human vCJD, and sCJD prions could be confirmed in our study. Any prion infection concomitant with progression of disease in humans, especially vCJD, could be analyzed only retrospectively and at late stages of disease. In contrast, the prion-infected rhesus monkeys were accessible before and after infection; the progression from early stage to late clinical stages – and eventually death of the animal–could be traced. Because of the phylogenetic proximity to humans, the rhesus monkey was superior to any rodent or other animal model. For these reasons an experimental approach had been conceived by J. Collinge in London and A. Aguzzi in Zurich and performed in a cooperative study with both research groups in the pathology unit of the German Primate Center (DPZ). The study in the DPZ lasted from 2001 until 2012. Our research in the pathology unit provided a temporal monitoring of how an initial prion infection develops eventually into disease; an approach that would have never been possible in humans since the time point of infection with prions from, for example, BSE is always unknown. Telemetry revealed a shift in sleep– wake cycles early on, long before behavioral changes or clinical symptoms appeared. Pathology confirmed nonneuronal tissue as hidden places where prions exist. The rhesus model also allowed first comparative studies of epigenetic modifications on RNA in peripheral blood and brain tissue collected from uninfected and prion infected animals. To conclude, our studies clearly demonstrated that this model is valid since progression to disease is almost identical to human CJD.

Published by Copernicus Publications on behalf of the Deutsches Primatenzentrum GmbH (DPZ).


SNIP...


2 Methods and results

2.1 Animals The reason to perform prion research in rhesus monkeys was to monitor infection and the temporal progression of prion infection in the rhesus monkey. In contrast to studies of human CJD cases, we could decide on the infectious dose. We also could control behavior immediately after prion inoculation and during the rather long time until animals died from the prion infection. Hidden places where prions might exist were found. Even epigenetic modifications on RNA could be detected. Taken together, these experimental approaches depended on animals. Using rhesus monkeys as a model system required thoroughethicreasoningandconsultationwithauthoritiesbefore we actually turned to conduct the experiments. The Number of animals was limited just to fulfill statistical conditions. The individual health status was obtained and health care was provided throughout the study. The animals underwent daily inspection to monitor any changes in health and behavior. The experiments were conceived with the aim of reducing pain, suffering, and harm. Groups of animals were preferred in order to keep them in a social environment. The animals were originally kept in Vienna at Baxter and transferred to the German Primate Center (DPZ) in 2001. J. Collinge, A. Aguzzi, and C. Weissmann were the scientists who recommended this well-controlled prion infection study,and financial support was provided by an EU grant.To ensure statistical significance four groups consisting of four rhesus macaques each were formed: one uninfected control group, one group infected with BSE prions, one with vCJD prions, and one with sCJD prions. Health of animals, infection, and progression to disease was looked at in our pathology department and in cooperation with W. Schulz-Schaeffer at the UMG (University Medicine, Göttingen). Besides, neurologists from the UMG also observed the animals whenever clinical symptoms seemed to appear. This close observation and comparison with human CJD cases demonstrated how close clinical progression of human disease resembles the experimental infection in the non-human primate.

2.2 Infection Infectious prions from brain tissue of one sCJD and one vCJD case (provided by J. Collinge) as well as BSE prions (from a “German”madcow case and provided by W. Schulz Schaeffer) were intraperitoneally administered into the rhesus monkeys.

2.3 Monitoring of behavior and telemetry Early behavioral monitoring was carried out by the ethologists I. Machatschke and J. Dittami from Vienna University. Transmitters were used to record changes in the circadian rhythms. Body temperature, sleep–wake cycles, and activity profiles could be obtained over a time span of 2 years. Up to half a year after infection animals did not show any signs of prion infection. However, after 6 months and persisting for another few months some animals had some disturbances in circadian rhythms which disappeared and then never appeared again(I. Machatschke, personal communication,2006).For a rather long time of about 4–5 years animals seemed to be healthy. But then, almost all animals rapidly progressed to symptoms. Symptoms were highly similar or even identical to those seen in human CJD.

2.4 Pathology Blood and necropsy specimens from the animals served as a valuable source to detect pathologically associated prion protein even in non-neuronal skeletal and cardiac tissue. These “hidden places” of prion pathology and replication were clearly demonstrated and extended our view where prions might spread within an organism. Not only leukocytes and neuronal tissue harbor abnormal prion protein isoforms but also other tissues can propagate prion protein isoforms leading to toxicity, cell degeneration, and eventually transmissible prions (Krasemann et al., 2010, 2013).


SNIP...


3 Conclusion

Most importantly, early signs of an altered circadian rhythm, sleep–wake cycle, and activity and body temperature were recorded in prion-infected animals. This experimental approach would have never been feasible in studies with human CJD cases. After 4–6 years animals developed clinical symptoms highly similar to those typical for CJD. Clinicians confirmed how close the animal model and the human disease matched. Non-neuronal tissue like cardiac muscle and peripheral blood with abnormal, disease-related prion protein were detected in rhesus monkey tissues. 

Molecular changes in RNA from repetitive Alu and BC200 DNA elements were identified and found to be targets of epigenetic editing mechanisms active in prion disease. To conclude, our results with the rhesus monkey model for prion disease proved to be a valid model and increased our knowledge of pathogenic processes that are distinctive to prion disease.


SEE FULL TEXT ;




***at present, no cervid PrP allele conferring absolute resistance to prion infection has been identified.


P-145 Estimating chronic wasting disease resistance in cervids using real time quaking- induced conversion

Nicholas J Haley1, Rachel Rielinqer2, Kristen A Davenport3, W. David Walter4, Katherine I O'Rourke5, Gordon Mitchell6, Juergen A Richt2

1 Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Midwestern University, United States; 2Department of Diagnostic Medicine and Pathobiology, Kansas State University; 3Prion Research Center; Colorado State University; 4U.S. Geological Survey, Pennsylvania Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit; 5Agricultural Research Service, United States Department of Agriculture; 6Canadian Food Inspection Agency, National and OlE Reference Laboratory for Scrapie and CWD
 
In mammalian species, the susceptibility to prion diseases is affected, in part, by the sequence of the host's prion protein (PrP). In sheep, a gradation from scrapie susceptible to resistant has been established both in vivo and in vitro based on the amino acids present at PrP positions 136, 154, and 171, which has led to global breeding programs to reduce the prevalence of scrapie in domestic sheep. In cervids, resistance is commonly characterized as a delayed progression of chronic wasting disease (CWD); at present, no cervid PrP allele conferring absolute resistance to prion infection has been identified. To model the susceptibility of various naturally-occurring and hypothetical cervid PrP alleles in vitro, we compared the amplification rates and efficiency of various CWD isolates in recombinant PrPC using real time quaking-induced conversion. We hypothesized that amplification metrics of these isolates in cervid PrP substrates would correlate to in vivo susceptibility - allowing susceptibility prediction for alleles found at 10 frequency in nature, and that there would be an additive effect of multiple resistant codons in hypothetical alleles. Our studies demonstrate that in vitro amplification metrics predict in vivo susceptibility, and that alleles with multiple codons, each influencing resistance independently, do not necessarily contribute additively to resistance. Importantly, we found that the white-tailed deer 226K substrate exhibited the slowest amplification rate among those evaluated, suggesting that further investigation of this allele and its resistance in vivo are warranted to determine if absolute resistance to CWD is possible.

***at present, no cervid PrP allele conferring absolute resistance to prion infection has been identified.

PRION 2016 CONFERENCE TOKYO

http://prion2016.org/dl/newsletter_03.pdf


Saturday, May 28, 2016

*** Infection and detection of PrPCWD in soil from CWD infected farm in Korea Prion 2016 Tokyo ***

http://chronic-wasting-disease.blogspot.com/2016/05/infection-and-detection-of-prpcwd-in.html


Sunday, December 11, 2016

Clay Components in Soil Dictate Environmental Stability and Bioavailability of Cervid Prions in Mice

http://chronic-wasting-disease.blogspot.com/2016/12/clay-components-in-soil-dictate.html


Scrapie Field Trial Experiments Mission, Texas, The Moore Air Force Base Scrapie Experiment 1964

How Did CWD Get Way Down In Medina County, Texas?

Confucius ponders...

Could the Scrapie experiments back around 1964 at Moore Air Force near Mission, Texas, could this area have been ground zero for CWD TSE Prion (besides the CWD cases that have waltzed across the Texas, New Mexico border near WSMR Trans Pecos region since around 2001)?

Epidemiology of Scrapie in the United States 1977

snip...

Scrapie Field Trial Experiments Mission, Texas

A Scrapie Field Trial was developed at Mission, Texas, to provide additional information for the eradication program on the epidemiology of natural scrapie. The Mission Field Trial Station is located on 450 acres of pastureland, part of the former Moore Air Force Base, near Mission, Texas. It was designed to bring previously exposed, and later also unexposed, sheep or goats to the Station and maintain and breed them under close observation for extended periods to determine which animals would develop scrapie and define more closely the natural spread and other epidemiological aspects of the disease.

The 547 previously exposed sheep brought to the Mission Station beginning in 1964 were of the Cheviot, Hampshire, Montadale, or Suffolk breeds. They were purchased as field outbreaks occurred, and represented 21 bloodlines in which scrapie had been diagnosed. Upon arrival at the Station, the sheep were maintained on pasture, with supplemental feeding as necessary. The station was divided into 2 areas: (1) a series of pastures and-pens occupied by male animals only, and (2) a series of pastures and pens occupied by females and young progeny of both sexes. ...

snip...see full text ;




Thursday, June 09, 2016

Scrapie Field Trial Experiments Mission, Texas, The Moore Air Force Base Scrapie TSE Prion Experiment 1964

How Did CWD Get Way Down In Medina County, Texas?

Friday, April 22, 2016

*** Texas Scrapie Confirmed in a Hartley County Sheep where CWD was detected in a Mule Deer



Thursday, December 08, 2016

USDA APHIS National Scrapie Eradication Program October 2016 Monthly Report Fiscal Year 2017 atypical NOR-98 Scrapie

http://scrapie-usa.blogspot.com/2016/12/usda-aphis-national-scrapie-eradication.html



***--->Title: Pathological features of chronic wasting disease in reindeer and demonstration of horizontal transmission



Monday, September 05, 2016

Pathological features of chronic wasting disease in reindeer and demonstration of horizontal transmission Major Findings for Norway



Thursday, September 22, 2016

NORWAY DETECTS 5TH CASE OF CHRONIC WASTING DISEASE CWD TSE PRION Skrantesjuke



SUNDAY, OCTOBER 02, 2016

*** What is the risk of a cervid TSE being introduced from Norway into Great Britain? Qualitative Risk Assessment September 2016



Wednesday, September 7, 2016

*** An assessment of the long-term persistence of prion infectivity in aquatic environments



Friday, September 02, 2016

*** Chronic Wasting Disease Drives Population Decline of White-Tailed Deer




Saturday, December 03, 2016


TEXAS CHRONIC WASTING DISEASE CWD TSE PRION UPDATE 35 CASES TO DATE


Wednesday, December 07, 2016


Student Assistant (Temporary) – Chronic Wasting Disease: Texas A&M Veterinary Medical Diagnostic Laboratory


http://chronic-wasting-disease.blogspot.com/2016/12/student-assistant-temporary-chronic.html


Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD) Susceptibility of Several North American Rodents That Are Sympatric with Cervid CWD Epidemics



Thursday, December 15, 2016


Wyoming National Elk Refuge CWD forum update December 8, 2016



http://chronic-wasting-disease.blogspot.com/2016/12/wyoming-national-elk-refuge-cwd-forum.html


 *** WDA 2016 NEW YORK ***

 We found that CWD adapts to a new host more readily than BSE and that human PrP was unexpectedly prone to misfolding by CWD prions. In addition, we investigated the role of specific regions of the bovine, deer and human PrP protein in resistance to conversion by prions from another species. We have concluded that the human protein has a region that confers unusual susceptibility to conversion by CWD prions.

 Student Presentations Session 2

 The species barriers and public health threat of CWD and BSE prions

 Ms. Kristen Davenport1, Dr. Davin Henderson1, Dr. Candace Mathiason1, Dr. Edward Hoover1 1Colorado State University

 Chronic wasting disease (CWD) is spreading rapidly through cervid populations in the USA. Bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE, mad cow disease) arose in the 1980s because cattle were fed recycled animal protein. These and other prion diseases are caused by abnormal folding of the normal prion protein (PrP) into a disease causing form (PrPd), which is pathogenic to nervous system cells and can cause subsequent PrP to misfold. CWD spreads among cervids very efficiently, but it has not yet infected humans. On the other hand, BSE was spread only when cattle consumed infected bovine or ovine tissue, but did infect humans and other species. The objective of this research is to understand the role of PrP structure in cross-species infection by CWD and BSE. To study the propensity of each species’ PrP to be induced to misfold by the presence of PrPd from verious species, we have used an in vitro system that permits detection of PrPd in real-time. We measured the conversion efficiency of various combinations of PrPd seeds and PrP substrate combinations. We observed the cross-species behavior of CWD and BSE, in addition to feline-adapted CWD and BSE. We found that CWD adapts to a new host more readily than BSE and that human PrP was unexpectedly prone to misfolding by CWD prions. In addition, we investigated the role of specific regions of the bovine, deer and human PrP protein in resistance to conversion by prions from another species. We have concluded that the human protein has a region that confers unusual susceptibility to conversion by CWD prions. CWD is unique among prion diseases in its rapid spread in natural populations. BSE prions are essentially unaltered upon passage to a new species, while CWD adapts to the new species. This adaptation has consequences for surveillance of humans exposed to CWD.

Wildlife Disease Risk Communication Research Contributes to Wildlife Trust Administration Exploring perceptions about chronic wasting disease risks among wildlife and agriculture professionals and stakeholders

http://www.wda2016.org/uploads/5/8/6/1/58613359/wda_2016_conference_proceedings_low_res.pdf


PRION 2016 TOKYO

Zoonotic Potential of CWD Prions: An Update

Ignazio Cali1, Liuting Qing1, Jue Yuan1, Shenghai Huang2, Diane Kofskey1,3, Nicholas Maurer1, Debbie McKenzie4, Jiri Safar1,3,5, Wenquan Zou1,3,5,6, Pierluigi Gambetti1, Qingzhong Kong1,5,6 1Department of Pathology, 3National Prion Disease Pathology Surveillance Center, 5Department of Neurology, 6National Center for Regenerative Medicine, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OH 44106, USA. 4Department of Biological Sciences and Center for Prions and Protein Folding Diseases, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, 2Encore Health Resources, 1331 Lamar St, Houston, TX 77010

Chronic wasting disease (CWD) is a widespread and highly transmissible prion disease in free-ranging and captive cervid species in North America. The zoonotic potential of CWD prions is a serious public health concern, but the susceptibility of human CNS and peripheral organs to CWD prions remains largely unresolved. We reported earlier that peripheral and CNS infections were detected in transgenic mice expressing human PrP129M or PrP129V. Here we will present an update on this project, including evidence for strain dependence and influence of cervid PrP polymorphisms on CWD zoonosis as well as the characteristics of experimental human CWD prions.

PRION 2016 TOKYO In Conjunction with Asia Pacific Prion Symposium 2016 PRION 2016 Tokyo Prion 2016

http://prion2016.org/dl/newsletter_03.pdf

Cervid to human prion transmission

Kong, Qingzhong

Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OH, United States

Abstract

Prion disease is transmissible and invariably fatal. Chronic wasting disease (CWD) is the prion disease affecting deer, elk and moose, and it is a widespread and expanding epidemic affecting 22 US States and 2 Canadian provinces so far. CWD poses the most serious zoonotic prion transmission risks in North America because of huge venison consumption (>6 million deer/elk hunted and consumed annually in the USA alone), significant prion infectivity in muscles and other tissues/fluids from CWD-affected cervids, and usually high levels of individual exposure to CWD resulting from consumption of the affected animal among often just family and friends. However, we still do not know whether CWD prions can infect humans in the brain or peripheral tissues or whether clinical/asymptomatic CWD zoonosis has already occurred, and we have no essays to reliably detect CWD infection in humans. We hypothesize that:

(1) The classic CWD prion strain can infect humans at low levels in the brain and peripheral lymphoid tissues;

(2) The cervid-to-human transmission barrier is dependent on the cervid prion strain and influenced by the host (human) prion protein (PrP) primary sequence;

(3) Reliable essays can be established to detect CWD infection in humans;and

(4) CWD transmission to humans has already occurred. We will test these hypotheses in 4 Aims using transgenic (Tg) mouse models and complementary in vitro approaches.

Aim 1 will prove that the classical CWD strain may infect humans in brain or peripheral lymphoid tissues at low levels by conducting systemic bioassays in a set of "humanized" Tg mouse lines expressing common human PrP variants using a number of CWD isolates at varying doses and routes. Experimental "human CWD" samples will also be generated for Aim 3.

Aim 2 will test the hypothesis that the cervid-to-human prion transmission barrier is dependent on prion strain and influenced by the host (human) PrP sequence by examining and comparing the transmission efficiency and phenotypes of several atypical/unusual CWD isolates/strains as well as a few prion strains from other species that have adapted to cervid PrP sequence, utilizing the same panel of humanized Tg mouse lines as in Aim 1.

Aim 3 will establish reliable essays for detection and surveillance of CWD infection in humans by examining in details the clinical, pathological, biochemical and in vitro seeding properties of existing and future experimental "human CWD" samples generated from Aims 1-2 and compare them with those of common sporadic human Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (sCJD) prions.

Aim 4 will attempt to detect clinical CWD-affected human cases by examining a significant number of brain samples from prion-affected human subjects in the USA and Canada who have consumed venison from CWD-endemic areas utilizing the criteria and essays established in Aim 3. The findings from this proposal will greatly advance our understandings on the potential and characteristics of cervid prion transmission in humans, establish reliable essays for CWD zoonosis and potentially discover the first case(s) of CWD infection in humans.

Public Health Relevance There are significant and increasing human exposure to cervid prions because chronic wasting disease (CWD, a widespread and highly infectious prion disease among deer and elk in North America) continues spreading and consumption of venison remains popular, but our understanding on cervid-to-human prion transmission is still very limited, raising public health concerns. This proposal aims to define the zoonotic risks of cervid prions and set up and apply essays to detect CWD zoonosis using mouse models and in vitro methods. The findings will greatly expand our knowledge on the potentials and characteristics of cervid prion transmission in humans, establish reliable essays for such infections and may discover the first case(s) of CWD infection in humans.

Funding Agency Agency National Institute of Health (NIH)

Institute National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS)

Type Research Project (R01)

Project # 1R01NS088604-01A1

Application # 9037884

Study Section Cellular and Molecular Biology of Neurodegeneration Study Section (CMND)

Program Officer Wong, May

Project Start 2015-09-30

Project End 2019-07-31

Budget Start 2015-09-30

Budget End 2016-07-31

Support Year 1

Fiscal Year 2015

Total Cost $337,507

Indirect Cost $118,756

Institution

Name Case Western Reserve University

Department Pathology

Type Schools of Medicine

DUNS # 077758407

City Cleveland

State OH

Country United States

Zip Code 44106

http://grantome.com/grant/NIH/R01-NS088604-01A1

Monday, May 02, 2016

*** Zoonotic Potential of CWD Prions: An Update Prion 2016 Tokyo ***

http://chronic-wasting-disease.blogspot.com/2016/05/zoonotic-potential-of-cwd-prions-update.html

Saturday, April 23, 2016

PRION 2016 TOKYO

Saturday, April 23, 2016

 SCRAPIE WS-01: Prion diseases in animals and zoonotic potential 2016

 Prion. 10:S15-S21. 2016 ISSN: 1933-6896 printl 1933-690X online

Taylor & Francis

Prion 2016 Animal Prion Disease Workshop Abstracts

WS-01: Prion diseases in animals and zoonotic potential

Juan Maria Torres a, Olivier Andreoletti b, J uan-Carlos Espinosa a. Vincent Beringue c. Patricia Aguilar a,

Natalia Fernandez-Borges a. and Alba Marin-Moreno a

"Centro de Investigacion en Sanidad Animal ( CISA-INIA ). Valdeolmos, Madrid. Spain; b UMR INRA -ENVT 1225 Interactions Holes Agents Pathogenes. ENVT. Toulouse. France: "UR892. Virologie lmmunologie MolécuIaires, Jouy-en-Josas. France

 Dietary exposure to bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) contaminated bovine tissues is considered as the origin of variant Creutzfeldt Jakob (vCJD) disease in human. To date, BSE agent is the only recognized zoonotic prion. Despite the variety of Transmissible Spongiform Encephalopathy (TSE) agents that have been circulating for centuries in farmed ruminants there is no apparent epidemiological link between exposure to ruminant products and the occurrence of other form of TSE in human like sporadic Creutzfeldt Jakob Disease (sCJD). However, the zoonotic potential of the diversity of circulating TSE agents has never been systematically assessed. The major issue in experimental assessment of TSEs zoonotic potential lies in the modeling of the ‘species barrier‘, the biological phenomenon that limits TSE agents’ propagation from a species to another. In the last decade, mice genetically engineered to express normal forms of the human prion protein has proved essential in studying human prions pathogenesis and modeling the capacity of TSEs to cross the human species barrier.

 To assess the zoonotic potential of prions circulating in farmed ruminants, we study their transmission ability in transgenic mice expressing human PrPC (HuPrP-Tg). Two lines of mice expressing different forms of the human PrPC (129Met or 129Val) are used to determine the role of the Met129Val dimorphism in susceptibility/resistance to the different agents.

These transmission experiments confirm the ability of BSE prions to propagate in 129M- HuPrP-Tg mice and demonstrate that Met129 homozygotes may be susceptible to BSE in sheep or goat to a greater degree than the BSE agent in cattle and that these agents can convey molecular properties and neuropathological indistinguishable from vCJD. However homozygous 129V mice are resistant to all tested BSE derived prions independently of the originating species suggesting a higher transmission barrier for 129V-PrP variant.

 Transmission data also revealed that several scrapie prions propagate in HuPrP-Tg mice with ef?ciency comparable to that of cattle BSE. While the ef?ciency of transmission at primary passage was low, subsequent passages resulted in a highly virulent prion disease in both Met129 and Val129 mice. Transmission of the different scrapie isolates in these mice leads to the emergence of prion strain phenotypes that showed similar characteristics to those displayed by MM1 or VV2 sCJD prion. These results demonstrate that scrapie prions have a zoonotic potential and raise new questions about the possible link between animal and human prions.

http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/19336896.2016.1163048?journalCode=kprn20

 why do we not want to do TSE transmission studies on chimpanzees $

5. A positive result from a chimpanzee challenged severly would likely create alarm in some circles even if the result could not be interpreted for man. I have a view that all these agents could be transmitted provided a large enough dose by appropriate routes was given and the animals kept long enough. Until the mechanisms of the species barrier are more clearly understood it might be best to retain that hypothesis.

 snip...

 R. BRADLEY

http://collections.europarchive.org/tna/20080102222950/http://www.bseinquiry.gov.uk/files/yb/1990/09/23001001.pdf


                             


                               
Title: Transmission of scrapie prions to primate after an extended silent incubation period)

 *** In complement to the recent demonstration that humanized mice are susceptible to scrapie, we report here the first observation of direct transmission of a natural classical scrapie isolate to a macaque after a 10-year incubation period. Neuropathologic examination revealed all of the features of a prion disease: spongiform change, neuronal loss, and accumulation of PrPres throughout the CNS.

 *** This observation strengthens the questioning of the harmlessness of scrapie to humans, at a time when protective measures for human and animal health are being dismantled and reduced as c-BSE is considered controlled and being eradicated.

 *** Our results underscore the importance of precautionary and protective measures and the necessity for long-term experimental transmission studies to assess the zoonotic potential of other animal prion strains.


SCRAPIE WS-01: Prion diseases in animals and zoonotic potential 2016

Prion. 10:S15-S21. 2016 ISSN: 1933-6896 printl 1933-690X online

http://scrapie-usa.blogspot.com/2016/04/scrapie-ws-01-prion-diseases-in-animals.html


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, Valerie 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 long 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***

 ***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.

  

https://prion2015.files.wordpress.com/2015/05/prion2015abstracts.pdf



Evidence That Transmissible Mink Encephalopathy Results from Feeding Infected Cattle
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...


In Confidence - Perceptions of unconventional slow virus diseases of animals in the USA - APRIL-MAY 1989 - G A H Wells
  
3. Prof. A. Robertson gave a brief account of BSE. The US approach was to accord it a very low profile indeed. Dr. A Thiermann showed the picture in the ''Independent'' with cattle being incinerated and thought this was a fanatical incident to be avoided in the US at all costs. ...
  
”The occurrence of CWD must be viewed against the contest of the locations in which it occurred. It was an incidental and unwelcome complication of the respective wildlife research programmes. Despite it’s subsequent recognition as a new disease of cervids, therefore justifying direct investigation, no specific research funding was forthcoming. The USDA veiwed it as a wildlife problem and consequently not their province!” ...page 26.
  

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

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

Saturday, June 25, 2011

Transmissibility of BSE-L and Cattle-Adapted TME Prion Strain to Cynomolgus Macaque

"BSE-L in North America may have existed for decades"

Tuesday, July 26, 2016

*** Atypical Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy BSE TSE Prion UPDATE JULY 2016 ***

Saturday, July 23, 2016

BOVINE SPONGIFORM ENCEPHALOPATHY BSE TSE PRION SURVEILLANCE, TESTING, AND SRM REMOVAL UNITED STATE OF AMERICA UPDATE JULY 2016
 

Tuesday, September 06, 2016



A comparison of classical and H-type bovine spongiform encephalopathy associated with E211K prion protein polymorphism in wild type and EK211 cattle following intracranial inoculation




Friday, August 14, 2015 

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



Sunday, August 28, 2016

CONFIDENTIAL

Transmissible Spongiform Encephalopathy TSE Prion and how Politics and Greed by the Industry spread madcow type diseases from species to species and around the globe

TSE PRIONS AKA MAD COW TYPE DISEASE, LIONS AND TIGERS AND BEARS, OH MY!

http://transmissiblespongiformencephalopathy.blogspot.com/2016/08/transmissible-spongiform-encephalopathy.html



Wednesday, December 14, 2016

Diagnosis of Human Prion Disease Using Real-Time Quaking-Induced Conversion Testing of Olfactory Mucosa and Cerebrospinal Fluid Samples

http://creutzfeldt-jakob-disease.blogspot.com/2016/12/diagnosis-of-human-prion-disease-using.html




Terry S. Singeltary Sr.

Thursday, December 1, 2016

The European Union summary report on data of the surveillance of ruminants for the presence of transmissible spongiform encephalopathies (TSEs) in 2015


The European Union summary report on data of the surveillance of ruminants for the presence of transmissible spongiform encephalopathies (TSEs) in 2015

Authors

  • European Food Safety Authority (EFSA),

  • Frank Boelaert,

  • Marta Hugas,

  • Angel Ortiz Pelaez,

  • Valentina Rizzi,

  • Pietro Stella,

  • Yves Van Der Stede

  • First published:
  • DOI: 10.2903/j.efsa.2016.4643V
  • Cited by: 0 articles


  • Requestor: European Commission
  • Question number: EFSA-Q-2015-00653
  • Acknowledgements: EFSA wishes to thank the following parties for the support provided for this report: European Commission (Lucie Carrouee, Eric Thevenard, Kris De Smet) who provided the data for extraction and review of the report; Dr Maria Nöremark (National Veterinary Institute, Sweden) and Dr Christian Ducrot (Unité d'Epidemiology Animale, INRA, France) for their scientific review of this report; EFSA staff members (Yves Van der Stede, Angel Ortiz Pelaez, Valentina Rizzi, Pietro Stella, Frank Boelaert) and the EFSA contractor: the Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale del Piemonte (Unit Biostatistica Epidemiologia e Analisi del Rischio and staff: Giuseppe Ru, Francesco Ingravalle, Cristina Bona, Rosanna Desiato, Cristiana Maurella, Eleonora Aiassa).
  • Approved: 9 November 2016
Correspondence: zoonoses@efsa.europa.eu




Abstract

This report of EFSA presents the results of surveillance activities on transmissible spongiform encephalopathies (TSEs) in bovine animals, sheep and goats as well as genotyping data in sheep, carried out in 2015 in the EU and in three non-Member States (non-MS). Since 2001, approximately 114 million cattle in the EU have been tested for bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) according Regulation (EC) 999/2001. In 2015, 1.4 million bovine animals were tested and five cases were detected in four MS (Ireland: one case; Slovenia: one case; Spain: one case; and the United Kingdom: two cases) and one case was detected in Norway. Two cases (in Ireland and the United Kingdom) were affected by classical BSE and both cases were born after the EU-wide feed ban enforced in 2001. The remaining four cases were atypical BSE cases (three H-BSE type and one L-BSE type). Since 2002, approximately 8.4 million small ruminants have been tested during the EU-wide surveillance for scrapie. In 2015, 319,638 sheep and 135,857 goats were tested. In total, 641 scrapie cases in sheep were detected in 18 MS while 1,052 scrapie cases in goats were detected in nine MS, respectively. In two non-MS (Iceland and Norway), 40 scrapie cases in sheep were detected. Although in a number of MS the decrease in classical scrapie is clear, at the EU level there is no clear decreasing trend in the occurrence of scrapie in small ruminants. Results obtained from genotyping in sheep confirm that cases of classical scrapie are clustered among certain genotypes, and animals with these genotypes seem to account for less than 20% of the European randomly sampled sheep population. In total, 580 samples from species other than domestic ruminants were tested for TSE in three MS, all with negative results.

Summary

This report of the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) presents the detailed results of monitoring activities on transmissible spongiform encephalopathies (TSEs) in bovine animals, sheep and goats carried out during 2015 in the European Union (EU) and three non-Member States (non-MS) as well as a summary and trends of the monitoring between 2001 and 2015.

TSE monitoring data for bovine animals and small ruminants are reported by countries according to Regulation (EC) 999/2001 and consist of testing data (monthly reported) as well as case data (positive tested and/or confirmed positive animals). Data regarding the genotyping activities carried out on the ovine TSE cases, as well as on randomly selected sheep, were retrieved from the annual reports submitted by the Member States (MS) and non-MS in accordance with Article 6.4 of, and as specified in Chapter B.I of Annex III to, Regulation (EC) 999/2001, i.e. the TSE Regulation.

Descriptive statistics were used to analyse the data. Where possible, descriptions and calculations were stratified according to the available variables in the database, such as surveillance target group (healthy slaughtered animals, animals culled under bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE)/TSE control and eradication measures, etc.) or activity (passive vs active surveillance), country, year (since 2001 and 2002, respectively, for bovine animals and small ruminants), case type (i.e. classical BSE (C-BSE), atypical BSE (H-BSE or L-BSE), classical scrapie (CS) or atypical scrapie (AS)), flock status (infected/non-infected) and age class.

Since 2001, approximately 114 million bovine animals have been tested for BSE in the EU. There has been a decrease in the number of animals tested over time following amendments in the Regulation (EC) 999/2001. In 2015, around 1.4 million animals were tested in the EU. The number of positive BSE cases has also decreased over time, both in terms of absolute number of cases as well as the proportion of cases in tested animals. In 2015, only five BSE cases were detected in the EU, all among tested fallen stock from four different MS (Ireland, Slovenia, Spain and the United Kingdom). Two cases were C-BSE, both of them born after the EU-wide feed ban was enforced in 2001 (BARB cases). The remaining three cases in the EU were of atypical type (two H-BSE and one L-BSE, respectively). In addition, one case of H-BSE was detected in one non-MS (Norway).

A clear decline in the annual rate of cases per million tests performed was observed for the whole period of BSE monitoring in the EU (2001–2015). An increase in the age of the affected animals is observed and there is an accumulation of cases in animals born in the mid-1990s.

Since 2002, approximately 8.4 million small ruminants have been tested for scrapie in the EU. In 2015, approximately 300,000 sheep and 135,000 goats were tested. In 2015, 641 scrapie cases in sheep and 1,052 scrapie cases in goats were detected in the EU. The scrapie cases in sheep were detected in 18 MS, whereas caprine cases (± 90% reported by Cyprus) were detected in nine MS. In addition, 40 cases in sheep were detected in two out of the three reporting non-MS. There is no clear trend of improvement in the epidemiological situation of small ruminant TSEs overall in the countries included in the report, either in terms of the absolute number of cases or cases in tested animals. However, in some MS there is a decline of CS. The genotyping data confirm that CS in sheep is clustered among genetically susceptible animal while these animals account for less than 20% of the random sampled sheep.

In addition, 580 samples from species other than domestic animals were tested in three MS (Estonia, Finland and Hungary) in 2015 by, all with negative results.


snip...

4 Conclusions


In 2015, there was an almost 40% reduction in the total number of bovine samples tested compared with the previous year, moving from 2.3 to 1.4 million. Tests performed in cattle in the EU are mainly based on the exhaustive testing of risk animals over 48 months of age, which increases the probability of detecting cases even if at a very low rate, compared with random sampling of the slaughtered populations. Five BSE cases were reported by four different MS: one C-BSE case reported by both Ireland and the UK, and three atypical BSE cases – two H-type in Slovenia and the UK, and one L-type in Spain. One additional atypical case (H-type) has been detected in Norway.

The reliability of BSE categorisation by case type has improved over time in countries that detected BSE cases, because, samples from a large proportion of cases were submitted to discriminatory testing (either retrospectively or prospectively).

Surveillance data reflects, either in terms of absolute number of cases reported or prevalence, a pattern consistent with a decline in the European BSE epidemic. However, there were no differences in 2015 with respect to the recent previous years: a similar number of cases were detected, either of classical BSE (two and three cases in 2013 and 2014, respectively) or atypical BSE (five and eight cases in 2013 and 2014, respectively). The two C-BSE cases reported in 2015 were born in 2010 (Ireland) and 2009 (the UK), i.e. 14 and 13 years, respectively, after the enforcement of the feed ban in these countries (BARB cases).
Age-period analysis of the surveillance data confirms a decrease in the occurrence of C-BSE over time, associated with an increase in the age class with the highest prevalence over the years. This pattern indicates that the measures applied to control the main risk factors (e.g. feed ban) have been effective in reducing the burden of the disease. A similar conclusion is also justified by the fact that the highest level of detection occurred in animals born in 1995, when the decline commenced.

No cases of BSE have been detected in the last 7 years in cattle aged < 60 months. However, current monitoring of risk animals (i.e. AM, ES and FS) > 48 months of age allows for the detection of such cases. The detection of cases among young animals may represent an important early warning of a potential re-emergence of a BSE epidemic.

Since 2002, ca 8.4 million small ruminants have been tested in the frame of the EU-wide TSE surveillance. In 2015 a total of 319,638 sheep and 135,857 goats were tested. Among non-infected flocks in both species, there is a decreasing trend in the number of sheep and goats from non-infected flocks tested as TSE suspects (SU target group). There is high between-country heterogeneity with relation to the implementation of the surveillance activities as per the EU legislation. Considering the required samples to be taken within the SHC and NSHC target surveillance groups, 24 and 25 MS fulfilled the requirements in sheep and goats, respectively.

Surveillance activities carried out in 2015 in the EU 28 led to the detection of 641 and 1,052 scrapie cases in sheep and goats, respectively. Ovine scrapie was reported by 18 MS and caprine scrapie by nine MS, even though in the case of goats 90% of the cases were reported by Cyprus.

There is no clear overall trend of improvement in the epidemiological situation of scrapie in small ruminants either in terms of absolute number of cases or proportion of cases. However, in a number of countries a decreasing trend in the annual ratios of CS/AS was observed.

Genotyping data consistently confirm the association between genotype and CS and that the proportion of susceptible animals in the sampled population has decreased over the recent years.

In 2015, 580 samples from species other than domestic ruminants (including wild animals) were tested in three MS and one non-MS (Estonia, Finland, Hungary and Norway); no positives were reported.


snip...see full text ;


http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.2903/j.efsa.2016.4643/full


Low incidence of TSEs in the EU, says EFSA report





EFSA has published its first EU summary report on the monitoring of Transmissible Spongiform Encephalopathies (TSEs) in cattle, sheep and goats. Previously, the annual reports on TSEs were compiled by the European Commission.
TSEs are a group of diseases that affect the brain and nervous system of humans and animals.  With the exception of Classical BSE, there is no scientific evidence that other TSEs can be transmitted to humans.
A low number of BSE cases in cattle were detected in EU Member States, none of which entered the food chain.
Some of the main findings of the report are:
  • Five cases of BSE in cattle have been reported in the EU, out of about 1.4 million animals tested.
  • 641 cases of scrapie in sheep (out of 319,638 tested) and 1,052 in goats have been reported (out of 135,857 tested) in the EU.
This report provides results on data collected by all EU Member States, Iceland, Norway and Switzerland for 2015 on the occurrence of bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) in cattle and scrapie in sheep and goats – two forms of TSEs.


http://www.oie.int/animal-health-in-the-world/bse-situation-in-the-world-and-annual-incidence-rate/10-13-number-of-reported-cases-worldwide-excluding-the-united-kingdom-copy-1/


interesting, not a word on the outbreak of Chronic Wasting Disease CWD TSE Prion disease in cervids in Europe, and potential zoonotic risk factors there from. see ;


Wednesday, November 09, 2016

Norway and Finland Rule Changes for importation and exportation of deer to limit the spread of skrantesjuke (CWD)



MAJOR FINDINGS FOR NORWAY !

Title: Pathological features of chronic wasting disease in reindeer and demonstration of horizontal transmission Author
item Moore, Sarah item Kunkle, Robert item West greenlee, Mary item Nicholson, Eric item Richt, Juergen item Hamir, Amirali item Waters, Wade item Greenlee, Justin
Submitted to: Emerging Infectious Diseases Publication Type: Peer reviewed journal Publication Acceptance Date: 8/29/2016 Publication Date: N/A Citation:
Interpretive Summary: Chronic wasting disease (CWD) is a fatal neurodegenerative disease that occurs in farmed and wild cervids (deer and elk) of North America and was recently diagnosed in a single free-ranging reindeer (Rangifer tarandus tarandus) in Norway. CWD is a transmissible spongiform encephalopathy (TSE) that is caused by infectious proteins called prions that are resistant to various methods of decontamination and environmental degradation. Little is known about the susceptibility of or potential for transmission amongst reindeer. In this experiment, we tested the susceptibility of reindeer to CWD from various sources (elk, mule deer, or white-tailed deer) after intracranial inoculation and tested the potential for infected reindeer to transmit to non-inoculated animals by co-housing or housing in adjacent pens. Reindeer were susceptible to CWD from elk, mule deer, or white-tailed deer sources after experimental inoculation. Most importantly, non-inoculated reindeer that were co-housed with infected reindeer or housed in pens adjacent to infected reindeer but without the potential for nose-to-nose contact also developed evidence of CWD infection. This is a major new finding that may have a great impact on the recently diagnosed case of CWD in the only remaining free-ranging reindeer population in Europe as our findings imply that horizontal transmission to other reindeer within that herd has already occurred. Further, this information will help regulatory and wildlife officials developing plans to reduce or eliminate CWD and cervid farmers that want to ensure that their herd remains CWD-free, but were previously unsure of the potential for reindeer to transmit CWD.
Technical Abstract: Chronic wasting disease (CWD) is a naturally-occurring, fatal prion disease of cervids. Reindeer (Rangifer tarandus tarandus) are susceptible to CWD following oral challenge, and CWD was recently reported in a free-ranging reindeer of Norway. Potential contact between CWD-affected cervids and Rangifer species that are free-ranging or co-housed on farms presents a potential risk of CWD transmission. The aims of this study were to 1) investigate the transmission of CWD from white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus; CWDwtd), mule deer (Odocoileus hemionus; CWDmd), or elk (Cervus elaphus nelsoni; CWDelk) to reindeer via the intracranial route, and 2) to assess for direct and indirect horizontal transmission to non-inoculated sentinels. Three groups of 5 reindeer fawns were challenged intracranially with CWDwtd, CWDmd, or CWDelk. Two years after challenge of inoculated reindeer, non-inoculated negative control reindeer were introduced into the same pen as the CWDwtd inoculated reindeer (direct contact; n=4) or into a pen adjacent to the CWDmd inoculated reindeer (indirect contact; n=2). Experimentally inoculated reindeer were allowed to develop clinical disease. At death/euthanasia a complete necropsy examination was performed, including immunohistochemical testing of tissues for disease-associated CWD prion protein (PrPcwd). Intracranially challenged reindeer developed clinical disease from 21 months post-inoculation (months PI). PrPcwd was detected in 5 out of 6 sentinel reindeer although only 2 out of 6 developed clinical disease during the study period (< 57 months PI). We have shown that reindeer are susceptible to CWD from various cervid sources and can transmit CWD to naïve reindeer both directly and indirectly.

Monday, September 05, 2016
*** Pathological features of chronic wasting disease in reindeer and demonstration of horizontal transmission Major Findings for Norway ***


Sunday, November 13, 2016

Horizontal Transmission of Chronic Wasting Disease in Reindeer CDC Volume 22, Number 12—December 2016




SUNDAY, OCTOBER 02, 2016

What is the risk of a cervid TSE being introduced from Norway into Great Britain? Qualitative Risk Assessment September 2016






Thursday, September 22, 2016

NORWAY DETECTS 5TH CASE OF CHRONIC WASTING DISEASE CWD TSE PRION Skrantesjuke



Saturday, September 03, 2016

NORWAY Regulation concerning temporary measures to reduce the spread of Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD) as 4th case of skrantesjuke confirmed in Sogn og Fjordane



Wednesday, August 31, 2016

*** NORWAY CONFIRMS 4TH CASE OF CHRONIC WASTING DISEASE CWD TSE PRION IN SECOND CARIBOU



Wednesday, August 31, 2016

NORWAY CONFIRMS 4TH CASE OF CHRONIC WASTING DISEASE CWD TSE PRION IN SECOND CARIBOU



Tuesday, August 02, 2016

Chronic wasting disease of deer – is the battle to keep Europe free already lost?


*** Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD) in a moose from Selbu in Sør-Trøndelag Norway ***



Thursday, July 07, 2016

Norway reports a third case Chronic Wasting Disease CWD TSE Prion in 2nd Norwegian moose

14/06/2016 - Norway reports a third case



Saturday, July 16, 2016

Chronic wasting Disease in Deer (CWD or Spongiform Encephalopathy) The British Deer Society 07/04/2016

Red Deer Ataxia or Chronic Wasting Disease CWD TSE PRION?

could this have been cwd in the UK back in 1970’S ???





SEE FULL TEXT ;



Tuesday, April 12, 2016

The first detection of Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD) in Europe free-ranging reindeer from the Nordfjella population in South-Norway.



Saturday, April 9, 2016

The Norwegian Veterinary Institute (NVI, 2016) has reported a case of prion disease Cervid Spongiform Encephalopathy detected in free ranging wild reindeer (Rangifer tarandus tarandus)

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs



Wednesday, September 28, 2016

Norway sides with OIE, decides to expose millions of consumers to the ATYPICAL BSE SRM TSE Prion aka mad cow type disease



Thursday, January 29, 2015

Atypical H-TYPE BSE Case Confirmed in Norway



Friday, June 3, 2016

The epidemiological evolution of prion infection on bovine in Romania, in the period of 2010 – 2015



Wednesday, November 09, 2016

Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD) Program Standards - Review and Comment By Terry S Singeltary Sr. November 9, 2016
http://chronic-wasting-disease.blogspot.com/2016/11/chronic-wasting-disease-cwd-program_9.html

CHRONIC WASTING DISEASE CWD AND SCRAPIE TSE PRION ZOONOSIS UPDATE

 *** WDA 2016 NEW YORK ***
 We found that CWD adapts to a new host more readily than BSE and that human PrP was unexpectedly prone to misfolding by CWD prions. In addition, we investigated the role of specific regions of the bovine, deer and human PrP protein in resistance to conversion by prions from another species. We have concluded that the human protein has a region that confers unusual susceptibility to conversion by CWD prions.
 Student Presentations Session 2
 The species barriers and public health threat of CWD and BSE prions
 Ms. Kristen Davenport1, Dr. Davin Henderson1, Dr. Candace Mathiason1, Dr. Edward Hoover1 1Colorado State University
 Chronic wasting disease (CWD) is spreading rapidly through cervid populations in the USA. Bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE, mad cow disease) arose in the 1980s because cattle were fed recycled animal protein. These and other prion diseases are caused by abnormal folding of the normal prion protein (PrP) into a disease causing form (PrPd), which is pathogenic to nervous system cells and can cause subsequent PrP to misfold. CWD spreads among cervids very efficiently, but it has not yet infected humans. On the other hand, BSE was spread only when cattle consumed infected bovine or ovine tissue, but did infect humans and other species. The objective of this research is to understand the role of PrP structure in cross-species infection by CWD and BSE. To study the propensity of each species’ PrP to be induced to misfold by the presence of PrPd from verious species, we have used an in vitro system that permits detection of PrPd in real-time. We measured the conversion efficiency of various combinations of PrPd seeds and PrP substrate combinations. We observed the cross-species behavior of CWD and BSE, in addition to feline-adapted CWD and BSE. We found that CWD adapts to a new host more readily than BSE and that human PrP was unexpectedly prone to misfolding by CWD prions. In addition, we investigated the role of specific regions of the bovine, deer and human PrP protein in resistance to conversion by prions from another species. We have concluded that the human protein has a region that confers unusual susceptibility to conversion by CWD prions. CWD is unique among prion diseases in its rapid spread in natural populations. BSE prions are essentially unaltered upon passage to a new species, while CWD adapts to the new species. This adaptation has consequences for surveillance of humans exposed to CWD.

Wildlife Disease Risk Communication Research Contributes to Wildlife Trust Administration Exploring perceptions about chronic wasting disease risks among wildlife and agriculture professionals and stakeholders
http://www.wda2016.org/uploads/5/8/6/1/58613359/wda_2016_conference_proceedings_low_res.pdf

PRION 2016 TOKYO
 Zoonotic Potential of CWD Prions: An Update
Ignazio Cali1, Liuting Qing1, Jue Yuan1, Shenghai Huang2, Diane Kofskey1,3, Nicholas Maurer1, Debbie McKenzie4, Jiri Safar1,3,5, Wenquan Zou1,3,5,6, Pierluigi Gambetti1, Qingzhong Kong1,5,6 1Department of Pathology, 3National Prion Disease Pathology Surveillance Center, 5Department of Neurology, 6National Center for Regenerative Medicine, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OH 44106, USA. 4Department of Biological Sciences and Center for Prions and Protein Folding Diseases, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, 2Encore Health Resources, 1331 Lamar St, Houston, TX 77010

Chronic wasting disease (CWD) is a widespread and highly transmissible prion disease in free-ranging and captive cervid species in North America. The zoonotic potential of CWD prions is a serious public health concern, but the susceptibility of human CNS and peripheral organs to CWD prions remains largely unresolved. We reported earlier that peripheral and CNS infections were detected in transgenic mice expressing human PrP129M or PrP129V. Here we will present an update on this project, including evidence for strain dependence and influence of cervid PrP polymorphisms on CWD zoonosis as well as the characteristics of experimental human CWD prions.

PRION 2016 TOKYO In Conjunction with Asia Pacific Prion Symposium 2016 PRION 2016 Tokyo Prion 2016
http://prion2016.org/dl/newsletter_03.pdf

Cervid to human prion transmission
Kong, Qingzhong

Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OH, United States

Abstract

Prion disease is transmissible and invariably fatal. Chronic wasting disease (CWD) is the prion disease affecting deer, elk and moose, and it is a widespread and expanding epidemic affecting 22 US States and 2 Canadian provinces so far. CWD poses the most serious zoonotic prion transmission risks in North America because of huge venison consumption (>6 million deer/elk hunted and consumed annually in the USA alone), significant prion infectivity in muscles and other tissues/fluids from CWD-affected cervids, and usually high levels of individual exposure to CWD resulting from consumption of the affected animal among often just family and friends. However, we still do not know whether CWD prions can infect humans in the brain or peripheral tissues or whether clinical/asymptomatic CWD zoonosis has already occurred, and we have no essays to reliably detect CWD infection in humans. We hypothesize that:

(1) The classic CWD prion strain can infect humans at low levels in the brain and peripheral lymphoid tissues;

(2) The cervid-to-human transmission barrier is dependent on the cervid prion strain and influenced by the host (human) prion protein (PrP) primary sequence;

(3) Reliable essays can be established to detect CWD infection in humans;and

(4) CWD transmission to humans has already occurred. We will test these hypotheses in 4 Aims using transgenic (Tg) mouse models and complementary in vitro approaches.

Aim 1 will prove that the classical CWD strain may infect humans in brain or peripheral lymphoid tissues at low levels by conducting systemic bioassays in a set of "humanized" Tg mouse lines expressing common human PrP variants using a number of CWD isolates at varying doses and routes. Experimental "human CWD" samples will also be generated for Aim 3.

Aim 2 will test the hypothesis that the cervid-to-human prion transmission barrier is dependent on prion strain and influenced by the host (human) PrP sequence by examining and comparing the transmission efficiency and phenotypes of several atypical/unusual CWD isolates/strains as well as a few prion strains from other species that have adapted to cervid PrP sequence, utilizing the same panel of humanized Tg mouse lines as in Aim 1.

Aim 3 will establish reliable essays for detection and surveillance of CWD infection in humans by examining in details the clinical, pathological, biochemical and in vitro seeding properties of existing and future experimental "human CWD" samples generated from Aims 1-2 and compare them with those of common sporadic human Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (sCJD) prions.

Aim 4 will attempt to detect clinical CWD-affected human cases by examining a significant number of brain samples from prion-affected human subjects in the USA and Canada who have consumed venison from CWD-endemic areas utilizing the criteria and essays established in Aim 3. The findings from this proposal will greatly advance our understandings on the potential and characteristics of cervid prion transmission in humans, establish reliable essays for CWD zoonosis and potentially discover the first case(s) of CWD infection in humans.

Public Health Relevance There are significant and increasing human exposure to cervid prions because chronic wasting disease (CWD, a widespread and highly infectious prion disease among deer and elk in North America) continues spreading and consumption of venison remains popular, but our understanding on cervid-to-human prion transmission is still very limited, raising public health concerns. This proposal aims to define the zoonotic risks of cervid prions and set up and apply essays to detect CWD zoonosis using mouse models and in vitro methods. The findings will greatly expand our knowledge on the potentials and characteristics of cervid prion transmission in humans, establish reliable essays for such infections and may discover the first case(s) of CWD infection in humans.

Funding Agency Agency National Institute of Health (NIH)

Institute National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS)

Type Research Project (R01)

Project # 1R01NS088604-01A1

Application # 9037884

Study Section Cellular and Molecular Biology of Neurodegeneration Study Section (CMND)

Program Officer Wong, May

Project Start 2015-09-30

Project End 2019-07-31

Budget Start 2015-09-30

Budget End 2016-07-31

Support Year 1

Fiscal Year 2015

Total Cost $337,507

Indirect Cost $118,756

Institution

Name Case Western Reserve University

Department Pathology

Type Schools of Medicine

DUNS # 077758407

City Cleveland

State OH

Country United States

Zip Code 44106

http://grantome.com/grant/NIH/R01-NS088604-01A1


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

We hypothesize that:

(1) The classic CWD prion strain can infect humans at low levels in the brain and peripheral lymphoid tissues;

(2) The cervid-to-human transmission barrier is dependent on the cervid prion strain and influenced by the host (human) prion protein (PrP) primary sequence;

(3) Reliable essays can be established to detect CWD infection in humans;and

(4) *** CWD transmission to humans has already occurred. *** We will test these hypotheses in 4 Aims using transgenic (Tg) mouse models and complementary in vitro approaches.

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

Key Molecular Mechanisms of TSEs

Zabel, Mark D.

Colorado State University-Fort Collins, Fort Collins, CO, United States Abstract Prion diseases, or transmissible spongiform encephalopathies (TSEs), are fatal neurodegenerative diseases affecting humans, cervids, bovids, and ovids. The absolute requirement of PrPC expression to generate prion diseases and the lack of instructional nucleic acid define prions as unique infectious agents. Prions exhibit species-specific tropism, inferring that unique prion strains exist that preferentially infct certain host species and confront transmission barriers to heterologous host species. However, transmission barriers are not absolute. Scientific consensus agrees that the sheep TSE scrapie probably breached the transmission barrier to cattle causing bovine spongiform encephalopathy that subsequently breached the human transmission barrier and likely caused several hundred deaths by a new-variant form of the human TSE Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease in the UK and Europe. The impact to human health, emotion and economies can still be felt in areas like farming, blood and organ donations and the threat of a latent TSE epidemic. This precedent raises the real possibility of other TSEs, like chronic wasting disease of cervids, overcoming similar human transmission barriers. A groundbreaking discovery made last year revealed that mice infected with heterologous prion strains facing significant transmission barriers replicated prions far more readily in spleens than brains6. Furthermore, these splenic prions exhibited weakened transmission barriers and expanded host ranges compared to neurogenic prions. These data question conventional wisdom of avoiding neural tissue to avoid prion xenotransmission, when more promiscuous prions may lurk in extraneural tissues. Data derived from work previously funded by NIH demonstrate that Complement receptors CD21/35 bind prions and high density PrPC and differentially impact prion disease depending on the prion isolate or strain used. Recent advances in live animal and whole organ imaging have led us to generate preliminary data to support novel, innovative approaches to assessing prion capture and transport. We plan to test our unifying hypothesis for this proposal that CD21/35 control the processes of peripheral prion capture, transport, strain selection and xenotransmission in the following specific aims. 1. Assess the role of CD21/35 in splenic prion strain selection and host range expansion. 2. Determine whether CD21/35 and C1q differentially bind distinct prion strains 3. Monitor the effects of CD21/35 on prion trafficking in real time and space 4. Assess the role of CD21/35 in incunabular prion trafficking

Public Health Relevance Transmissible spongiform encephalopathies, or prion diseases, are devastating illnesses that greatly impact public health, agriculture and wildlife in North America and around the world. The impact to human health, emotion and economies can still be felt in areas like farming, blood and organ donations and the threat of a latent TSE epidemic. This precedent raises the real possibility of other TSEs, like chronic wasting disease (CWD) of cervids, overcoming similar human transmission barriers. Early this year Canada reported its first case of BSE in over a decade audits first case of CWD in farmed elk in three years, underscoring the need for continued vigilance and research. Identifying mechanisms of transmission and zoonoses remains an extremely important and intense area of research that will benefit human and other animal populations.

Funding Agency Agency National Institute of Health (NIH)

Institute National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID)

Type High Priority, Short Term Project Award (R56)

Project # 1R56AI122273-01A1

Application # 9211114

Study Section Cellular and Molecular Biology of Neurodegeneration Study Section (CMND)

Program Officer Beisel, Christopher E

Project Start 2016-02-16

Project End 2017-01-31

Budget Start 2016-02-16

Budget End 2017-01-31

Support Year 1

Fiscal Year 2016

Total Cost

Indirect Cost Institution Name Colorado State University-Fort Collins

Department Microbiology/Immun/Virology

Type Schools of Veterinary Medicine

DUNS # 785979618 City Fort Collins

State CO

Country United States

Zip Code 80523

http://grantome.com/grant/NIH/R56-AI122273-01A1


PMCA Detection of CWD Infection in Cervid and Non-Cervid Species

Hoover, Edward Arthur

Colorado State University-Fort Collins, Fort Collins, CO, United States

Abstract Chronic wasting disease (CWD) of deer and elk is an emerging highly transmissible prion disease now recognized in 18 States, 2 Canadian provinces, and Korea. We have shown that Infected deer harbor and shed high levels of infectious prions in saliva, blood, urine, and feces, and in the tissues generating those body fluids and excreta, thereby leading to facile transmission by direct contact and environmental contamination. We have also shown that CWD can infect some non-cervid species, thus the potential risk CWD represents to domestic animal species and to humans remains unknown. Whether prions borne in blood, saliva, nasal fluids, milk, or excreta are generated or modified in the proximate peripheral tissue sites, may differ in subtle ways from those generated in brain, or may be adapted for mucosal infection remain open questions. The increasing parallels in the pathogenesis between prion diseases and human neurodegenerative conditions, such as Alzheimer's and Parkinson's diseases, add relevance to CWD as a transmissible protein misfolding disease. The overall goal of this work is to elucidate the process of CWD prion transmission from mucosal secretory and excretory tissue sites by addressing these questions: (a) What are the kinetics and magnitude of CWD prion shedding post-exposure? (b) Are excreted prions biochemically distinct, or not, from those in the CNS? (c) Are peripheral epithelial or CNS tissues, or both, the source of excreted prions? and (d) Are excreted prions adapted for horizontal transmission via natural/trans-mucosal routes? The specific aims of this proposal are: (1) To determine the onset and consistency of CWD prion shedding in deer and cervidized mice; (2); To compare the biochemical and biophysical properties of excretory vs. CNS prions; (3) To determine the capacity of peripheral tissues to support replication of CWD prions; (4) To determine the protease- sensitive infectious fraction of excreted vs. CNS prions; and (5) To compare the mucosal infectivity of excretory vs. CNS prions. Understanding the mechanisms that enable efficient prion dissemination and shedding will help elucidate how horizontally transmissible prions evolve and succeed, and is the basis of this proposal. Understanding how infectious misfolded proteins (prions) are generated, trafficked, shed, and transmitted will aid in preventing, treating, and managing the risks associated with these agents and the diseases they cause.

Public Health Relevance Chronic wasting disease (CWD) of deer and elk is an emergent highly transmissible prion disease now recognized throughout the USA as well as in Canada and Korea. We have shown that infected deer harbor and shed high levels of infectious prions in saliva, blood, urine, and feces thereby leading to transmission by direct contact and environmental contamination. In that our studies have also shown that CWD can infect some non-cervid species, the potential risk CWD may represents to domestic animal species and humans remains unknown. The increasing parallels in the development of major human neurodegenerative conditions, such as Alzheimer's and Parkinson's diseases, and prion diseases add relevance to CWD as a model of a transmissible protein misfolding disease. Understanding how infectious misfolded proteins (prions) are generated and transmitted will aid in interrupting, treating, and managing the risks associated with these agents and the diseases they cause.

Funding Agency Agency National Institute of Health (NIH)

Institute National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS)

Type Research Project (R01)

Project # 4R01NS061902-07

Application # 9010980

Study Section Cellular and Molecular Biology of Neurodegeneration Study Section (CMND)

Program Officer Wong, May Project Start 2009-09-30

Project End 2018-02-28

Budget Start 2016-03-01

Budget End 2017-02-28

Support Year 7

Fiscal Year 2016

Total Cost $409,868

Indirect Cost $134,234 Institution Name Colorado State University-Fort Collins

Department Microbiology/Immun/Virology

Type Schools of Veterinary Medicine

DUNS # 785979618 City Fort Collins

State CO

Country United States

Zip Code 80523

http://grantome.com/grant/NIH/R01-NS061902-07


LOOKING FOR CWD IN HUMANS AS nvCJD or as an ATYPICAL CJD, LOOKING IN ALL THE WRONG PLACES $$$

*** These results would seem to suggest that CWD does indeed have zoonotic potential, at least as judged by the compatibility of CWD prions and their human PrPC target. Furthermore, extrapolation from this simple in vitro assay suggests that if zoonotic CWD occurred, it would most likely effect those of the PRNP codon 129-MM genotype and that the PrPres type would be similar to that found in the most common subtype of sCJD (MM1).***

https://www.landesbioscience.com/journals/prion/article/28124/?nocache=112223249
PRION 2015 CONFERENCE FT. COLLINS CWD RISK FACTORS TO HUMANS

*** 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

*** 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.***

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

P.105: RT-QuIC models trans-species prion transmission

Kristen Davenport, Davin Henderson, Candace Mathiason, and Edward Hoover Prion Research Center; Colorado State University; Fort Collins, CO USA

Conversely, FSE maintained sufficient BSE characteristics to more efficiently convert bovine rPrP than feline rPrP. Additionally, human rPrP was competent for conversion by CWD and fCWD.

***This insinuates that, at the level of protein:protein interactions, the barrier preventing transmission of CWD to humans is less robust than previously estimated.

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

***This insinuates that, at the level of protein:protein interactions, the barrier preventing transmission of CWD to humans is less robust than previously estimated.***

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

https://prion2015.files.wordpress.com/2015/05/programguide1.pdf


*** PRICE OF CWD TSE PRION POKER GOES UP 2014 ***

Transmissible Spongiform Encephalopathy TSE PRION update January 2, 2014

*** chronic wasting disease, there was no absolute barrier to conversion of the human prion protein.

*** Furthermore, the form of human PrPres produced in this in vitro assay when seeded with CWD, resembles that found in the most common human prion disease, namely sCJD of the MM1 subtype.

http://wwwnc.cdc.gov/eid/article/20/1/13-0858_article.htm


http://chronic-wasting-disease.blogspot.com/2014/01/molecular-barriers-to-zoonotic.html


*** These results would seem to suggest that CWD does indeed have zoonotic potential, at least as judged by the compatibility of CWD prions and their human PrPC target. Furthermore, extrapolation from this simple in vitro assay suggests that if zoonotic CWD occurred, it would most likely effect those of the PRNP codon 129-MM genotype and that the PrPres type would be similar to that found in the most common subtype of sCJD (MM1).***

https://www.landesbioscience.com/journals/prion/article/28124/?nocache=112223249


*** The potential impact of prion diseases on human health was greatly magnified by the recognition that interspecies transfer of BSE to humans by beef ingestion resulted in vCJD. While changes in animal feed constituents and slaughter practices appear to have curtailed vCJD, there is concern that CWD of free-ranging deer and elk in the U.S. might also cross the species barrier. Thus, consuming venison could be a source of human prion disease. Whether BSE and CWD represent interspecies scrapie transfer or are newly arisen prion diseases is unknown. Therefore, the possibility of transmission of prion disease through other food animals cannot be ruled out. There is evidence that vCJD can be transmitted through blood transfusion. There is likely a pool of unknown size of asymptomatic individuals infected with vCJD, and there may be asymptomatic individuals infected with the CWD equivalent. These circumstances represent a potential threat to blood, blood products, and plasma supplies.

http://cdmrp.army.mil/prevfunded/nprp/NPRP_Summit_Final_Report.pdf


***********CJD REPORT 1994 increased risk for consumption of veal and venison and lamb***********

CREUTZFELDT JAKOB DISEASE SURVEILLANCE IN THE UNITED KINGDOM THIRD ANNUAL REPORT AUGUST 1994

Consumption of venison and veal was much less widespread among both cases and controls. For both of these meats there was evidence of a trend with increasing frequency of consumption being associated with increasing risk of CJD. (not nvCJD, but sporadic CJD...tss)

These associations were largely unchanged when attention was restricted to pairs with data obtained from relatives. ...

Table 9 presents the results of an analysis of these data.

There is STRONG evidence of an association between ‘’regular’’ veal eating and risk of CJD (p = .0.01).

Individuals reported to eat veal on average at least once a year appear to be at 13 TIMES THE RISK of individuals who have never eaten veal.

There is, however, a very wide confidence interval around this estimate. There is no strong evidence that eating veal less than once per year is associated with increased risk of CJD (p = 0.51).

The association between venison eating and risk of CJD shows similar pattern, with regular venison eating associated with a 9 FOLD INCREASE IN RISK OF CJD (p = 0.04).

There is some evidence that risk of CJD INCREASES WITH INCREASING FREQUENCY OF LAMB EATING (p = 0.02).

The evidence for such an association between beef eating and CJD is weaker (p = 0.14). When only controls for whom a relative was interviewed are included, this evidence becomes a little STRONGER (p = 0.08).

snip...

It was found that when veal was included in the model with another exposure, the association between veal and CJD remained statistically significant (p = < 0.05 for all exposures), while the other exposures ceased to be statistically significant (p = > 0.05).

snip...

In conclusion, an analysis of dietary histories revealed statistical associations between various meats/animal products and INCREASED RISK OF CJD. When some account was taken of possible confounding, the association between VEAL EATING AND RISK OF CJD EMERGED AS THE STRONGEST OF THESE ASSOCIATIONS STATISTICALLY. ...

snip...

In the study in the USA, a range of foodstuffs were associated with an increased risk of CJD, including liver consumption which was associated with an apparent SIX-FOLD INCREASE IN THE RISK OF CJD. By comparing the data from 3 studies in relation to this particular dietary factor, the risk of liver consumption became non-significant with an odds ratio of 1.2 (PERSONAL COMMUNICATION, PROFESSOR A. HOFMAN. ERASMUS UNIVERSITY, ROTTERDAM). (???...TSS)

snip...see full report ;

http://collections.europarchive.org/tna/20090505194948/http://bseinquiry.gov.uk/files/yb/1994/08/00004001.pdf


CJD9/10022

October 1994

Mr R.N. Elmhirst Chairman British Deer Farmers Association Holly Lodge Spencers Lane BerksWell Coventry CV7 7BZ

Dear Mr Elmhirst,

CREUTZFELDT-JAKOB DISEASE (CJD) SURVEILLANCE UNIT REPORT

Thank you for your recent letter concerning the publication of the third annual report from the CJD Surveillance Unit. I am sorry that you are dissatisfied with the way in which this report was published.

The Surveillance Unit is a completely independant outside body and the Department of Health is committed to publishing their reports as soon as they become available. In the circumstances it is not the practice to circulate the report for comment since the findings of the report would not be amended. In future we can ensure that the British Deer Farmers Association receives a copy of the report in advance of publication.

The Chief Medical Officer has undertaken to keep the public fully informed of the results of any research in respect of CJD. This report was entirely the work of the unit and was produced completely independantly of the the Department.

The statistical results reqarding the consumption of venison was put into perspective in the body of the report and was not mentioned at all in the press release. Media attention regarding this report was low key but gave a realistic presentation of the statistical findings of the Unit. This approach to publication was successful in that consumption of venison was highlighted only once by the media ie. in the News at one television proqramme.

I believe that a further statement about the report, or indeed statistical links between CJD and consumption of venison, would increase, and quite possibly give damaging credence, to the whole issue. From the low key media reports of which I am aware it seems unlikely that venison consumption will suffer adversely, if at all.

http://web.archive.org/web/20030511010117/http://www.bseinquiry.gov.uk/files/yb/1994/10/00003001.pdf


Monday, May 02, 2016

*** Zoonotic Potential of CWD Prions: An Update Prion 2016 Tokyo ***

http://chronic-wasting-disease.blogspot.com/2016/05/zoonotic-potential-of-cwd-prions-update.html


*** PRION 2014 CONFERENCE CHRONIC WASTING DISEASE CWD


http://chronic-wasting-disease.blogspot.com/2014/06/prion-2014-chronic-wasting-disease-cwd.html


http://chronic-wasting-disease.blogspot.com/2016/07/colorado-chronic-wasting-disease-cwd.html


http://chronic-wasting-disease.blogspot.com/


Monday, May 02, 2016

*** Zoonotic Potential of CWD Prions: An Update Prion 2016 Tokyo ***

http://chronic-wasting-disease.blogspot.com/2016/05/zoonotic-potential-of-cwd-prions-update.html

 Saturday, April 23, 2016

PRION 2016 TOKYO

Saturday, April 23, 2016

 SCRAPIE WS-01: Prion diseases in animals and zoonotic potential 2016

 Prion. 10:S15-S21. 2016 ISSN: 1933-6896 printl 1933-690X online

Taylor & Francis

Prion 2016 Animal Prion Disease Workshop Abstracts

WS-01: Prion diseases in animals and zoonotic potential

Juan Maria Torres a, Olivier Andreoletti b, J uan-Carlos Espinosa a. Vincent Beringue c. Patricia Aguilar a,

Natalia Fernandez-Borges a. and Alba Marin-Moreno a

"Centro de Investigacion en Sanidad Animal ( CISA-INIA ). Valdeolmos, Madrid. Spain; b UMR INRA -ENVT 1225 Interactions Holes Agents Pathogenes. ENVT. Toulouse. France: "UR892. Virologie lmmunologie MolécuIaires, Jouy-en-Josas. France

 Dietary exposure to bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) contaminated bovine tissues is considered as the origin of variant Creutzfeldt Jakob (vCJD) disease in human. To date, BSE agent is the only recognized zoonotic prion. Despite the variety of Transmissible Spongiform Encephalopathy (TSE) agents that have been circulating for centuries in farmed ruminants there is no apparent epidemiological link between exposure to ruminant products and the occurrence of other form of TSE in human like sporadic Creutzfeldt Jakob Disease (sCJD). However, the zoonotic potential of the diversity of circulating TSE agents has never been systematically assessed. The major issue in experimental assessment of TSEs zoonotic potential lies in the modeling of the ‘species barrier‘, the biological phenomenon that limits TSE agents’ propagation from a species to another. In the last decade, mice genetically engineered to express normal forms of the human prion protein has proved essential in studying human prions pathogenesis and modeling the capacity of TSEs to cross the human species barrier.

 To assess the zoonotic potential of prions circulating in farmed ruminants, we study their transmission ability in transgenic mice expressing human PrPC (HuPrP-Tg). Two lines of mice expressing different forms of the human PrPC (129Met or 129Val) are used to determine the role of the Met129Val dimorphism in susceptibility/resistance to the different agents.

These transmission experiments confirm the ability of BSE prions to propagate in 129M- HuPrP-Tg mice and demonstrate that Met129 homozygotes may be susceptible to BSE in sheep or goat to a greater degree than the BSE agent in cattle and that these agents can convey molecular properties and neuropathological indistinguishable from vCJD. However homozygous 129V mice are resistant to all tested BSE derived prions independently of the originating species suggesting a higher transmission barrier for 129V-PrP variant.

 Transmission data also revealed that several scrapie prions propagate in HuPrP-Tg mice with ef?ciency comparable to that of cattle BSE. While the ef?ciency of transmission at primary passage was low, subsequent passages resulted in a highly virulent prion disease in both Met129 and Val129 mice. Transmission of the different scrapie isolates in these mice leads to the emergence of prion strain phenotypes that showed similar characteristics to those displayed by MM1 or VV2 sCJD prion. These results demonstrate that scrapie prions have a zoonotic potential and raise new questions about the possible link between animal and human prions. 


 why do we not want to do TSE transmission studies on chimpanzees $

5. A positive result from a chimpanzee challenged severly would likely create alarm in some circles even if the result could not be interpreted for man. I have a view that all these agents could be transmitted provided a large enough dose by appropriate routes was given and the animals kept long enough. Until the mechanisms of the species barrier are more clearly understood it might be best to retain that hypothesis.

 snip...

 R. BRADLEY

http://collections.europarchive.org/tna/20080102222950/http://www.bseinquiry.gov.uk/files/yb/1990/09/23001001.pdf

 *** In complement to the recent demonstration that humanized mice are susceptible to scrapie, we report here the first observation of direct transmission of a natural classical scrapie isolate to a macaque after a 10-year incubation period. Neuropathologic examination revealed all of the features of a prion disease: spongiform change, neuronal loss, and accumulation of PrPres throughout the CNS.

 *** This observation strengthens the questioning of the harmlessness of scrapie to humans, at a time when protective measures for human and animal health are being dismantled and reduced as c-BSE is considered controlled and being eradicated.

 *** Our results underscore the importance of precautionary and protective measures and the necessity for long-term experimental transmission studies to assess the zoonotic potential of other animal prion strains.

 http://www.ars.usda.gov/research/publications/publications.htm?SEQ_NO_115=313160

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, Valerie 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 long 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***
 ***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.

https://prion2015.files.wordpress.com/2015/05/prion2015abstracts.pdf

SCRAPIE WS-01: Prion diseases in animals and zoonotic potential 2016
Prion. 10:S15-S21. 2016 ISSN: 1933-6896 printl 1933-690X online
 http://scrapie-usa.blogspot.com/2016/04/scrapie-ws-01-prion-diseases-in-animals.html

Tuesday, August 9, 2016

Concurrence with OIE Risk Designations for Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy [Docket No. APHIS-2015-0055]

BILLING CODE: 3410-34-P DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service
http://bovineprp.blogspot.com/2016/08/concurrence-with-oie-risk-designations.html
Saturday, July 23, 2016
BOVINE SPONGIFORM ENCEPHALOPATHY BSE TSE PRION SURVEILLANCE, TESTING, AND SRM REMOVAL UNITED STATE OF AMERICA UPDATE JULY 2016
Tuesday, July 26, 2016
Atypical Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy BSE TSE Prion UPDATE JULY 2016 
Saturday, July 16, 2016
Importation of Sheep, Goats, and Certain Other Ruminants [Docket No. APHIS-2009-0095]RIN 0579-AD10
WITH great disgust and concern, I report to you that the OIE, USDA, APHIS, are working to further legalize the trading of Transmissible Spongiform Encephalopathy TSE Pion disease around the globe.
THIS is absolutely insane. it’s USDA INC.
Thursday, August 4, 2016
Secretary's Advisory Committee on Animal Health [Docket No. APHIS-2016-0046] 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
Diagnosis and Reporting of Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease
To the Editor: In their Research Letter, Dr Gibbons and colleagues1 reported that the annual US death rate due to Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD) has been stable since 1985. These estimates, however, are based only on reported cases, and do not include misdiagnosed or preclinical cases. It seems to me that misdiagnosis alone would drastically change these figures. An unknown number of persons with a diagnosis of Alzheimer disease in fact may have CJD, although only a small number of these patients receive the postmortem examination necessary to make this diagnosis. Furthermore, only a few states have made CJD reportable. Human and animal transmissible spongiform encephalopathies should be reportable nationwide and internationally.

Terry S. Singeltary, Sr Bacliff, Tex

1. Gibbons RV, Holman RC, Belay ED, Schonberger LB. Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease in the United States: 1979-1998. JAMA. 2000;284:2322-2323.

http://jama.jamanetwork.com/article.aspx?articleid=1031186

Terry S. Singeltary Sr.