Herds infected with Chronic Wasting Disease in Canada in 2015 The CFIA 
works with provincial governments and industry to conduct regular Chronic 
Wasting Disease (CWD) surveillance. Ongoing provincial surveillance for CWD 
varies with each particular province's perceived threat and infection status. 
Testing is mandatory in Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta and the Yukon; it is 
voluntary, completed by random submission, or organized through policy in other 
provinces and territories.
In addition, CWD is a reportable disease under the Health of Animals 
Regulations. This means that all suspected cases must be reported to the 
CFIA.
Current as of: 2015-06-30
Domestic cervid herds confirmed to be infected with CWD in Canada in 2015 
Date confirmed Location Animal type infected 
June 11 Saskatchewan Elk 
April 9 Saskatchewan Deer 
March 19 Saskatchewan Elk 
January 16 Alberta Elk 
Flocks infected with Scrapie in Canada in 2015 The CFIA, in co-operation 
with provincial governments and industry, launched a national scrapie 
surveillance program in 2005. Under the program, producers are encouraged to 
report animals that die on the farm or exhibit symptoms of the disease.
In addition, scrapie is a reportable disease under the Health of Animals 
Regulations. This means that all suspected cases must be reported to the 
CFIA.
Current as of: 2015-06-30
Sheep flocks and/or goat herds confirmed to be infected with classical 
scrapie in Canada in 2015 
Date confirmed Location Animal type infected 
January 5 Ontario Goat 
May 22 Quebec Sheep 
June 16 Ontario Sheep 
Confirmed Cases of Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE) in 2015 BSE is a 
reportable disease under the Health of Animals Regulations. This means that all 
suspected cases must be reported to the CFIA.
Current as of: 2015-06-30
The following table lists individual animals confirmed to be infected with 
BSE in Canada in 2015. 
Date confirmed Location Animal type infected Age of Animal 
February 11 Alberta Beef cow 70 months 
Saturday, February 14, 2015 
Canadian Food Inspection Agency Confirms Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy 
(BSE) in Alberta
Canada has had a COVER-UP policy of mad cow disease since about the 17th 
case OR 18th case of mad cow disease. AFTER THAT, all FOIA request were ignored 
$$$ 
THIS proves there is indeed an epidemic of mad cow disease in North 
America, and it has been covered up for years and years, if not for decades, and 
it’s getting worse $$$ 
Thursday, February 10, 2011 
TRANSMISSIBLE SPONGIFORM ENCEPHALOPATHY REPORT UPDATE CANADA FEBRUARY 2011 
and how to hide mad cow disease in Canada Current as of: 2011-01-31 
Wednesday, August 11, 2010 
REPORT ON THE INVESTIGATION OF THE SIXTEENTH CASE OF BOVINE SPONGIFORM 
ENCEPHALOPATHY (BSE) IN CANADA 
Thursday, August 19, 2010 
REPORT ON THE INVESTIGATION OF THE SEVENTEENTH CASE OF BOVINE SPONGIFORM 
ENCEPHALOPATHY (BSE) IN CANADA 
Friday, March 4, 2011 
Alberta dairy cow found with mad cow disease 
Tuesday, May 21, 2013 
Canada, USA, Bad feed, mad cows: Why we know three BSE cases had a common 
origin and why the SSS policy is in full force $$$ 
Tuesday, June 23, 2015 
Report on the monitoring and testing of ruminants for the presence of 
transmissible spongiform encephalopathies (TSEs) in the EU in 2013 Final version 
18 May 2015
PRION 2015 ORAL AND POSTER CONGRESSIONAL ABSTRACTS
O.05: Transmission of prions to primates after extended silent incubation 
periods: Implications for BSE and scrapie risk assessment in human populations 
Emmanuel Comoy, Jacqueline Mikol, Val erie Durand, Sophie Luccantoni, 
Evelyne Correia, Nathalie Lescoutra, Capucine Dehen, and Jean-Philippe Deslys 
Atomic Energy Commission; Fontenay-aux-Roses, France 
Prion diseases (PD) are the unique neurodegenerative proteinopathies 
reputed to be transmissible under field conditions since decades. The 
transmission of Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE) to humans evidenced that 
an animal PD might be zoonotic under appropriate conditions. Contrarily, in the 
absence of obvious (epidemiological or experimental) elements supporting a 
transmission or genetic predispositions, PD, like the other proteinopathies, are 
reputed to occur spontaneously (atpical animal prion strains, sporadic CJD 
summing 80% of human prion cases). Non-human primate models provided the first 
evidences supporting the transmissibiity of human prion strains and the zoonotic 
potential of BSE. Among them, cynomolgus macaques brought major information for 
BSE risk assessment for human health (Chen, 2014), according to their 
phylogenetic proximity to humans and extended lifetime. We used this model to 
assess the zoonotic potential of other animal PD from bovine, ovine and cervid 
origins even after very long silent incubation periods. We recently observed the 
direct transmission of a natural classical scrapie isolate to macaque after a 
10-year silent incubation period, with features similar to some reported for 
human cases of sporadic CJD, albeit requiring fourfold longe incubation than 
BSE. Scrapie, as recently evoked in humanized mice (Cassard, 2014), is the third 
potentially zoonotic PD (with BSE and L-type BSE), ***thus questioning the 
origin of human sporadic cases. We will present an updated panorama of our 
different transmission studies and discuss the implications of such extended 
incubation periods on risk assessment of animal PD for human health.
===============
***thus questioning the origin of human sporadic cases...TSS
===============
O.08: H-type bovine spongiform encephalopathy associated with E211K prion 
protein polymorphism: Clinical and pathologic features in wild-type and E211K 
cattle following intracranial inoculation 
S Jo Moore, M Heather West Greenlee, Jodi Smith, Eric Nicholson, Cathy 
Vrentas, and Justin Greenlee United States Department of Agriculture; Ames, IA 
USA 
In 2006 an H-type bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) case was reported 
in an animal with an unusual polymorphism (E211K) in the prion protein gene. 
Although the prevalence of this polymorphism is low, cattle carrying the K211 
allele are predisposed to rapid onset of H-type BSE when exposed. The purpose of 
this study was to investigate the phenotype of this BSE strain in wild-type 
(E211E) and E211K heterozygous cattle. One calf carrying the wild-type allele 
and one E211K calf were inoculated intracranially with H-type BSE brain 
homogenate from the US 2006 case that also carried one K211 allelle. In 
addition, one wild-type calf and one E211K calf were inoculated intracranially 
with brain homogenate from a US 2003 classical BSE case. All animals succumbed 
to clinical disease. Survival times for E211K H-type BSE inoculated catttle (10 
and 18 months) were shorter than the classical BSE inoculated cattle (both 26 
months). Significant changes in retinal function were observed in H-type BSE 
challenged cattle only. Animals challenged with the same inoculum showed similar 
severity and neuroanatomical distribution of vacuolation and disease-associated 
prion protein deposition in the brain, though differences in neuropathology were 
observed between E211K H-type BSE and classical BSE inoculated animals. Western 
blot results for brain tissue from challenged animals were consistent with the 
inoculum strains. ***This study demonstrates that the phenotype of E211K H-type 
BSE remains stable when transmitted to cattle without the E211K polymorphism, 
and exhibits a number of features that differ from classical BSE in both 
wild-type and E211K cattle. 
==============
***This study demonstrates that the phenotype of E211K H-type BSE remains 
stable when transmitted to cattle without the E211K polymorphism, and exhibits a 
number of features that differ from classical BSE in both wild-type and E211K 
cattle.***
PLEASE SEE ;
Wednesday, May 27, 2015 
BSE Case Associated with Prion Protein Gene Mutation
==============
P.108: Successful oral challenge of adult cattle with classical BSE
Sandor Dudas1,*, Kristina Santiago-Mateo1, Tammy Pickles1, Catherine 
Graham2, and Stefanie Czub1 1Canadian Food Inspection Agency; NCAD Lethbridge; 
Lethbridge, Alberta, Canada; 2Nova Scotia Department of Agriculture; Pathology 
Laboratory; Truro, Nova Scotia, Canada
Classical Bovine spongiform encephalopathy (C-type BSE) is a feed- and 
food-borne fatal neurological disease which can be orally transmitted to cattle 
and humans. Due to the presence of contaminated milk replacer, it is generally 
assumed that cattle become infected early in life as calves and then succumb to 
disease as adults.
Here we challenged three 14 months old cattle per-orally with 100 grams of 
C-type BSE brain to investigate age-related susceptibility or resistance. During 
incubation, the animals were sampled monthly for blood and feces and subjected 
to standardized testing to identify changes related to neurological 
disease.
At 53 months post exposure, progressive signs of central nervous system 
disease were observed in these 3 animals, and they were euthanized. Two of the 
C-BSE animals tested strongly positive using standard BSE rapid tests, however 
in 1 C-type challenged animal, Prion 2015 Poster Abstracts S67 PrPsc was not 
detected using rapid tests for BSE. Subsequent testing resulted in the detection 
of pathologic lesion in unusual brain location and PrPsc detection by PMCA 
only.
Our study demonstrates susceptibility of adult cattle to oral transmission 
of classical BSE. We are further examining explanations for the unusual disease 
presentation in the third challenged animal.
========================
***Our study demonstrates susceptibility of adult cattle to oral 
transmission of classical BSE. ***
P.86: Estimating the risk of transmission of BSE and scrapie to ruminants 
and humans by protein misfolding cyclic amplification
Morikazu Imamura, Naoko Tabeta, Yoshifumi Iwamaru, and Yuichi Murayama 
National Institute of Animal Health; Tsukuba, Japan
To assess the risk of the transmission of ruminant prions to ruminants and 
humans at the molecular level, we investigated the ability of abnormal prion 
protein (PrPSc) of typical and atypical BSEs (L-type and H-type) and typical 
scrapie to convert normal prion protein (PrPC) from bovine, ovine, and human to 
proteinase K-resistant PrPSc-like form (PrPres) using serial protein misfolding 
cyclic amplification (PMCA).
Six rounds of serial PMCA was performed using 10% brain homogenates from 
transgenic mice expressing bovine, ovine or human PrPC in combination with PrPSc 
seed from typical and atypical BSE- or typical scrapie-infected brain 
homogenates from native host species. In the conventional PMCA, the conversion 
of PrPC to PrPres was observed only when the species of PrPC source and PrPSc 
seed matched. However, in the PMCA with supplements (digitonin, synthetic polyA 
and heparin), both bovine and ovine PrPC were converted by PrPSc from all tested 
prion strains. On the other hand, human PrPC was converted by PrPSc from typical 
and H-type BSE in this PMCA condition.
Although these results were not compatible with the previous reports 
describing the lack of transmissibility of H-type BSE to ovine and human 
transgenic mice, ***our findings suggest that possible transmission risk of 
H-type BSE to sheep and human. Bioassay will be required to determine whether 
the PMCA products are infectious to these animals.
================
***our findings suggest that possible transmission risk of H-type BSE to 
sheep and human. ***
ALSO, PLEASE SEE ;
31 Jan 2015 at 20:14 GMT 
*** Ruminant feed ban for cervids in the United States? ***
31 Jan 2015 at 20:14 GMT 
Saturday, May 30, 2015 
PRION 2015 ORAL AND POSTER CONGRESSIONAL ABSTRACTS 
Wednesday, June 10, 2015 
Zoonotic Potential of CWD Prions 
LATE-BREAKING ABSTRACTS 
please see attached pdf file, with references of breaches in the USA triple 
BSE mad cow firewalls, and recent science on the TSE prion disease. ...TSS No 
documents available. Attachments View All (1) Docket No. APHIS-2014-0107 Bovine 
Spongiform Encephalopathy; Importation of Animals and Animal Products Singeltary 
Submission View Attachment: 
spontaneous atypical BSE ??? 
if that's the case, then France is having one hell of an epidemic of 
atypical BSE, probably why they stopped testing for BSE, problem solved $$$ 
As of December 2011, around 60 atypical BSE cases have currently been 
reported in 13 countries, *** with over one third in France. 
so 20 cases of atypical BSE in France, compared to the remaining 40 cases 
in the remaining 12 Countries, divided by the remaining 12 Countries, about 3+ 
cases per country, besides Frances 20 cases. you cannot explain this away with 
any spontaneous BSe. ...TSS 
Sunday, October 5, 2014 
France stops BSE testing for Mad Cow Disease 
Tuesday, February 10, 2015 
Alberta Canada First case of chronic wasting disease found in farm elk 
since 2002 
Sunday, December 28, 2014 
CHRONIC WASTING DISEASE CWD TSE PRION DISEASE AKA MAD DEER DISIEASE USDA 
USAHA INC DECEMBER 28, 2014 
Current as of: 2015-01-31
Sheep flocks and/or goat herds confirmed to be infected with classical 
scrapie in Canada in 2015 Date confirmed Location Animal type infected January 5 
Ontario Goat 
Monday, April 07, 2014 
Saskatchewan’s first chronic wasting disease case of the year has been 
confirmed 2014 
Saturday, October 18, 2014 
Chronic wasting disease threatens Canadian agriculture, Alberta MLA says 
Wednesday, June 18, 2008
CHRONIC WASTING DISEASE FOUND IN 24 MORE DEER IN ALBERTA 
 *** The discovery of previously unrecognized prion diseases in both humans 
and animals (i.e., Nor98 in small ruminants) demonstrates that the range of 
prion diseases might be wider than expected and raises crucial questions about 
the epidemiology and strain properties of these new forms. We are investigating 
this latter issue by molecular and biological comparison of VPSPr, GSS and 
Nor98. 
Increased Atypical Scrapie Detections
Press reports indicate that increased surveillance is catching what 
otherwise would have been unreported findings of atypical scrapie in sheep. In 
2009, five new cases have been reported in Quebec, Ontario, Alberta, and 
Saskatchewan. With the exception of Quebec, all cases have been diagnosed as 
being the atypical form found in older animals. Canada encourages producers to 
join its voluntary surveillance program in order to gain scrapie-free status. 
The World Animal Health will not classify Canada as scrapie-free until no new 
cases are reported for seven years. The Canadian Sheep Federation is calling on 
the government to fund a wider surveillance program in order to establish the 
level of prevalence prior to setting an eradication date. Besides long-term 
testing, industry is calling for a compensation program for farmers who report 
unusual deaths in their flocks.
Thursday, March 29, 2012
atypical Nor-98 Scrapie has spread from coast to coast in the USA 2012 
NIAA Annual Conference April 11-14, 2011San Antonio, Texas
Monday, April 25, 2011
Experimental Oral Transmission of Atypical Scrapie to Sheep
Volume 17, Number 5-May 2011 However, work with transgenic mice has 
demonstrated the potential susceptibility of pigs, with the disturbing finding 
that the biochemical properties of the resulting PrPSc have changed on 
transmission (40). 
Monday, December 14, 2009
Similarities between Forms of Sheep Scrapie and Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease 
Are Encoded by Distinct Prion Types
(hmmm, this is getting interesting now...TSS)
Sporadic CJD type 1 and atypical/ Nor98 scrapie are characterized by fine 
(reticular) deposits,
see also ;
All of the Heidenhain variants were of the methionine/ methionine type 1 
molecular subtype.
see full text ;
Monday, December 14, 2009
Similarities between Forms of Sheep Scrapie and Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease 
Are Encoded by Distinct Prion Types
P03.141
Aspects of the Cerebellar Neuropathology in Nor98
Gavier-Widén, D1; Benestad, SL2; Ottander, L1; Westergren, E1 1National 
Veterinary Insitute, Sweden; 2National Veterinary Institute,
Norway Nor98 is a prion disease of old sheep and goats. This atypical form 
of scrapie was first described in Norway in 1998. Several features of Nor98 were 
shown to be different from classical scrapie including the distribution of 
disease associated prion protein (PrPd) accumulation in the brain. The 
cerebellum is generally the most affected brain area in Nor98. The study here 
presented aimed at adding information on the neuropathology in the cerebellum of 
Nor98 naturally affected sheep of various genotypes in Sweden and Norway. A 
panel of histochemical and immunohistochemical (IHC) stainings such as IHC for 
PrPd, synaptophysin, glial fibrillary acidic protein, amyloid, and cell markers 
for phagocytic cells were conducted. The type of histological lesions and tissue 
reactions were evaluated. The types of PrPd deposition were characterized. The 
cerebellar cortex was regularly affected, even though there was a variation in 
the severity of the lesions from case to case. Neuropil vacuolation was more 
marked in the molecular layer, but affected also the granular cell layer. There 
was a loss of granule cells. Punctate deposition of PrPd was characteristic. It 
was morphologically and in distribution identical with that of synaptophysin, 
suggesting that PrPd accumulates in the synaptic structures. PrPd was also 
observed in the granule cell layer and in the white matter. The pathology 
features of Nor98 in the cerebellum of the affected sheep showed similarities 
with those of sporadic Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease in humans.
***The pathology features of Nor98 in the cerebellum of the affected sheep 
showed similarities with those of sporadic Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease in 
humans.
PR-26
NOR98 SHOWS MOLECULAR FEATURES REMINISCENT OF GSS
R. Nonno1, E. Esposito1, G. Vaccari1, E. Bandino2, M. Conte1, B. 
Chiappini1, S. Marcon1, M. Di Bari1, S.L. Benestad3, U. Agrimi1 1 Istituto 
Superiore di Sanità, Department of Food Safety and Veterinary Public Health, 
Rome, Italy (romolo.nonno@iss.it); 2 Istituto Zooprofilattico della Sardegna, 
Sassari, Italy; 3 National Veterinary Institute, Department of Pathology, Oslo, 
Norway
Molecular variants of PrPSc are being increasingly investigated in sheep 
scrapie and are generally referred to as "atypical" scrapie, as opposed to 
"classical scrapie". Among the atypical group, Nor98 seems to be the best 
identified. We studied the molecular properties of Italian and Norwegian Nor98 
samples by WB analysis of brain homogenates, either untreated, digested with 
different concentrations of proteinase K, or subjected to enzymatic 
deglycosylation. The identity of PrP fragments was inferred by means of 
antibodies spanning the full PrP sequence. We found that undigested brain 
homogenates contain a Nor98-specific PrP fragment migrating at 11 kDa (PrP11), 
truncated at both the C-terminus and the N-terminus, and not N-glycosylated. 
After mild PK digestion, Nor98 displayed full-length PrP (FL-PrP) and 
N-glycosylated C-terminal fragments (CTF), along with increased levels of PrP11. 
Proteinase K digestion curves (0,006-6,4 mg/ml) showed that FL-PrP and CTF are 
mainly digested above 0,01 mg/ml, while PrP11 is not entirely digested even at 
the highest concentrations, similarly to PrP27-30 associated with classical 
scrapie. Above 0,2 mg/ml PK, most Nor98 samples showed only PrP11 and a fragment 
of 17 kDa with the same properties of PrP11, that was tentatively identified as 
a dimer of PrP11. Detergent solubility studies showed that PrP11 is insoluble in 
2% sodium laurylsorcosine and is mainly produced from detergentsoluble, 
full-length PrPSc. Furthermore, among Italian scrapie isolates, we found that a 
sample with molecular and pathological properties consistent with Nor98 showed 
plaque-like deposits of PrPSc in the thalamus when the brain was analysed by 
PrPSc immunohistochemistry. Taken together, our results show that the 
distinctive pathological feature of Nor98 is a PrP fragment spanning amino acids 
~ 90-155. This fragment is produced by successive N-terminal and C-terminal 
cleavages from a full-length and largely detergent-soluble PrPSc, is produced in 
vivo and is extremely resistant to PK digestion.
*** Intriguingly, these conclusions suggest that some pathological features 
of Nor98 are reminiscent of Gerstmann-Sträussler-Scheinker disease.
119
A newly identified type of scrapie agent can naturally infect sheep with 
resistant PrP genotypes
Annick Le Dur*,?, Vincent Béringue*,?, Olivier Andréoletti?, Fabienne 
Reine*, Thanh Lan Laï*, Thierry Baron§, Bjørn Bratberg¶, Jean-Luc Vilotte?, 
Pierre Sarradin**, Sylvie L. Benestad¶, and Hubert Laude*,?? +Author 
Affiliations
*Virologie Immunologie Moléculaires and ?Génétique Biochimique et 
Cytogénétique, Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique, 78350 
Jouy-en-Josas, France; ?Unité Mixte de Recherche, Institut National de la 
Recherche Agronomique-Ecole Nationale Vétérinaire de Toulouse, Interactions Hôte 
Agent Pathogène, 31066 Toulouse, France; §Agence Française de Sécurité Sanitaire 
des Aliments, Unité Agents Transmissibles Non Conventionnels, 69364 Lyon, 
France; **Pathologie Infectieuse et Immunologie, Institut National de la 
Recherche Agronomique, 37380 Nouzilly, France; and ¶Department of Pathology, 
National Veterinary Institute, 0033 Oslo, Norway
***Edited by Stanley B. Prusiner, University of California, San Francisco, 
CA (received for review March 21, 2005)
Abstract Scrapie in small ruminants belongs to transmissible spongiform 
encephalopathies (TSEs), or prion diseases, a family of fatal neurodegenerative 
disorders that affect humans and animals and can transmit within and between 
species by ingestion or inoculation. Conversion of the host-encoded prion 
protein (PrP), normal cellular PrP (PrPc), into a misfolded form, abnormal PrP 
(PrPSc), plays a key role in TSE transmission and pathogenesis. The intensified 
surveillance of scrapie in the European Union, together with the improvement of 
PrPSc detection techniques, has led to the discovery of a growing number of 
so-called atypical scrapie cases. These include clinical Nor98 cases first 
identified in Norwegian sheep on the basis of unusual pathological and PrPSc 
molecular features and "cases" that produced discordant responses in the rapid 
tests currently applied to the large-scale random screening of slaughtered or 
fallen animals. Worryingly, a substantial proportion of such cases involved 
sheep with PrP genotypes known until now to confer natural resistance to 
conventional scrapie. Here we report that both Nor98 and discordant cases, 
including three sheep homozygous for the resistant PrPARR allele (A136R154R171), 
efficiently transmitted the disease to transgenic mice expressing ovine PrP, and 
that they shared unique biological and biochemical features upon propagation in 
mice. *** These observations support the view that a truly infectious TSE agent, 
unrecognized until recently, infects sheep and goat flocks and may have 
important implications in terms of scrapie control and public health.
Monday, December 1, 2008
When Atypical Scrapie cross species barriers
Authors
Andreoletti O., Herva M. H., Cassard H., Espinosa J. C., Lacroux C., Simon 
S., Padilla D., Benestad S. L., Lantier F., Schelcher F., Grassi J., Torres, J. 
M., UMR INRA ENVT 1225, Ecole Nationale Veterinaire de Toulouse.France; 
ICISA-INlA, Madrid, Spain; CEA, IBiTec-5, DSV, CEA/Saclay, Gif sur Yvette cedex, 
France; National Veterinary Institute, Postboks 750 Sentrum, 0106 Oslo, Norway, 
INRA IASP, Centre INRA de Tours, 3738O Nouzilly, France.
Content
Atypical scrapie is a TSE occurring in small ruminants and harbouring 
peculiar clinical, epidemiological and biochemical properties. Currently this 
form of disease is identified in a large number of countries. In this study we 
report the transmission of an atypical scrapie isolate through different species 
barriers as modeled by transgenic mice (Tg) expressing different species PRP 
sequence.
The donor isolate was collected in 1995 in a French commercial sheep flock. 
inoculation into AHQ/AHQ sheep induced a disease which had all 
neuro-pathological and biochemical characteristics of atypical scrapie. 
Transmitted into Transgenic mice expressing either ovine or PrPc, the isolate 
retained all the described characteristics of atypical scrapie.
Surprisingly the TSE agent characteristics were dramatically different 
v/hen passaged into Tg bovine mice. The recovered TSE agent had biological and 
biochemical characteristics similar to those of atypical BSE L in the same mouse 
model. Moreover, whereas no other TSE agent than BSE were shown to transmit into 
Tg porcine mice, atypical scrapie was able to develop into this model, albeit 
with low attack rate on first passage.
Furthermore, after adaptation in the porcine mouse model this prion showed 
similar biological and biochemical characteristics than BSE adapted to this 
porcine mouse model. Altogether these data indicate.
(i) the unsuspected potential abilities of atypical scrapie to cross 
species barriers
(ii) the possible capacity of this agent to acquire new characteristics 
when crossing species barrier
These findings raise some interrogation on the concept of TSE strain and on 
the origin of the diversity of the TSE agents and could have consequences on 
field TSE control measures.
Friday, February 11, 2011 
Atypical/Nor98 Scrapie Infectivity in Sheep Peripheral Tissues 
IBNC Tauopathy or TSE Prion disease, it appears, no one is sure
Posted by flounder on 03 Jul 2015 at 16:53 GMT
2005
DEFRA Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs
Area 307, London, SW1P 4PQ Telephone: 0207 904 6000 Direct line: 0207 904 
6287 E-mail: h.mcdonagh.defra.gsi.gov.uk
GTN: FAX:
Mr T S Singeltary P.O. Box 42 Bacliff Texas USA 77518 
 21 November 2001 
 Dear Mr Singeltary 
 TSE IN HOUNDS 
 Thank you for e-mail regarding the hounds survey. I am sorry for the long 
delay in responding. 
 As you note, the hound survey remains unpublished. However the Spongiform 
Encephalopathy Advisory Committee (SEAC), the UK Government's independent 
Advisory Committee on all aspects related to BSE-like disease, gave the hound 
study detailed consideration at their meeting in January 1994. As a summary of 
this meeting published in the BSE inquiry noted, the Committee were clearly 
concerned about the work that had been carried out, concluding that there had 
clearly been problems with it, particularly the control on the histology, and 
that it was more or less inconclusive. However was agreed that there should be a 
re-evaluation of the pathological material in the study. 
 Later, at their meeting in June 95, The Committee re-evaluated the hound 
study to see if any useful results could be gained from it. The Chairman 
concluded that there were varying opinions within the Committee on further work. 
It did not suggest any further transmission studies and thought that the lack of 
clinical data was a major weakness. 
 Overall, it is clear that SEAC had major concerns about the survey as 
conducted. As a result it is likely that the authors felt that it would not 
stand up to r~eer review and hence it was never published. As noted above, and 
in the detailed minutes of the SEAC meeting in June 95, SEAC considered whether 
additional work should be performed to examine dogs for evidence of TSE 
infection. Although the Committee had mixed views about the merits of conducting 
further work, the Chairman noted that when the Southwood Committee made their 
recommendation to complete an assessment of possible spongiform disease in dogs, 
no TSEs had been identified in other species and hence dogs were perceived as a 
high risk population and worthy of study. However subsequent to the original 
recommendation, made in 1990, a number of other species had been identified with 
TSE ( e.g. cats) so a study in hounds was less 
 critical. For more details see- http://www.bseinquiry, 
gov.uk/files/yb/1995/06/21005001 .pdf 
 As this study remains unpublished, my understanding is that the ownership 
of the data essentially remains with the original researchers. Thus 
unfortunately, I am unable to help with your request to supply information on 
the hound survey directly. My only suggestion is that you contact one of the 
researchers originally involved in the project, such as Gerald Wells. He can be 
contacted at the following address. 
 Dr Gerald Wells, Veterinary Laboratories Agency, New Haw, Addlestone, 
Surrey, KT 15 3NB, UK 
 You may also wish to be aware that since November 1994 all suspected cases 
of spongiform encephalopathy in animals and poultry were made notifiable. Hence 
since that date there has been a requirement for vets to report any suspect SE 
in dogs for further investigation. To date there has never been positive 
identification of a TSE in a dog. 
 I hope this is helpful 
 Yours sincerely 4 
 HUGH MCDONAGH BSE CORRESPONDENCE SECTION 
 ====================================== 
 HOUND SURVEY 
 I am sorry, but I really could have been a co-signatory of Gerald's 
minute. 
 I do NOT think that we can justify devoting any resources to this study, 
especially as larger and more important projects such as the pathogenesis study 
will be quite demanding. 
 If there is a POLITICAL need to continue with the examination of hound 
brains then it should be passed entirely to the VI Service. 
 J W WILESMITH Epidemiology Unit 18 October 1991 
 Mr. R Bradley 
 cc: Mr. G A H Wells 
 3.3. Mr R J Higgins in conjunction with Mr G A Wells and Mr A C Scott 
would by the end of the year, indentify the three brains that were from the 
''POSITIVE'' end of the lesion spectrum. 
 TSE in dogs have not been documented simply because OF THE ONLY STUDY, 
those brain tissue samples were screwed up too. see my investigation of this 
here, and to follow, later follow up, a letter from defra, AND SEE SUSPICIOUS 
BRAIN TISSUE SAF's. ...TSS 
 TSE & HOUNDS 
 GAH WELLS (very important statement here...TSS) 
 HOUND STUDY 
 AS implied in the Inset 25 we must not _ASSUME_ that transmission of BSE 
to other species will invariably present pathology typical of a scrapie-like 
disease. 
 snip... 
 http://web.archive.org/web/20060307063542/http://www.bseinquiry.gov.uk/files/yb/1991/01/04004001.pdf 
76 pages on hound study; 
 snip... 
 NO, NO, NOT NO, BUT HELL KNOW !!! 
 PLEASE be careful what you ask for. 
 recently, canine spongiform encephalopathy has been confirmed. 
 I proved this in 2005, with a letter from MAFF/DEFRA et al confirming my 
suspicions of the ‘hound study’ way back. this was covered up. see documents 
below. 
 also, recently, cwd to the domestic cat is a great concern. 
 even though to date, as far as I am aware of, the cwd study on the 
mountain lion has not produced any confirmation yet, we already know that the 
feline species is highly succeptible to the TSE prion. domestic cats and the 
exotic zoo big cats. 
 so in my honest opinion, any program that would use wild animals to prey 
on other wild animals, as a tool to help curb CWD TSE prion disease, would only 
help enhance the spread of disease, and it would only help spread the disease to 
other species. ...TSS 
 Monday, February 14, 2011 
 THE ROLE OF PREDATION IN DISEASE CONTROL: A COMPARISON OF SELECTIVE AND 
NONSELECTIVE REMOVAL ON PRION DISEASE DYNAMICS IN DEER 
 NO, NO, NOT NO, BUT HELL NO ! 
 Journal of Wildlife Diseases, 47(1), 2011, pp. 78-93 © Wildlife Disease 
Association 2011 
 OR-09: Canine spongiform encephalopathy—A new form of animal prion disease 
 Monique David, Mourad Tayebi UT Health; Houston, TX USA 
 It was also hypothesized that BSE might have originated from an 
unrecognized sporadic or genetic case of bovine prion disease incorporated into 
cattle feed or even cattle feed contaminated with prion-infected human remains.1 
However, strong support for a genetic origin of BSE has recently been 
demonstrated in an H-type BSE case exhibiting the novel mutation E211K.2 
Furthermore, a specific prion protein strain causing BSE in cattle is believed 
to be the etiological agent responsible for the novel human prion disease, 
variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (vCJD).3 Cases of vCJD have been identified in 
a number countries, including France, Italy, Ireland, the Netherlands, Canada, 
Japan, US and the UK with the largest number of cases. Naturally occurring 
feline spongiform encephalopathy of domestic cats4 and spongiform 
encephalopathies of a number of zoo animals so-called exotic ungulate 
encephalopathies5,6 are also recognized as animal prion diseases, and are 
thought to have resulted from the same BSE-contaminated food given to cattle and 
humans, although and at least in some of these cases, a sporadic and/or genetic 
etiology cannot be ruled out. The canine species seems to display resistance to 
prion disease and no single case has so far been reported.7,8 Here, we describe 
a case of a 9 week old male Rottweiler puppy presenting neurological deficits; 
and histological examination revealed spongiform vacuolation characteristic of 
those associated with prion diseases.9 Initial biochemical studies using 
anti-PrP antibodies revealed the presence of partially proteinase K-resistant 
fragment by western blotting. Furthermore, immunohistochemistry revealed 
spongiform degeneration consistent with those found in prion disease and 
displayed staining for PrPSc in the cortex. 
 Of major importance, PrPSc isolated from the Rottweiler was able to cross 
the species barrier transmitted to hamster in vitro with PMCA and in vivo (one 
hamster out of 5). Futhermore, second in vivo passage to hamsters, led to 100% 
attack rate (n = 4) and animals displayed untypical lesional profile and shorter 
incubation period. 
 In this study, we show that the canine species might be sensitive to prion 
disease and that PrPSc isolated from a dog can be transmitted to dogs and 
hamsters in vitro using PMCA and in vivo to hamsters. 
 If our preliminary results are confirmed, the proposal will have a major 
impact on animal and public health and would certainly lead to implementing new 
control measures for ‘canine spongiform encephalopathy’ (CSE). 
 References 1. Colchester AC, Colchester NT. The origin of bovine 
spongiform encephalopathy: the human prion disease hypothesis. Lancet 2005; 
366:856-61; PMID:16139661; http://%20dx.doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(05)67218-2. 
 2. Richt JA, Hall SM. BSE case associated with prion protein gene 
mutation. PLoS Pathog 2008; 4:e1000156; PMID:18787697; http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal. 
ppat.1000156. 
 3. Collinge J. Human prion diseases and bovine spongiform encephalopathy 
(BSE). Hum Mol Genet 1997; 6:1699-705; PMID:9300662; http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/ hmg/6.10.1699. 
 4. Wyatt JM, Pearson GR, Smerdon TN, Gruffydd-Jones TJ, Wells GA, 
Wilesmith JW. Naturally occurring scrapie-like spongiform encephalopathy in five 
domestic cats. Vet Rec 1991; 129:233-6; PMID:1957458; http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/vr.129.11.233. 
 5. Jeffrey M, Wells GA. Spongiform encephalopathy in a nyala (Tragelaphus 
angasi). Vet Pathol 1988; 25:398-9; PMID:3232315; http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/030098588802500514. 
 6. Kirkwood JK, Wells GA, Wilesmith JW, Cunningham AA, Jackson SI. 
Spongiform encephalopathy in an arabian oryx (Oryx leucoryx) and a greater kudu 
(Tragelaphus strepsiceros). Vet Rec 1990; 127:418-20; PMID:2264242. 
 7. Bartz JC, McKenzie DI, Bessen RA, Marsh RF, Aiken JM. Transmissible 
mink encephalopathy species barrier effect between ferret and mink: PrP gene and 
protein analysis. J Gen Virol 1994; 75:2947-53; PMID:7964604; http://dx.doi.org/10.1099/0022-1317- 
75-11-2947. 
 8. Lysek DA, Schorn C, Nivon LG, Esteve-Moya V, Christen B, Calzolai L, et 
al. Prion protein NMR structures of cats, dogs, pigs, and sheep. Proc Natl Acad 
Sci U S A 2005; 102:640-5; PMID:15647367; http://dx.doi.org/10.1073/pnas.0408937102. 
 9. Budka H. Neuropathology of prion diseases. Br Med Bull 2003; 66:121-30; 
PMID:14522854; http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/bmb/66.1.121. 
 Monday, March 26, 2012 
 CANINE SPONGIFORM ENCEPHALOPATHY: A NEW FORM OF ANIMAL PRION DISEASE 
 http://caninespongiformencephalopathy.blogspot.com/2012/03/canine-spongiform-encephalopathy-new.html 
 Monday, March 8, 2010 
 Canine Spongiform Encephalopathy aka MAD DOG DISEASE 
2011 
 *** After a natural route of exposure, 100% of white-tailed deer were 
susceptible to scrapie. 
 UPDATED CORRESPONDENCE FROM AUTHORS OF THIS STUDY I.E. COLBY, PRUSINER ET 
AL, ABOUT MY CONCERNS OF THE DISCREPANCY BETWEEN THEIR FIGURES AND MY FIGURES OF 
THE STUDIES ON CWD TRANSMISSION TO CATTLE ; 
 ----- Original Message ----- 
 From: David Colby To: flounder9@verizon.net 
 Cc: stanley@XXXXXXXX 
 Sent: Tuesday, March 01, 2011 8:25 AM 
 Subject: Re: FW: re-Prions David W. Colby1,* and Stanley B. Prusiner1,2 + 
Author Affiliations 
 Dear Terry Singeltary, 
 Thank you for your correspondence regarding the review article Stanley 
Prusiner and I recently wrote for Cold Spring Harbor Perspectives. Dr. Prusiner 
asked that I reply to your message due to his busy schedule. We agree that the 
transmission of CWD prions to beef livestock would be a troubling development 
and assessing that risk is important. In our article, we cite a peer-reviewed 
publication reporting confirmed cases of laboratory transmission based on 
stringent criteria. The less stringent criteria for transmission described in 
the abstract you refer to lead to the discrepancy between your numbers and ours 
and thus the interpretation of the transmission rate. We stand by our assessment 
of the literature--namely that the transmission rate of CWD to bovines appears 
relatively low, but we recognize that even a low transmission rate could have 
important implications for public health and we thank you for bringing attention 
to this matter. Warm Regards, David Colby -- David Colby, PhDAssistant Professor 
Department of Chemical Engineering University of Delaware 
 ===========END...TSS============== 
 Thursday, July 03, 2014 
 How Chronic Wasting Disease is affecting deer population and what’s the 
risk to humans and pets? 
 cwd to cattle 
 > First transmission of CWD to transgenic mice over-expressing bovine 
prion protein gene (TgSB3985) 
 PRION 2014 - PRIONS: EPIGENETICS and NEURODEGENERATIVE DISEASES – Shaping 
up the future of prion research 
 Animal TSE Workshop 10.40 – 11.05 Talk Dr. L. Cervenakova First 
transmission of CWD to transgenic mice over-expressing bovine prion protein gene 
(TgSB3985) 
 P.126: Successful transmission of chronic wasting disease (CWD) into mice 
over-expressing bovine prion protein (TgSB3985) 
 Larisa Cervenakova,1 Christina J Sigurdson,2 Pedro Piccardo,3 Oksana 
Yakovleva,1 Irina Vasilyeva,1 Jorge de Castro,1 Paula Saá,1 and Anton Cervenak1 
1American Red Cross, Holland Laboratory; Rockville, MD USA; 2University of 
California; San Diego, CA USA; 3Lab TSE/OBRR /CBER/FDA; Rockville, MD USA 
 Keywords: chronic wasting disease, transmission, transgenic mouse, bovine 
prion protein 
 Background. CWD is a disease affecting wild and farmraised cervids in 
North America. Epidemiological studies provide no evidence of CWD transmission 
to humans. Multiple attempts have failed to infect transgenic mice expressing 
human PRNP gene with CWD. The extremely low efficiency of PrPCWD to convert 
normal human PrPC in vitro provides additional evidence that transmission of CWD 
to humans cannot be easily achieved. However, a concern about the risk of CWD 
transmission to humans still exists. This study aimed to establish and 
characterize an experimental model of CWD in TgSB3985 mice with the following 
attempt of transmission to TgHu mice. 
 Materials and Methods. TgSB3985 mice and wild-type FVB/ NCrl mice were 
intracranially injected with 1% brain homogenate from a CWD-infected Tga20 mouse 
(CWD/Tga20). TgSB3985 and TgRM (over-expressing human PrP) were similarly 
injected with 5% brain homogenates from CWD-infected white-tailed deer (CWD/WTD) 
or elk (CWD/Elk). Animals were observed for clinical signs of neurological 
disease and were euthanized when moribund. Brains and spleens were removed from 
all mice for PrPCWD detection by Western blotting (WB). A histological analysis 
of brains from selected animals was performed: brains were scored for the 
severity of spongiform change, astrogliosis, and PrPCWD deposition in ten brain 
regions. 
 Results. Clinical presentation was consistent with TSE. More than 90% of 
TgSB3985 and wild-type mice infected with CWD/Tga20, tested positive for PrPres 
in the brain but only mice in the latter group carried PrPCWD in their spleens. 
We found evidence for co-existence or divergence of two CWD/ Tga20 strains based 
on biochemical and histological profiles. In TgSB3985 mice infected with CWD-elk 
or CWD-WTD, no animals tested positive for PrPCWD in the brain or in the spleen 
by WB. However, on neuropathological examination we found presence of amyloid 
plaques that stained positive for PrPCWD in three CWD/WTD- and two 
CWD/Elk-infected TgSB3985 mice. The neuropathologic profiles in CWD/WTD- and 
CWD/Elkinfected mice were similar but unique as compared to profiles of BSE, 
BSE-H or CWD/Tg20 agents propagated in TgSB3985 mice. None of CWD-infected TgRM 
mice tested positive for PrPCWD by WB or by immunohistochemical detection. 
 Conclusions. To our knowledge, this is the first established experimental 
model of CWD in TgSB3985. We found evidence for co-existence or divergence of 
two CWD strains adapted to Tga20 mice and their replication in TgSB3985 mice. 
Finally, we observed phenotypic differences between cervid-derived CWD and 
CWD/Tg20 strains upon propagation in TgSB3985 mice. Further studies are underway 
to characterize these strains. 
 Thursday, November 21, 2013 
 *** Assessing the susceptibility of transgenic mice over-expressing deer 
prion protein to bovine spongiform encephalopathy 
 The present study was designed to assess the susceptibility of the 
prototypic mouse line, Tg(CerPrP)1536+/- to bovine spongiform encephalopathy 
(BSE) prions, which have the ability to overcome species barriers. 
Tg(CerPrP)1536+/- mice challenged with red deer-adapted BSE resulted in a 
90-100% attack rates, BSE from cattle failed to transmit, indicating agent 
adaptation in the deer. 
PLEASE SEE LATEST SCIENCE ON SPORADIC CJD POTENTIAL LINKS TO DIFFERENT 
ANIMAL TSE PRION DISEASE ; 
sporadic CJD now linked to c-BSE, L type BASE BSE (CALIFORNIA), Scrapie, 
and atypical Scrapie, with much concern about CWD 
***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. 
O.05: Transmission of prions to primates after extended silent incubation 
periods: Implications for BSE and scrapie risk assessment in human populations 
Emmanuel Comoy, Jacqueline Mikol, Val erie Durand, Sophie Luccantoni, 
Evelyne Correia, Nathalie Lescoutra, Capucine Dehen, and Jean-Philippe Deslys 
Atomic Energy Commission; Fontenay-aux-Roses, France 
Prion diseases (PD) are the unique neurodegenerative proteinopathies 
reputed to be transmissible under field conditions since decades. The 
transmission of Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE) to humans evidenced that 
an animal PD might be zoonotic under appropriate conditions. Contrarily, in the 
absence of obvious (epidemiological or experimental) elements supporting a 
transmission or genetic predispositions, PD, like the other proteinopathies, are 
reputed to occur spontaneously (atpical animal prion strains, sporadic CJD 
summing 80% of human prion cases). Non-human primate models provided the first 
evidences supporting the transmissibiity of human prion strains and the zoonotic 
potential of BSE. Among them, cynomolgus macaques brought major information for 
BSE risk assessment for human health (Chen, 2014), according to their 
phylogenetic proximity to humans and extended lifetime. We used this model to 
assess the zoonotic potential of other animal PD from bovine, ovine and cervid 
origins even after very long silent incubation periods. 
***We recently observed the direct transmission of a natural classical 
scrapie isolate to macaque after a 10-year silent incubation period, with 
features similar to some reported for human cases of sporadic CJD, albeit 
requiring fourfold longe incubation than BSE. 
***Scrapie, as recently evoked in humanized mice (Cassard, 2014), is the 
third potentially zoonotic PD (with BSE and L-type BSE), 
***thus questioning the origin of human sporadic cases. 
We will present an updated panorama of our different transmission studies 
and discuss the implications of such extended incubation periods on risk 
assessment of animal PD for human health. 
=============== 
***thus questioning the origin of human sporadic cases...TSS 
=============== 
2014 
***Moreover, L-BSE has been transmitted more easily to transgenic mice 
overexpressing a human PrP [13,14] or to primates [15,16] than C-BSE. 
***It has been suggested that some sporadic CJD subtypes in humans may 
result from an exposure to the L-BSE agent. 
*** Lending support to this hypothesis, pathological and biochemical 
similarities have been observed between L-BSE and an sCJD subtype (MV genotype 
at codon 129 of PRNP) [17], and between L-BSE infected non-human primate and 
another sCJD subtype (MM genotype) [15]. 
snip... 
Monday, October 10, 2011 
EFSA Journal 2011 The European Response to BSE: A Success Story 
snip... 
EFSA and the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) 
recently delivered a scientific opinion on any possible epidemiological or 
molecular association between TSEs in animals and humans (EFSA Panel on 
Biological Hazards (BIOHAZ) and ECDC, 2011). This opinion confirmed Classical 
BSE prions as the only TSE agents demonstrated to be zoonotic so far 
*** but the possibility that a small proportion of human cases so far 
classified as "sporadic" CJD are of zoonotic origin could not be excluded. 
*** Moreover, transmission experiments to non-human primates suggest that 
some TSE agents in addition to Classical BSE prions in cattle (namely L-type 
Atypical BSE, Classical BSE in sheep, transmissible mink encephalopathy (TME) 
and chronic wasting disease (CWD) agents) might have zoonotic potential. 
snip... 
Thursday, August 12, 2010
Seven main threats for the future linked to prions
First threat
The TSE road map defining the evolution of European policy for protection 
against prion diseases is based on a certain numbers of hypotheses some of which 
may turn out to be erroneous. In particular, a form of BSE (called atypical 
Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy), recently identified by systematic testing in 
aged cattle without clinical signs, may be the origin of classical BSE and thus 
potentially constitute a reservoir, which may be impossible to eradicate if a 
sporadic origin is confirmed. 
*** Also, a link is suspected between atypical BSE and some apparently 
sporadic cases of Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease in humans. 
*** These atypical BSE cases constitute an unforeseen first threat that 
could sharply modify the European approach to prion diseases.
Second threat
snip... 
*** HUMAN MAD COW DISEASE nvCJD TEXAS CASE NOT LINKED TO EUROPEAN TRAVEL 
CDC ***
Sunday, November 23, 2014 
*** Confirmed Variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease (variant CJD) Case in Texas 
in June 2014 confirmed as USA case NOT European *** 
the patient had resided in Kuwait, Russia and Lebanon. The completed 
investigation did not support the patient's having had extended travel to 
European countries, including the United Kingdom, or travel to Saudi Arabia. The 
specific overseas country where this patient’s infection occurred is less clear 
largely because the investigation did not definitely link him to a country where 
other known vCJD cases likely had been infected. 
Sunday, December 14, 2014 
*** ALERT new variant Creutzfeldt Jakob Disease nvCJD or vCJD, sporadic CJD 
strains, TSE prion aka Mad Cow Disease United States of America Update December 
14, 2014 Report ***
Tuesday, June 23, 2015 
Report on the monitoring and testing of ruminants for the presence of 
transmissible spongiform encephalopathies (TSEs) in the EU in 2013 Final version 
18 May 2015
Tuesday, December 16, 2014 
Evidence for zoonotic potential of ovine scrapie prions 
Hervé Cassard,1, n1 Juan-Maria Torres,2, n1 Caroline Lacroux,1, Jean-Yves 
Douet,1, Sylvie L. Benestad,3, Frédéric Lantier,4, Séverine Lugan,1, Isabelle 
Lantier,4, Pierrette Costes,1, Naima Aron,1, Fabienne Reine,5, Laetitia 
Herzog,5, Juan-Carlos Espinosa,2, Vincent Beringue5, & Olivier Andréoletti1, 
Affiliations Contributions Corresponding author Journal name: Nature 
Communications Volume: 5, Article number: 5821 DOI: doi:10.1038/ncomms6821 
Received 07 August 2014 Accepted 10 November 2014 Published 16 December 2014 
Abstract 
Although Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE) is the cause of variant 
Creutzfeldt Jakob disease (vCJD) in humans, the zoonotic potential of scrapie 
prions remains unknown. Mice genetically engineered to overexpress the human 
prion protein (tgHu) have emerged as highly relevant models for gauging the 
capacity of prions to transmit to humans. These models can propagate human 
prions without any apparent transmission barrier and have been used used to 
confirm the zoonotic ability of BSE. Here we show that a panel of sheep scrapie 
prions transmit to several tgHu mice models with an efficiency comparable to 
that of cattle BSE. ***The serial transmission of different scrapie isolates in 
these mice led to the propagation of prions that are phenotypically identical to 
those causing sporadic CJD (sCJD) in humans. ***These results demonstrate that 
scrapie prions have a zoonotic potential and raise new questions about the 
possible link between animal and human prions. 
Subject terms: Biological sciences• Medical research At a glance 
why do we not want to do TSE transmission studies on chimpanzees $ 
5. A positive result from a chimpanzee challenged severly would likely 
create alarm in some circles even if the result could not be interpreted for 
man. I have a view that all these agents could be transmitted provided a large 
enough dose by appropriate routes was given and the animals kept long enough. 
Until the mechanisms of the species barrier are more clearly understood it might 
be best to retain that hypothesis. 
snip... 
R. BRADLEY 
1: J Infect Dis 1980 Aug;142(2):205-8 
Oral transmission of kuru, Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, and scrapie to 
nonhuman primates. 
Gibbs CJ Jr, Amyx HL, Bacote A, Masters CL, Gajdusek DC. 
Kuru and Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease of humans and scrapie disease of sheep 
and goats were transmitted to squirrel monkeys (Saimiri sciureus) that were 
exposed to the infectious agents only by their nonforced consumption of known 
infectious tissues. The asymptomatic incubation period in the one monkey exposed 
to the virus of kuru was 36 months; that in the two monkeys exposed to the virus 
of Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease was 23 and 27 months, respectively; and that in the 
two monkeys exposed to the virus of scrapie was 25 and 32 months, respectively. 
Careful physical examination of the buccal cavities of all of the monkeys failed 
to reveal signs or oral lesions. One additional monkey similarly exposed to kuru 
has remained asymptomatic during the 39 months that it has been under 
observation. 
snip... 
The successful transmission of kuru, Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, and scrapie 
by natural feeding to squirrel monkeys that we have reported provides further 
grounds for concern that scrapie-infected meat may occasionally give rise in 
humans to Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease. 
PMID: 6997404 
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&list_uids=6997404&dopt=Abstract 
Recently the question has again been brought up as to whether scrapie is 
transmissible to man. This has followed reports that the disease has been 
transmitted to primates. One particularly lurid speculation (Gajdusek 1977) 
conjectures that the agents of scrapie, kuru, Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease and 
transmissible encephalopathy of mink are varieties of a single "virus". The U.S. 
Department of Agriculture concluded that it could "no longer justify or permit 
scrapie-blood line and scrapie-exposed sheep and goats to be processed for human 
or animal food at slaughter or rendering plants" (ARC 84/77)" The problem is 
emphasised by the finding that some strains of scrapie produce lesions identical 
to the once which characterise the human dementias" 
Whether true or not. the hypothesis that these agents might be 
transmissible to man raises two considerations. First, the safety of laboratory 
personnel requires prompt attention. Second, action such as the "scorched meat" 
policy of USDA makes the solution of the acrapie problem urgent if the sheep 
industry is not to suffer grievously. 
snip... 
76/10.12/4.6 
Nature. 1972 Mar 10;236(5341):73-4. 
Transmission of scrapie to the cynomolgus monkey (Macaca fascicularis). 
Gibbs CJ Jr, Gajdusek DC. 
Nature 236, 73 - 74 (10 March 1972); doi:10.1038/236073a0 
Transmission of Scrapie to the Cynomolgus Monkey (Macaca fascicularis) 
C. J. GIBBS jun. & D. C. GAJDUSEK 
National Institute of Neurological Diseases and Stroke, National Institutes 
of Health, Bethesda, Maryland 
SCRAPIE has been transmitted to the cynomolgus, or crab-eating, monkey 
(Macaca fascicularis) with an incubation period of more than 5 yr from the time 
of intracerebral inoculation of scrapie-infected mouse brain. The animal 
developed a chronic central nervous system degeneration, with ataxia, tremor and 
myoclonus with associated severe scrapie-like pathology of intensive astroglial 
hypertrophy and proliferation, neuronal vacuolation and status spongiosus of 
grey matter. The strain of scrapie virus used was the eighth passage in Swiss 
mice (NIH) of a Compton strain of scrapie obtained as ninth intracerebral 
passage of the agent in goat brain, from Dr R. L. Chandler (ARC, Compton, 
Berkshire). 
2015
*** LATE-BREAKING ABSTRACTS PRION 2015 CONFERENCE *** 
2015
O18
Zoonotic Potential of CWD Prions
Liuting Qing1, Ignazio Cali1,2, Jue Yuan1, Shenghai Huang3, Diane Kofskey1, 
Pierluigi Gambetti1, Wenquan Zou1, Qingzhong Kong1 1Case Western Reserve 
University, Cleveland, Ohio, USA, 2Second University of Naples, Naples, Italy, 
3Encore Health Resources, Houston, Texas, USA
Chronic wasting disease (CWD) is a widespread and expanding prion disease 
in free-ranging and captive cervid species in North America. The zoonotic 
potential of CWD prions is a serious public health concern. Current literature 
generated with in vitro methods and in vivo animal models (transgenic mice, 
macaques and squirrel monkeys) reports conflicting results. The susceptibility 
of human CNS and peripheral organs to CWD prions remains largely unresolved. In 
our earlier bioassay experiments using several humanized transgenic mouse lines, 
we detected protease-resistant PrPSc in the spleen of two out of 140 mice that 
were intracerebrally inoculated with natural CWD isolates, but PrPSc was not 
detected in the brain of the same mice. Secondary passages with such 
PrPSc-positive CWD-inoculated humanized mouse spleen tissues led to efficient 
prion transmission with clear clinical and pathological signs in both humanized 
and cervidized transgenic mice. Furthermore, a recent bioassay with natural CWD 
isolates in a new humanized transgenic mouse line led to clinical prion 
infection in 2 out of 20 mice. ***These results indicate that the CWD prion has 
the potential to infect human CNS and peripheral lymphoid tissues and that there 
might be asymptomatic human carriers of CWD infection. 
================== 
***These results indicate that the CWD prion has the potential to infect 
human CNS and peripheral lymphoid tissues and that there might be asymptomatic 
human carriers of CWD infection.*** 
================== 
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
The propensity for trans-species prion transmission is related to the 
structural characteristics of the enciphering and heterologous PrP, but the 
exact mechanism remains mostly mysterious. Studies of the effects of primary or 
tertiary prion protein structures on trans-species prion transmission have 
relied primarily upon animal bioassays, making the influence of prion protein 
structure vs. host co-factors (e.g. cellular constituents, trafficking, and 
innate immune interactions) difficult to dissect. As an alternative strategy, we 
used real-time quakinginduced conversion (RT-QuIC) to investigate trans-species 
prion conversion.
To assess trans-species conversion in the RT-QuIC system, we compared 
chronic wasting disease (CWD) and bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) prions, 
as well as feline CWD (fCWD) and feline spongiform encephalopathy (FSE). Each 
prion was seeded into each host recombinant PrP (full-length rPrP of 
white-tailed deer, bovine or feline). We demonstrated that fCWD is a more 
efficient seed for feline rPrP than for white-tailed deer rPrP, which suggests 
adaptation to the new host.
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.***
================ 
Longitudinal Detection of Prion Shedding in Saliva and Urine by 
CWD-Infected Deer by RT-QuIC 
Davin M. Henderson1, Nathaniel D. Denkers1, Clare E. Hoover1, Nina 
Garbino1, Candace K. Mathiason1 and Edward A. Hoover1# + Author 
Affiliations
1Prion Research Center, Department of Microbiology, Immunology, and 
Pathology, College of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, Colorado 
State University, Fort Collins, CO 80523 ABSTRACT Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD) 
is an emergent, rapidly spreading prion disease of cervids. Shedding of 
infectious prions in saliva and urine is thought to be an important factor in 
CWD transmission. To help elucidate this issue, we applied an in vitro 
amplification assay to determine the onset, duration, and magnitude of prion 
shedding in longitudinally collected saliva and urine samples from CWD-exposed 
white-tailed deer. We detected prion shedding as early as 3 months after CWD 
exposure and sustained shedding throughout the disease course. We estimated that 
a 50% lethal dose (LD50) for cervidized transgenic mice would be contained in 1 
ml of infected deer saliva or 10 ml or urine. Given the average course of 
infection and daily production of these body fluids, an infected deer would shed 
thousands of prion infectious dosesover the course of CWD infection. The direct 
and indirect environmental impact of this magnitude of prion shedding for cervid 
and non-cervid species is surely significant. 
Importance: Chronic wasting disease (CWD) is an emerging and uniformly 
fatal prion disease affecting free ranging deer and elk and now recognized in 22 
United States and 2 C anadian Provinces. It is unique among prion diseases in 
that it is transmitted naturally though wild populations. A major hypothesis for 
CWD's florid spread is that prions are shed in excreta and transmitted via 
direct or indirect environmental contact. Here we use a rapid in vitro assay to 
show that infectious doses of CWD prions are in fact shed throughout the 
multi-year disease course in deer. This finding is an important advance in 
assessing the risks posed by shed CWD prions to animals as well as humans. 
FOOTNOTES
↵#To whom correspondence should be addressed: Edward A. Hoover, Prion 
Research Center, Department of Microbiology, Immunology and Pathology, Colorado 
State University, Fort Collins, Colorado, US Email: edward.hoover@colostate.edu 
Transmission of scrapie prions to primate after an extended silent 
incubation period 
Emmanuel E. Comoy1 , Jacqueline Mikol1 , Sophie Luccantoni-Freire1 , 
Evelyne Correia1 , Nathalie Lescoutra-Etchegaray1 , Valérie Durand1 , Capucine 
Dehen1 , Olivier Andreoletti2 , Cristina Casalone3 , Juergen A. Richt4 n1 , 
Justin J. Greenlee4 , Thierry Baron5 , Sylvie L. Benestad6 , Paul Brown1 […] 
& Jean-Philippe Deslys1 - Show fewer authors Scientific Reports 5, Article 
number: 11573 (2015) doi:10.1038/srep11573 Download Citation 
Epidemiology | Neurological manifestations | Prion diseases Received: 16 
February 2015 Accepted: 28 May 2015 Published online: 30 June 2015 ABSTRACT 
Classical bovine spongiform encephalopathy (c-BSE) is the only animal prion 
disease reputed to be zoonotic, causing variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (vCJD) 
in humans and having guided protective measures for animal and human health 
against animal prion diseases. Recently, partial transmissions to humanized mice 
showed that the zoonotic potential of scrapie might be similar to c-BSE. We here 
report the direct transmission of a natural classical scrapie isolate to 
cynomolgus macaque, a highly relevant model for human prion diseases, after a 
10-year silent incubation period, with features similar to those reported for 
human cases of sporadic CJD. Scrapie is thus actually transmissible to primates 
with incubation periods compatible with their life expectancy, although fourfold 
longer than BSE. Long-term experimental transmission studies are necessary to 
better assess the zoonotic potential of other prion diseases with high 
prevalence, notably Chronic Wasting Disease of deer and elk and atypical/Nor98 
scrapie. 
snip... 
Discussion 
We describe the transmission of spongiform encephalopathy in a non-human 
primate inoculated 10 years earlier with a strain of sheep c-scrapie. Because of 
this extended incubation period in a facility in which other prion diseases are 
under study, we are obliged to consider two alternative possibilities that might 
explain its occurrence. We first considered the possibility of a sporadic origin 
(like CJD in humans). Such an event is extremely improbable because the 
inoculated animal was 14 years old when the clinical signs appeared, i.e. about 
40% through the expected natural lifetime of this species, compared to a peak 
age incidence of 60–65 years in human sporadic CJD, or about 80% through their 
expected lifetimes. 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.
The second possibility is a laboratory cross-contamination. Three facts 
make this possibility equally unlikely. First, handling of specimens in our 
laboratory is performed with fastidious attention to the avoidance of any such 
cross-contamination. Second, no laboratory cross-contamination has ever been 
documented in other primate laboratories, including the NIH, even between 
infected and uninfected animals housed in the same or adjacent cages with daily 
intimate contact (P. Brown, personal communication). Third, the cerebral lesion 
profile is different from all the other prion diseases we have studied in this 
model19, with a correlation between cerebellar lesions (massive spongiform 
change of Purkinje cells, intense PrPres staining and reactive gliosis26) and 
ataxia. The iron deposits present in the globus pallidus are a non specific 
finding that have been reported previously in neurodegenerative diseases and 
aging27. Conversely, the thalamic lesion was reminiscent of a metabolic disease 
due to thiamine deficiency28 but blood thiamine levels were within normal limits 
(data not shown). The preferential distribution of spongiform change in cortex 
associated with a limited distribution in the brainstem is reminiscent of the 
lesion profile in MM2c and VV1 sCJD patients29, but interspecies comparison of 
lesion profiles should be interpreted with caution. It is of note that the same 
classical scrapie isolate induced TSE in C57Bl/6 mice with similar incubation 
periods and lesional profiles as a sample derived from a MM1 sCJD 
patient30.
We are therefore confident that the illness in this cynomolgus macaque 
represents a true transmission of a sheep c-scrapie isolate directly to an 
old-world monkey, which taxonomically resides in the primate subdivision 
(parvorder of catarrhini) that includes humans. With an homology of its PrP 
protein with humans of 96.4%31, cynomolgus macaque constitutes a highly relevant 
model for assessing zoonotic risk of prion diseases. Since our initial aim was 
to show the absence of transmission of scrapie to macaques in the worst-case 
scenario, we obtained materials from a flock of naturally-infected sheep, 
affecting animals with different genotypes32. This c-scrapie isolate exhibited 
complete transmission in ARQ/ARQ sheep (332 ± 56 days) and Tg338 transgenic mice 
expressing ovine VRQ/VRQ prion protein (220 ± 5 days) (O. Andreoletti, personal 
communication). From the standpoint of zoonotic risk, it is important to note 
that sheep with c-scrapie (including the isolate used in our study) have 
demonstrable infectivity throughout their lymphoreticular system early in the 
incubation period of the disease (3 months-old for all the lymphoid organs, and 
as early as 2 months-old in gut-associated lymph nodes)33. In addition, scrapie 
infectivity has been identified in blood34, milk35 and skeletal muscle36 from 
asymptomatic but scrapie infected small ruminants which implies a potential 
dietary exposure for consumers.
Two earlier studies have reported the occurrence of clinical TSE in 
cynomolgus macaques after exposures to scrapie isolates. In the first study, the 
“Compton” scrapie isolate (derived from an English sheep) and serially 
propagated for 9 passages in goats did not transmit TSE in cynomolgus macaque, 
rhesus macaque or chimpanzee within 7 years following intracerebral challenge1; 
conversely, after 8 supplementary passages in conventional mice, this “Compton” 
isolate induced TSE in a cynomolgus macaque 5 years after intracerebral 
challenge, but rhesus macaques and chimpanzee remained asymptomatic 8.5 years 
post-exposure8. However, multiple successive passages that are classically used 
to select laboratory-adapted prion strains can significantly modify the initial 
properties of a scrapie isolate, thus questioning the relevance of zoonotic 
potential for the initial sheep-derived isolate. The same isolate had also 
induced disease into squirrel monkeys (new-world monkey)9. A second historical 
observation reported that a cynomolgus macaque developed TSE 6 years 
post-inoculation with brain homogenate from a scrapie-infected Suffolk ewe 
(derived from USA), whereas a rhesus macaque and a chimpanzee exposed to the 
same inoculum remained healthy 9 years post-exposure1. This inoculum also 
induced TSE in squirrel monkeys after 4 passages in mice. Other scrapie 
transmission attempts in macaque failed but had more shorter periods of 
observation in comparison to the current study. Further, it is possible that 
there are differences in the zoonotic potential of different scrapie 
strains.
The most striking observation in our study is the extended incubation 
period of scrapie in the macaque model, which has several implications. Firstly, 
our observations constitute experimental evidence in favor of the zoonotic 
potential of c-scrapie, at least for this isolate that has been extensively 
studied32,33,34,35,36. The cross-species zoonotic ability of this isolate should 
be confirmed by performing duplicate intracerebral exposures and assessing the 
transmissibility by the oral route (a successful transmission of prion strains 
through the intracerebral route may not necessarily indicate the potential for 
oral transmission37). However, such confirmatory experiments may require more 
than one decade, which is hardly compatible with current general management and 
support of scientific projects; thus this study should be rather considered as a 
case report.
Secondly, transmission of c-BSE to primates occurred within 8 years post 
exposure for the lowest doses able to transmit the disease (the survival period 
after inoculation is inversely proportional to the initial amount of infectious 
inoculum). The occurrence of scrapie 10 years after exposure to a high dose (25 
mg) of scrapie-infected sheep brain suggests that the macaque has a higher 
species barrier for sheep c-scrapie than c-BSE, although it is notable that 
previous studies based on in vitro conversion of PrP suggested that BSE and 
scrapie prions would have a similar conversion potential for human PrP38.
Thirdly, prion diseases typically have longer incubation periods after oral 
exposure than after intracerebral inoculations: since humans can develop Kuru 47 
years after oral exposure39, an incubation time of several decades after oral 
exposure to scrapie would therefore be expected, leading the disease to occur in 
older adults, i.e. the peak age for cases considered to be sporadic disease, and 
making a distinction between scrapie-associated and truly sporadic disease 
extremely difficult to appreciate.
Fourthly, epidemiologic evidence is necessary to confirm the zoonotic 
potential of an animal disease suggested by experimental studies. A relatively 
short incubation period and a peculiar epidemiological situation (e.g., all the 
first vCJD cases occurring in the country with the most important ongoing c-BSE 
epizootic) led to a high degree of suspicion that c-BSE was the cause of vCJD. 
Sporadic CJD are considered spontaneous diseases with an almost stable and 
constant worldwide prevalence (0.5–2 cases per million inhabitants per year), 
and previous epidemiological studies were unable to draw a link between sCJD and 
classical scrapie6,7,40,41, even though external causes were hypothesized to 
explain the occurrence of some sCJD clusters42,43,44. However, extended 
incubation periods exceeding several decades would impair the predictive values 
of epidemiological surveillance for prion diseases, already weakened by a 
limited prevalence of prion diseases and the multiplicity of isolates gathered 
under the phenotypes of “scrapie” and “sporadic CJD”.
Fifthly, considering this 10 year-long incubation period, together with 
both laboratory and epidemiological evidence of decade or longer intervals 
between infection and clinical onset of disease, no premature conclusions should 
be drawn from negative transmission studies in cynomolgus macaques with less 
than a decade of observation, as in the aforementioned historical transmission 
studies of scrapie to primates1,8,9. Our observations and those of others45,46 
to date are unable to provide definitive evidence regarding the zoonotic 
potential of CWD, atypical/Nor98 scrapie or H-type BSE. The extended incubation 
period of the scrapie-affected macaque in the current study also underscores the 
limitations of rodent models expressing human PrP for assessing the zoonotic 
potential of some prion diseases since their lifespan remains limited to 
approximately two years21,47,48. This point is illustrated by the fact that the 
recently reported transmission of scrapie to humanized mice was not associated 
with clinical signs for up to 750 days and occurred in an extreme minority of 
mice with only a marginal increase in attack rate upon second passage13. The low 
attack rate in these studies is certainly linked to the limited lifespan of mice 
compared to the very long periods of observation necessary to demonstrate the 
development of scrapie. Alternatively, one could estimate that a successful 
second passage is the result of strain adaptation to the species barrier, thus 
poorly relevant of the real zoonotic potential of the original scrapie isolate 
of sheep origin49. The development of scrapie in this primate after an 
incubation period compatible with its lifespan complements the study conducted 
in transgenic (humanized) mice; taken together these studies suggest that some 
isolates of sheep scrapie can promote misfolding of the human prion protein and 
that scrapie can develop within the lifespan of some primate species.
In addition to previous studies on scrapie transmission to primate1,8,9 and 
the recently published study on transgenic humanized mice13, our results 
constitute new evidence for recommending that the potential risk of scrapie for 
human health should not be dismissed. Indeed, human PrP transgenic mice and 
primates are the most relevant models for investigating the human transmission 
barrier. To what extent such models are informative for measuring the zoonotic 
potential of an animal TSE under field exposure conditions is unknown. During 
the past decades, many protective measures have been successfully implemented to 
protect cattle from the spread of c-BSE, and some of these measures have been 
extended to sheep and goats to protect from scrapie according to the principle 
of precaution. Since cases of c-BSE have greatly reduced in number, those 
protective measures are currently being challenged and relaxed in the absence of 
other known zoonotic animal prion disease. We recommend that risk managers 
should be aware of the long term potential risk to human health of at least 
certain scrapie isolates, notably for lymphotropic strains like the classical 
scrapie strain used in the current study. Relatively high amounts of infectivity 
in peripheral lymphoid organs in animals infected with these strains could lead 
to contamination of food products produced for human consumption. Efforts should 
also be maintained to further assess the zoonotic potential of other animal 
prion strains in long-term studies, notably lymphotropic strains with high 
prevalence like CWD, which is spreading across North America, and atypical/Nor98 
scrapie (Nor98)50 that was first detected in the past two decades and now 
represents approximately half of all reported cases of prion diseases in small 
ruminants worldwide, including territories previously considered as scrapie 
free. Even if the prevailing view is that sporadic CJD is due to the spontaneous 
formation of CJD prions, it remains possible that its apparent sporadic nature 
may, at least in part, result from our limited capacity to identify an 
environmental origin. 
*** LATE-BREAKING ABSTRACTS PRION 2015 CONFERENCE *** 
O18
Zoonotic Potential of CWD Prions
Liuting Qing1, Ignazio Cali1,2, Jue Yuan1, Shenghai Huang3, Diane Kofskey1, 
Pierluigi Gambetti1, Wenquan Zou1, Qingzhong Kong1 1Case Western Reserve 
University, Cleveland, Ohio, USA, 2Second University of Naples, Naples, Italy, 
3Encore Health Resources, Houston, Texas, USA
Chronic wasting disease (CWD) is a widespread and expanding prion disease 
in free-ranging and captive cervid species in North America. The zoonotic 
potential of CWD prions is a serious public health concern. Current literature 
generated with in vitro methods and in vivo animal models (transgenic mice, 
macaques and squirrel monkeys) reports conflicting results. The susceptibility 
of human CNS and peripheral organs to CWD prions remains largely unresolved. In 
our earlier bioassay experiments using several humanized transgenic mouse lines, 
we detected protease-resistant PrPSc in the spleen of two out of 140 mice that 
were intracerebrally inoculated with natural CWD isolates, but PrPSc was not 
detected in the brain of the same mice. Secondary passages with such 
PrPSc-positive CWD-inoculated humanized mouse spleen tissues led to efficient 
prion transmission with clear clinical and pathological signs in both humanized 
and cervidized transgenic mice. Furthermore, a recent bioassay with natural CWD 
isolates in a new humanized transgenic mouse line led to clinical prion 
infection in 2 out of 20 mice. ***These results indicate that the CWD prion has 
the potential to infect human CNS and peripheral lymphoid tissues and that there 
might be asymptomatic human carriers of CWD infection. 
================== 
***These results indicate that the CWD prion has the potential to infect 
human CNS and peripheral lymphoid tissues and that there might be asymptomatic 
human carriers of CWD infection.*** 
================== 
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
The propensity for trans-species prion transmission is related to the 
structural characteristics of the enciphering and heterologous PrP, but the 
exact mechanism remains mostly mysterious. Studies of the effects of primary or 
tertiary prion protein structures on trans-species prion transmission have 
relied primarily upon animal bioassays, making the influence of prion protein 
structure vs. host co-factors (e.g. cellular constituents, trafficking, and 
innate immune interactions) difficult to dissect. As an alternative strategy, we 
used real-time quakinginduced conversion (RT-QuIC) to investigate trans-species 
prion conversion.
To assess trans-species conversion in the RT-QuIC system, we compared 
chronic wasting disease (CWD) and bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) prions, 
as well as feline CWD (fCWD) and feline spongiform encephalopathy (FSE). Each 
prion was seeded into each host recombinant PrP (full-length rPrP of 
white-tailed deer, bovine or feline). We demonstrated that fCWD is a more 
efficient seed for feline rPrP than for white-tailed deer rPrP, which suggests 
adaptation to the new host.
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.***
================ 
cwd environmental load factor in the land and surrounding plants and 
objects.
transportation of cervids and HUMANS from cwd zone should be regarded as a 
great risk factor, and environmental contamination. 
PL1 
Using in vitro prion replication for high sensitive detection of prions and 
prionlike proteins and for understanding mechanisms of transmission.
Claudio Soto
Mitchell Center for Alzheimer's diseases and related Brain disorders, 
Department of Neurology, University of Texas Medical School at Houston.
Prion and prion-like proteins are misfolded protein aggregates with the 
ability to selfpropagate to spread disease between cells, organs and in some 
cases across individuals. I n T r a n s m i s s i b l e s p o n g i f o r m 
encephalopathies (TSEs), prions are mostly composed by a misfolded form of the 
prion protein (PrPSc), which propagates by transmitting its misfolding to the 
normal prion protein (PrPC). The availability of a procedure to replicate prions 
in the laboratory may be important to study the mechanism of prion and 
prion-like spreading and to develop high sensitive detection of small quantities 
of misfolded proteins in biological fluids, tissues and environmental samples. 
Protein Misfolding Cyclic Amplification (PMCA) is a simple, fast and efficient 
methodology to mimic prion replication in the test tube. PMCA is a platform 
technology that may enable amplification of any prion-like misfolded protein 
aggregating through a seeding/nucleation process. In TSEs, PMCA is able to 
detect the equivalent of one single molecule of infectious PrPSc and propagate 
prions that maintain high infectivity, strain properties and species 
specificity. Using PMCA we have been able to detect PrPSc in blood and urine of 
experimentally infected animals and humans affected by vCJD with high 
sensitivity and specificity. Recently, we have expanded the principles of PMCA 
to amplify amyloid-beta (Aβ) and alphasynuclein (α-syn) aggregates implicated in 
Alzheimer's and Parkinson's diseases, respectively. Experiments are ongoing to 
study the utility of this technology to detect Aβ and α-syn aggregates in 
samples of CSF and blood from patients affected by these diseases.
***Recently, we have been using PMCA to study the role of environmental 
prion contamination on the horizontal spreading of TSEs. These experiments have 
focused on the study of the interaction of prions with plants and 
environmentally relevant surfaces. Our results show that plants (both leaves and 
roots) bind tightly to prions present in brain extracts and excreta (urine and 
feces) and retain even small quantities of PrPSc for long periods of time. 
Strikingly, ingestion of prioncontaminated leaves and roots produced disease 
with a 100% attack rate and an incubation period not substantially longer than 
feeding animals directly with scrapie brain homogenate. Furthermore, plants can 
uptake prions from contaminated soil and transport them to different parts of 
the plant tissue (stem and leaves). Similarly, prions bind tightly to a variety 
of environmentallyrelevant surfaces, including stones, wood, metals, plastic, 
glass, cement, etc. Prion contaminated surfaces efficiently transmit prion 
disease when these materials were directly injected into the brain of animals 
and strikingly when the contaminated surfaces were just placed in the animal 
cage. These findings demonstrate that environmental materials can efficiently 
bind infectious prions and act as carriers of infectivity, suggesting that they 
may play an important role in the horizontal transmission of the disease.
Since its invention 13 years ago, PMCA has helped to answer fundamental 
questions of prion propagation and has broad applications in research areas 
including the food industry, blood bank safety and human and veterinary disease 
diagnosis. 
Wednesday, June 10, 2015 
Zoonotic Potential of CWD Prions 
LATE-BREAKING ABSTRACTS
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 ; 
Thursday, October 10, 2013 
*************CJD REPORT 1994 increased risk for consumption of veal and 
venison and lamb************** 
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 
Thursday, October 10, 2013 
*** CJD REPORT 1994 increased risk for consumption of veal and venison and 
lamb 
PLUS, THE CDC DID NOT PUT THIS WARNING OUT FOR THE WELL BEING OF THE DEER 
AND ELK ; 
Thursday, May 26, 2011
Travel History, Hunting, and Venison Consumption Related to Prion Disease 
Exposure, 2006-2007 
FoodNet Population Survey Journal of the American Dietetic Association 
Volume 111, Issue 6 , Pages 858-863, June 2011. 
NOR IS THE FDA recalling this CWD positive elk meat for the well being of 
the dead elk ; 
Wednesday, March 18, 2009 
Noah's Ark Holding, LLC, Dawson, MN RECALL Elk products contain meat 
derived from an elk confirmed to have CWD NV, CA, TX, CO, NY, UT, FL, OK RECALLS 
AND FIELD CORRECTIONS: FOODS CLASS II 
now, let’s see what the authors said about this casual link, personal 
communications years ago. see where it is stated NO STRONG evidence. so, does 
this mean there IS casual evidence ???? “Our conclusion stating that we found no 
strong evidence of CWD transmission to humans” 
From: TSS (216-119-163-189.ipset45.wt.net) Subject: CWD aka MAD DEER/ELK TO 
HUMANS ??? 
Date: September 30, 2002 at 7:06 am PST From: "Belay, Ermias" 
To: Cc: "Race, Richard (NIH)" ; ; "Belay, Ermias" 
Sent: Monday, September 30, 2002 9:22 AM 
Subject: RE: TO CDC AND NIH - PUB MED- 3 MORE DEATHS - CWD - YOUNG HUNTERS 
Dear Sir/Madam, 
In the Archives of Neurology you quoted (the abstract of which was attached 
to your email), we did not say CWD in humans will present like variant CJD. That 
assumption would be wrong. I encourage you to read the whole article and call me 
if you have questions or need more clarification (phone: 404-639-3091). Also, we 
do not claim that "no-one has ever been infected with prion disease from eating 
venison." Our conclusion stating that we found no strong evidence of CWD 
transmission to humans in the article you quoted or in any other forum is 
limited to the patients we investigated. 
Ermias Belay, M.D. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention 
-----Original Message----- 
From: 
Sent: Sunday, September 29, 2002 10:15 AM 
To: rr26k@nih.gov; rrace@niaid.nih.gov; ebb8@CDC.GOV 
Subject: TO CDC AND NIH - PUB MED- 3 MORE DEATHS - CWD - YOUNG HUNTERS 
Sunday, November 10, 2002 6:26 PM ......snip........end..............TSS 
Thursday, April 03, 2008 
A prion disease of cervids: Chronic wasting disease 
2008 1: Vet Res. 2008 Apr 3;39(4):41 A prion disease of cervids: Chronic 
wasting disease Sigurdson CJ. 
snip... 
*** twenty-seven CJD patients who regularly consumed venison were reported 
to the Surveillance Center***, 
snip... full text ; 
*** 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). ***
*** 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. 
 Subject: *** Becky Lockhart 46, Utah’s first female House speaker, dies 
diagnosed with the extremely rare Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease aka mad cow type 
disease
what is CJD ? just ask USDA inc., and the OIE, they are still feeding the 
public and the media industry fed junk science that is 30 years old. 
why doesn’t some of you try reading the facts, instead of rubber stamping 
everything the USDA inc says.
sporadic CJD has now been linked to BSE aka mad cow disease, Scrapie, and 
there is much concern now for CWD and risk factor for humans. 
My sincere condolences to the family and friends of the House Speaker Becky 
Lockhart. I am deeply saddened hear this. 
with that said, with great respect, I must ask each and every one of you 
Politicians that are so deeply saddened to hear of this needless death of the 
Honorable House Speaker Becky Lockhart, really, cry me a friggen river. I am 
seriously going to ask you all this...I have been diplomatic for about 17 years 
and it has got no where. people are still dying. so, are you all stupid or 
what??? how many more need to die ??? how much is global trade of beef and other 
meat products that are not tested for the TSE prion disease, how much and how 
many bodies is this market worth?
Saturday, January 17, 2015 
*** Becky Lockhart 46, Utah’s first female House speaker, dies diagnosed 
with the extremely rare Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease
Thursday, January 15, 2015 
41-year-old Navy Commander with sporadic Creutzfeldt–Jakob disease CJD TSE 
Prion: Case Report 
 Sunday, December 14, 2014 
ALERT new variant Creutzfeldt Jakob Disease nvCJD or vCJD, sporadic CJD 
strains, TSE prion aka Mad Cow Disease United States of America Update December 
14, 2014 Report
 *** HUMAN MAD COW DISEASE nvCJD TEXAS CASE NOT LINKED TO EUROPEAN TRAVEL 
CDC ***
Sunday, November 23, 2014 
*** Confirmed Variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease (variant CJD) Case in Texas 
in June 2014 confirmed as USA case NOT European *** 
the patient had resided in Kuwait, Russia and Lebanon. The completed 
investigation did not support the patient's having had extended travel to 
European countries, including the United Kingdom, or travel to Saudi Arabia. The 
specific overseas country where this patient’s infection occurred is less clear 
largely because the investigation did not definitely link him to a country where 
other known vCJD cases likely had been infected. 
 CANADA CJD CASES BY PROVINCE/TERRITORY MAY 31, 2015
 Canada and United States Creutzfeldt Jakob TSE Prion Disease 
P.204: Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease in the aging United States 
population
Ryan A Maddox,1 Marissa K Person,1 Arialdi M Minino,2 Janis E Blevins,3 
Lawrence B Schonberger,1 and Ermias D Belay1
1National Center for Emerging and Zoonotic Infectious Diseases; Centers for 
Disease Control and Prevention (CDC); Atlanta, GA USA; 2National Center for 
Health Statistics, CDC; Hyattsville, MD USA; 3National Prion Disease Pathology 
Surveillance Center (NPDPSC); Case Western Reserve University; Cleveland, OH 
USA
Introduction. Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD) predominantly occurs among 
older individuals. To describe the possible impact of changing demographics in 
the US population on the occurrence of CJD, we reviewed data from the US census 
and from national prion disease surveillance.
Methods. Prion disease decedents were identified from the US national 
multiple cause-of-death data and the National Prion Disease Pathology 
Surveillance Center database for 2008-2010. Incidence rates were calculated for 
decedents ≥65 years and then applied to US census population estimates for 2030 
to obtain projections of the number of CJD deaths in that year, assuming no 
advances in treatment or prevention of these diseases.
Results. US census data projects that ≥65-year-olds will increase from 
13.1% of the population in 2010 to 20.3% in 2030. The CJD incidence rates for 
2008-2010 among decedents in the 65-74, 75-84, and 85+ year age groups were, in 
cases per million population, 6.5, 7.2, and 3.1, respectively. Applying these 
incidence rates to US census projections, in 2030 there may be 461 CJD decedents 
≥65 years of age in the United States, an increase of more than 200 cases 
compared to the 2008-2010 average for this age group. Of the 461 cases, 251 are 
projected to be aged 65-74 years, 182 to be aged 75-84 years, and 28 to be aged 
85 years or older.
Conclusions. Unless effective treatments for CJD are developed, the aging 
population in the United States will likely result in an increase in CJD cases 
due to its higher incidence among older adults. The increase in cases could 
impact infection control policies and health care costs, among other factors. 
P.179: Sporadic Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease in Canada
Zheng Wang,1 Gerard Jansen,1,2 Stacy Sabourin,1 Rolande D’Amour,1 Tim 
Connolly,1 Jennifer Kruse,1 David J Knox,3 Neil R Cashman,4 and Michael B 
Coulthart1 1The Canadian Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease Surveillance System; Public 
Health Agency of Canada; Ottawa, ON Canada; 2Department of Pathology; Ottawa 
Hospital; Ottawa, ON Canada; 3National Microbiology Laboratory; Public Health 
Agency of Canada; Winnipeg, MB Canada; 4Brain Research Centre; University of 
British Columbia; Vancouver, BC Canada
Background. Sporadic Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease (sCJD) is a fatal, 
transmissible neurodegenerative disease. Systematic surveillance has repeatedly 
shown annual mortality in the range 1 to 2 per million population, has 
elucidated key characteristics of sCJD, and led to recognition of a new form of 
CJD, variant CJD (vCJD), which is associated with BSE. In 1998, Canada launched 
comprehensive national CJD surveillance to assess the characteristics of CJD in 
Canada, identify any acquired cases of CJD (such as vCJD, of which 2 imported 
cases have been identified in Canada to date), and mitigate public health risks. 
This study describes the epidemiology of sCJD in Canada from 1998 to 2012.
Methods. Case ascertainment was based on internationally accepted criteria. 
Demographic and medical information were collected by standardized questionnaire 
and medical chart review. Poisson regression and descriptive analysis were 
employed.
Results. A total of 563 sCJD deaths (definite: 462, probable: 101) in 
Canadian residents were registered from 1998 to 2012. Average annual sCJD 
mortality was 1.2 per million population, increasing gradually from 0.9 in 1999 
to 1.7 in 2012 (P = 0.0004). All provinces saw average annual mortalities 
ranging from 1.0 to 1.6 (P = 0.25), except three territories where population is 
small (~25,000 to ~45,000) and no cases were identified. sCJD occurred at 
similar rates in males (1.1) and females (1.2) (P = 0.21). sCJD was rare under 
50 years of age with only 11 cases identified (2.7%). Mortality increased after 
50 and peaked at 7.4 per million in the 70–74 age group. Median age at death was 
69 and median duration of illness was 4 months. Genotype at codon 129 (N = 358) 
revealed that the MM subgroup accounted for 223 (62%, median age at death: 69, 
duration: 4), the MV subgroup was 82 (23%, median age at death: 68, duration: 
9), and the VV subgroup was 53 (23%, median age at death: 66, duration: 5). 
Results of molecular typing (Parchi Scheme) for 256 cases are; MM1: 140, MM2: 
11, MV1: 28, MV2: 18, VV1: 5, VV2: 25, Mixture: 29.
Conclusion. Characteristics of sCJD in Canada are consistent with those 
observed in other countries. The increase in sCJD mortality can be partly 
attributed to increased awareness of CJD among Canadian clinicians. These 
findings support the conclusion that Canadian CJD surveillance system is 
sufficiently sensitive to accurately characterize the epidemiology of sCJD in 
Canada, and to detect potential additional cases of acquired CJD such as vCJD or 
human chronic wasting disease.
===================
 Monday, November 3, 2014 
USA CJD TSE PRION UNIT, TEXAS, SURVEILLANCE UPDATE NOVEMBER 2014 
Thursday, February 21, 2013
National Prion Disease Pathology Surveillance Center Cases Examined January 
16, 2013 
National Prion Disease Pathology Surveillance Center 
Cases Examined1 
(January 16, 2013) 
Year Total Referrals2 Prion Disease Sporadic Familial Iatrogenic vCJD 
1996 & earlier 51 33 29 4 0 0 
1997 114 68 59 9 0 0 
1998 88 52 44 7 1 0 
1999 123 74 65 8 1 0 
2000 145 103 89 14 0 0 
2001 212 120 110 10 0 0 
2002 248 149 125 22 2 0 
2003 266 168 137 31 0 0 
2004 326 187 164 22 0 13 
2005 344 194 157 36 1 0 
2006 382 196 166 28 0 24 
2007 377 213 185 28 0 0 
2008 396 232 206 26 0 0 
2009 422 255 212 42 1 0 
2010 414 258 217 41 0 0 
2011 411 257 215 42 0 0 
2012 399 238 189 32 0 0 
TOTAL 47185 27976 23697 402 6 3 
1 Listed based on the year of death or, if not available, on year of 
referral; 
2 Cases with suspected prion disease for which brain tissue and/or blood 
(in familial cases) were submitted; 
3 Disease acquired in the United Kingdom; 
4 Disease was acquired in the United Kingdom in one case and in Saudi 
Arabia in the other case; 
*** 5 Includes 7 cases in which the diagnosis is pending, and 19 
inconclusive cases; 
*** 6 Includes 17 (all from 2012) cases with type determination pending in 
which the diagnosis of vCJD has been excluded. 
*** 7 The sporadic cases include 2307 cases of sporadic Creutzfeldt-Jakob 
disease (sCJD), 46 cases of variably protease-sensitive prionopathy (VPSPr) and 
16 cases of sporadic fatal insomnia (sFI).
Rev 1/17/2013 
CANADA SEE STEADY INCREASE OF THE SPORADIC CJD’S AND THE VPSPR’S (sporadic 
CJD’s). ...tss 
PLEASE NOTE, type determination pending Creutzfeldt Jakob Disease (tdpCJD) 
in Canada is also on a steady increase. 
please see ; 
> 3. Final classification of 50 cases from 2009, 2010, 2011 and 2012 is 
pending. 
CJD Deaths Reported by CJDSS1, 1994-20122 
As of May 31, 2012 
Deaths of Definite and Probable CJD 
Year Sporadic Iatrogenic Familial GSS FFI vCJD Total 
1994 2 0 0 1 0 0 3 
1995 3 0 0 0 0 0 3 
1996 13 0 0 0 0 0 13 
1997 16 0 1 1 0 0 18 
1998 22 1 0 1 0 0 24 
1999 26 2 2 1 0 0 31 
2000 32 0 0 3 0 0 35 
2001 27 0 2 1 0 0 30 
2002 31 0 2 2 0 1 36 
2003 27 1 1 0 0 0 29 
2004 42 0 1 0 0 0 43 
2005 42 0 0 2 0 0 44 
2006 39 0 1 3 1 0 44 
2007 35 0 0 4 0 0 39 
2008 48 0 1 0 0 0 49 
2009 48 0 3 2 0 0 53 
2010 34 0 3 0 0 0 37 
2011 37 0 2 1 0 1 41 
2012 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 
Total 525 4 19 22 1 2 573 
1. CJDSS began in 1998 
2. Data before 1998 are retrospective and partial, data from 1998 to 2008 
are complete, and data for 2009 - 2012 are provisional 
3. Final classification of 50 cases from 2009, 2010, 2011 and 2012 is 
pending. 
CJD Deaths Reported by CJDSS1, 1994-20122 
As of May 31, 2012 
SEE DECEMBER 2012 CANADA 
USA SEE STEADY INCREASE OF THE SPORADIC CJD’S AND THE VPSPR’S (sporadic 
CJD’s). ...tss 
National Prion Disease Pathology Surveillance Center 
Cases Examined1 
(May 18, 2012) 
Year Total Referrals2 Prion Disease Sporadic Familial Iatrogenic vCJD 
1996 & earlier 50 32 28 4 0 0 
1997 114 68 59 9 0 0 
1998 88 52 44 7 1 0 
1999 123 74 65 8 1 0 
2000 145 103 89 14 0 0 
2001 210 120 110 10 0 0 
2002 248 149 125 22 2 0 
2003 266 168 137 31 0 0 
2004 326 187 164 22 0 13 
2005 344 194 157 36 1 0 
2006 382 196 166 28 0 24 
2007 377 213 185 28 0 0 
2008 396 232 206 26 0 0 
2009 423 256 212 43 1 0 
2010 413 257 216 41 0 0 
2011 410 257 213 43 0 0 
2012 153 82 51 15 0 0 
TOTAL 44685 26406 2227 387 6 3 
1 Listed based on the year of death or, if not available, on year of 
referral; 
2 Cases with suspected prion disease for which brain tissue and/or blood 
(in familial cases) were submitted; 
3 Disease acquired in the United Kingdom; 
4 Disease was acquired in the United Kingdom in one case and in Saudi 
Arabia in the other case; 
5 Includes 14 cases in which the diagnosis is pending, and 18 inconclusive 
cases; 
6 Includes 17 (16 from 2012) cases with type determination pending in which 
the diagnosis of vCJD has been excluded. The Sporadic cases include 16 cases of 
sporadic Fatal Insomnia (sFI) and 42 cases of Variably Protease-Sensitive 
Prionopathy (VPSPr) and 2118 cases of sporadic Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (sCJD). 
Rev 5/18/2012 
> 6 Includes 
> 17 (16 from 2012) cases with type determination pending in which the 
diagnosis of vCJD has been excluded. 
> The Sporadic cases include 16 cases of sporadic Fatal Insomnia (sFI) 
and 42 cases of Variably Protease-Sensitive Prionopathy (VPSPr) and 2118 cases 
of sporadic Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (sCJD). 
WELL, it seems the USA mad cow strains in humans classified as type 
determination pending tdpCJD, VPSPr, sFFI, and sCJD) have steadily increased 
over the years, and the same old song and dance continues with sporadic CJD 
cases $$$ 
VARIABLY PROTEASE-SENSITVE PRIONOPATHY IS TRANSMISSIBLE ...price of prion 
poker goes up again $ 
OR-10: Variably protease-sensitive prionopathy is transmissible in bank 
voles 
Romolo Nonno,1 Michele Di Bari,1 Laura Pirisinu,1 Claudia D’Agostino,1 
Stefano Marcon,1 Geraldina Riccardi,1 Gabriele Vaccari,1 Piero Parchi,2 Wenquan 
Zou,3 Pierluigi Gambetti,3 Umberto Agrimi1 1Istituto Superiore di Sanità; Rome, 
Italy; 2Dipartimento di Scienze Neurologiche, Università di Bologna; Bologna, 
Italy; 3Case Western Reserve University; Cleveland, OH USA 
Background. Variably protease-sensitive prionopathy (VPSPr) is a recently 
described “sporadic”neurodegenerative disease involving prion protein 
aggregation, which has clinical similarities with non-Alzheimer dementias, such 
as fronto-temporal dementia. Currently, 30 cases of VPSPr have been reported in 
Europe and USA, of which 19 cases were homozygous for valine at codon 129 of the 
prion protein (VV), 8 were MV and 3 were MM. A distinctive feature of VPSPr is 
the electrophoretic pattern of PrPSc after digestion with proteinase K (PK). 
After PK-treatment, PrP from VPSPr forms a ladder-like electrophoretic pattern 
similar to that described in GSS cases. The clinical and pathological features 
of VPSPr raised the question of the correct classification of VPSPr among prion 
diseases or other forms of neurodegenerative disorders. Here we report 
preliminary data on the transmissibility and pathological features of VPSPr 
cases in bank voles. 
Materials and Methods. Seven VPSPr cases were inoculated in two genetic 
lines of bank voles, carrying either methionine or isoleucine at codon 109 of 
the prion protein (named BvM109 and BvI109, respectively). Among the VPSPr cases 
selected, 2 were VV at PrP codon 129, 3 were MV and 2 were MM. Clinical 
diagnosis in voles was confirmed by brain pathological assessment and western 
blot for PK-resistant PrPSc (PrPres) with mAbs SAF32, SAF84, 12B2 and 9A2. 
Results. To date, 2 VPSPr cases (1 MV and 1 MM) gave positive transmission 
in BvM109. Overall, 3 voles were positive with survival time between 290 and 588 
d post inoculation (d.p.i.). All positive voles accumulated PrPres in the form 
of the typical PrP27–30, which was indistinguishable to that previously observed 
in BvM109 inoculated with sCJDMM1 cases. 
In BvI109, 3 VPSPr cases (2 VV and 1 MM) showed positive transmission until 
now. Overall, 5 voles were positive with survival time between 281 and 596 
d.p.i.. In contrast to what observed in BvM109, all BvI109 showed a GSS-like 
PrPSc electrophoretic pattern, characterized by low molecular weight PrPres. 
These PrPres fragments were positive with mAb 9A2 and 12B2, while being negative 
with SAF32 and SAF84, suggesting that they are cleaved at both the C-terminus 
and the N-terminus. Second passages are in progress from these first successful 
transmissions. 
Conclusions. Preliminary results from transmission studies in bank voles 
strongly support the notion that VPSPr is a transmissible prion disease. 
Interestingly, VPSPr undergoes divergent evolution in the two genetic lines of 
voles, with sCJD-like features in BvM109 and GSS-like properties in BvI109. 
The discovery of previously unrecognized prion diseases in both humans and 
animals (i.e., Nor98 in small ruminants) demonstrates that the range of prion 
diseases might be wider than expected and raises crucial questions about the 
epidemiology and strain properties of these new forms. We are investigating this 
latter issue by molecular and biological comparison of VPSPr, GSS and Nor98. 
Wednesday, March 28, 2012 
VARIABLY PROTEASE-SENSITVE PRIONOPATHY IS TRANSMISSIBLE, price of prion 
poker goes up again $ 
===================
Clinical findings In February 2007, the Centers for Disease Control and 
Prevention (CDC) and the National Prion Disease Pathology Surveillance Center 
(NPDPSC) notified the Texas Department of State Health Services (DSHS) of a 
32-year-old woman with an 18-month history of progressive neurological symptoms 
suggestive of CJD. (Table 1) Based on the medical record and her neurologist, 
her illness began in August 2005 with attention deficits and progressive memory 
loss. In June 2006, she demonstrated anisocoria and bizarre behavior, including 
talking incoherently to herself, and she was then referred to psychiatry.
===================== 
Sunday, July 11, 2010 
CJD or prion disease 2 CASES McLennan County Texas population 230,213 both 
cases in their 40s
Monday, August 9, 2010
Variably protease-sensitive prionopathy: A new sporadic disease of the 
prion protein or just more PRIONBALONEY ?
snip...see full text ; 
O.K. let's compare some recent cases of this prionpathy in other countries 
besides Gambetti's first 10 recently, that he claims is a spontaneous event, 
from a genetic disorder, that is not genetic, but sporadic, that is related to 
no animal TSE in North America, or the world. ... 
Friday, January 10, 2014 
vpspr, sgss, sffi, TSE, an iatrogenic by-product of gss, ffi, familial type 
prion disease, what it ??? 
I simply believe that it’s not spontaneous by the very definition, but 
simply more susceptible to the same environmental contaminations, from a 
multitude of routes and sources, thus making whatever species more susceptible 
than others in the same environment. I also believe that the sporadic gss, 
sporadic ffi, are of a iatrogenic route from gss or ffi victims, explaining why 
there is no genetic makeup...just saying...terry
*** for those of you interested with Familial CJD, FFI, GSS, you might find 
interest in the data here as well. please see ;
Friday, November 23, 2012 
sporadic Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease update As at 5th November 2012 UK, USA, 
AND CANADA 
Tuesday, May 26, 2015 
Minimise transmission risk of CJD and vCJD in healthcare settings Last 
updated 15 May 2015 
TSS

 
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