Transmissible Spongiform Encephalopathy: 2015 PDA Virus & TSE Safety Forum Meeting Report

>>>Recently transmission of prions from blood of patients with sporadic CJD to humanized mice could be demonstrated.<<<

>>>Further-on, urine samples of a control population (normal and neurological population) showed no signal in the study; *** however, in samples from patients with sporadic CJD and vCJD, a signal was detected in both patient populations.<<<

Meeting Report: 2015 PDA Virus & TSE Safety Forum

Hannelore Willkommena, Johannes Blümelb, Kurt Brorsonc,*, Dayue Chend, Qi Chene, Albrecht Grönerf, Thomas R. Kreilg, Michel Ruffingh, Sol Ruizi, Dorothy Scottj and Glenda Silvesterk + Author Affiliations

1. aRegulatory Affairs & Biological Safety Consulting, Erzhausen, Germany 2. bPaul-Ehrlich Institut, Langen, Germany 3. cCDER/FDA, Silver Spring MD, USA 4. dEli Lilly and Company, Indianapolis, IN, USA 5. eGenentech Inc., South San Francisco, CA, USA 6. fPathoGuard Consult, Seeheim-Jugenheim, Germany 7. gBaxalta, Vienna, Austria 8. hBoehringer Ingelheim Pharma GmbH&KG, Bieberach an der Riss, Germany 9. iSpanish Medicines Agency (AEMPS), Madrid, Spain 10. jCBER/FDA, Silver Spring MD, USA 11. kEuropean Medicines Agency, London, UK ↵* Corresponding Author: Kurt Brorson, CDER/FDA, Silver Spring MD 20993, USA. E-mail: Kurt.Brorson@fda.hhs.gov

Abstract The report provides a summary of the presentations at the Virus & TSE Safety Forum 2015 organized by the Parenteral Drug Association (PDA) and held in Cascais, Portugal, from 9 to 11 June, 2015. As with previous conferences of this series, the PDA Virus & TSE Safety Forum 2015 provided an excellent forum for the exchange of information and opinions between the industry, research organizations, and regulatory bodies. Regulatory updates on virus and TSE safety aspects illustrating current topics of discussion at regulatory agencies in Europe and the United States were provided; the conference covered emerging viruses and new virus detection systems that may be used for the investigation of human pathogenic viruses as well as the virus safety of cell substrates and of raw material of ovine/caprine or human origin. Progress of development and use of next-generation sequencing methods was shown by several examples. Virus clearance data illustrating the effectiveness of inactivation or removal methods were presented and data provided giving insight into the mechanism of action of these technologies. In the transmissible spongiform encephalopathy (TSE) part of the conference, the epidemiology of variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease was reviewed and an overview about diagnostic tests provided; current thinking about the spread and propagation of prions was presented and the inactivation of prions by disinfection (equipment) and in production of bovine-derived reagents (heparin) shown. The current report provides an overview about the outcomes of the 2015 PDA Virus & TSE Safety Forum, a unique event in this field.

Virus TSE Safety Biotechnology Plasma derivatives Regulatory affairs Virus clearance

http://journal.pda.org/content/70/2/177.abstract

snip...

3. Tse Safety Forum

TSE Risk and Risks Mitigation

Existing and emerging TSEs still present potential concerns for safety of biological products. This session provided an update on human and animal TSEs including recent considerations of the FDA’s TSE Advisory Committee, epidemiology of vCJD, blood testing, and recent findings related to pathogenesis and dissemination of infectivity in the host. Safety measures to prevent TSE contamination of products were presented—including TSE clearance studies for a bovine- sourced product, and sanitisation of manufacturing equipment.

Luisa Gregori (Laboratory of Plasma Derivatives, US FDA-CBER) presented, on behalf of Dorothy Scott, a summary of the TSE Advisory Committee meeting from 1 June 2015 re-considering the FDA’s geographically based donor deferral policy to reduce the risk of transfusion-transmitted vCJD. The majority of the committee agreed that current deferral policy should be changed, but the committee did not agree with the FDA’s proposal to defer donors who traveled to the UK for at least 3 cumulative months from 1980 through 1986 (unchanged from current policy) and to defer donors who traveled to France and Ireland for cumulative 5 years from 1980 through 2001. This change would relax the deferral for all other European countries. Universal leukoreduction was recommended by the committee to further mitigate the risk for transfusion-transmitted vCJD.

The second talk by L. Gregori was on heparin and the risk of bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE). Heparin is a widely used anticoagulant produced from porcine intestinal mucosa. Manufacturers discontinued production of heparin from bovine intestinal mucosa in 1999 to 2001 due to concerns of transmission of the BSE agent. L. Gregori has initiated validation studies to evaluate the capacity of selected heparin manufacturing process steps (alkaline treatment at 50 °C, bleaching with H2O2, filtration with diatomaceous earth, methanol precipitation) to reduce TSE agents. Crude heparin was spiked with brain-homogenate from scrapie-infected hamsters (scrapie as surrogate for BSE) and samples were analyzed by Western blot (WB) and bioassay. Preliminary WB data indicated effective inactivation with NaOH treatment and further reduction with filtration and bleaching steps. The ongoing bioassay indicates a log10 reduction factor of 2.8 for the NaOH treatment. Prion reduction is further evaluated using the very sensitive real-time quakinginduced conversion assay (RT-QuIC) where recombinant PrP substrate is converted into fibrils in the presence of Thioflavin T and PrPsc from test samples. The outcome of this assay was consistent with the results from the ongoing bioassay.

L. Gregori further presented the current geographical BSE risk classification and import regulation from the US Department of Agriculture for bovine materials and reviewed FDA guidance for industry for viral vaccines and somatic cell therapy. Robert Will (National CJD Surveillance Unit and University of Edinburgh) reviewed the current epidemiology of vCJD. Although the incidence vCJD has declined, uncertainty remains regarding possible future cases and subclinical carriers with a risk for secondary transmission of the disease. Chen and Wang (11) estimated more than 5 million living inhabitants in UK who have been exposed via food to BSE agents while only 177 clinical cases have been reported so far in UK. Considering the amount of consumed contaminated food, the numbers seemed in line with an infectious threshold estimate of 12 bovine ID50 for hu- 186 PDA Journal of Pharmaceutical Science and Technology Downloaded from journal.pda.org on May 9, 2016 mans. This would be equivalent to 1.2 g of a BSEinfected brain. The recent study on prion proteins in human appendices showed 16 of 32,441 (1:2000) samples positive, and there could be about 32,000 asymptomatic carriers. Another study on appendices sampled before 1980 or after 1996 is under way.

Four cases of transmission of the vCJD agent via transfusion have been detected, and there is enhanced surveillance of recipients of blood and plasma products in the UK. However, the absence of a past history of transfusion in most cases of vCJD excludes a large number of unrecognised transfusion-transmitted cases. Infectious prions have been detected in the spleen from a subclinical individual with Methionin/Valine genotype who received prion infection via transfusion. The agent was successfully transmitted to humanized mice. However the risk of serial transmissions appeared low as fewer mice showed abnormal PrP with each serial passage. ***Recently transmission of prions from blood of patients with sporadic CJD to humanized mice could be demonstrated.

Graham S. Jackson (MRC Prion Unit, London, UK) discussed different assays for the detection of prion infection and the challenge associated with developing sensitive and specific diagnostic tests for vCJD. The use of stainless steel powder, capturing and enriching disease-associated prion material from whole blood, resulted in an assay with 71% sensitivity and 100% specificity. In a further study, no repeat reactive falsepositive results (0 of 5000 US and 0 of 200 UK normal whole blood samples) were detected. Seventeen of 21 vCJD patient samples were positive (sensitivity 71%). In order to evaluate the prevalence of vCJD in the UK, besides the analysis of archived appendix tissues, he assessed the use of blood samples in the pre-clinical stage of disease without convincing evidence of suitability of this approach when studying infected mice. Further-on, urine samples of a control population (normal and neurological population) showed no signal in the study; *** however, in samples from patients with sporadic CJD and vCJD, a signal was detected in both patient populations.

Peter Kloehn (MRC Prion Unit, London, UK) presented novel insights into the spread and propagation of prions after infection from the periphery to, ultimately, the brain. As a high proportion of prions are detected in natural killer cells and dendritic cells isolated from the spleen of infected mice, it is assumed that these prion-carrying immune cells will disseminate prions via exosomes after mobilising these cells in the periphery. It is of interest that shortly after inoculation the majority of the infectivity is not correlated with the presence of proteinase K-resistant PrPSc, which lags behind the exponential increase of infectivity. Transcriptome analysis of highly susceptible and prion-resistant cell lines revealed that genes controlling cell differentiation regulate the rate of prion replication at the extracellular matrix. Albrecht Gröner (PathoGuard Consult, Germany) discussed sanitisation of equipment used in the production of biologicals. The unique properties of PrP isoforms results in sanitisation requirements that are distinctly different from those for contamination by viruses and microorganisms and in distinct methods to quantify the inactivation capacity for prions such as bioassays, prion amplification techniques, conformation- dependent immunoassay, and, less suitable, Western blot. Cleaning with NaOH at a concentration of at least 0.1 M, preferably in the presence of detergent, removes and inactivates prion material from surfaces as well as from resins to a very high degree. A risk estimation concluded that standard cleaning/sanitisation procedures inherent in the production process of biologicals due to current GMP will avoid a batch-tobatch contamination also in the extremely rare event that a donation from a donor developing vCJD would be pooled.

4. Conclusion

The 2015 PDA Virus & TSE Safety Forum provided again a much-needed platform for debating the current knowledge, gaps, and developments related to the virus and TSE safety of biopharmaceuticals. It provided an overview of the landscape of challenges related to viruses and TSEs, experience of the industry in risk mitigation strategies, progress in executing virus clearance studies and interpreting the data, defining limitations, and working on such issues to clarify mechanism of action and critical operational parameters. The conference supported this process by aiding the dialog between industry, academic researchers, and regulators.

Acknowledgements

We thank the PDA, especially Sylvia Becker and Georg Rössling, for the initiative and continued support in organizing and conducting the conference. We thank all speakers and all participants who contributed Vol. 70, No. 2, March–April 2016 187 Downloaded from journal.pda.org on May 9, 2016 to the discussion and finally to the success of the conference.

Conflict of Interest Declaration

The authors declare that they have no competing interests. References

snip...end

http://journal.pda.org/content/70/2/177.abstract

Sunday, February 08, 2015

*** FDA SCIENCE BOARD TO THE FOOD AND DRUG ADMINISTRATION BOVINE HEPARIN BSE CJD TSE PRION Wednesday, June 4, 2014 ***

http://creutzfeldt-jakob-disease.blogspot.com/2015/02/fda-science-board-to-food-and-drug.html

>>>Recently transmission of prions from blood of patients with sporadic CJD to humanized mice could be demonstrated.<<<

http://www.whale.to/v/singeltary3.html

http://www.whale.to/v/singeltary.html

see latest from the Baxter study ;

‘’These results, together with other laboratory studies in rodents and non-human primates and epidemiological observations in humans, indicate that GSS (and perhaps other familial forms of TSE) carries a greater transfusion risk than sCJD, and that blood can be infectious during the incubation period of vCJD, but the question of a decades-long asymptomatic carrier state in vCJD remains unresolved.’’

Blood transmission studies of prion infections in the squirrel monkey (Saimiri sciureus)

Susan V. Gibson1, Diane L. Ritchie2, Oksana Yakovleva3, Paula Saá3, Christian R. Abee4 Thomas R. Kreil5, James W. Ironside2, Larisa Cervenakova3, and Paul Brown6, 1 College of Medicine, University of South Alabama, Mobile, AL, USA (deceased)

2National CJD Research & Surveillance Unit, School of Clinical Sciences, University of Edinburgh, Western General Hospital, Edinburgh, EH46 7EA, Scotland

3Scientific Affairs, American Red Cross, Rockville, MD, USA

4University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Bastrop, TX, USA

5 Global Pathogen Safety, Baxter Bioscience, Vienna, Austria

6 National Institute of Neurological Diseases and Stroke, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, USA (retired)

Five blood-related vCJD transmissions (3 symptomatic and 2 pre-symptomatic), and an estimated one ‘silent’ infection per 2000 apparently healthy UK residents emphasize the continued need for information about disease risk in humans. We here describe a 4-part study of infectivity in a non-human primate model.

Study 1) Groups of 3-4 monkeys were inoculated ic with 10-1 and 10-3 dilutions of pooled brain tissue from UK cases of vCJD (3) or sCJD (2), or a 10-1 dilution of normal human brain: all CJD-inoculated animals became ill after 2-3 year incubation periods, and exosomes extracted from the blood of 5 of 7 of the vCJD-infected animals tested positive by PMCA for PrPTSE (the normal animal tested negative; the test is not yet optimized for sCJD infections).

Study 2) Individual ‘buddy’ monkeys were transfused every 3 months with whole blood taken from each vCJD and sCJD monkey inoculated with 10-1 brain tissue in the above study: none developed disease by clinical, neuropathological, or immuno-histological criteria, but blood exosome studies are still in progress.

Study 3) Groups of 2-4 monkeys were inoculated ic or ic/iv with either plasma or buffy coat from UK cases of sCJD and vCJD: none developed symptoms during a 6-8 year period of observation and at autopsy had no signs of disease by either neuropathological or immuno-histological criteria.

Study 4) Pairs of monkeys were inoculated ic with various purified blood components from chimp-passaged US cases of GSS (1 case) and sCJD (2 cases), and observed for 5-6 years: only GSS leukocytes transmitted disease (both inoculated animals).

These results, together with other laboratory studies in rodents and non-human primates and epidemiological observations in humans, indicate that GSS (and perhaps other familial forms of TSE) carries a greater transfusion risk than sCJD, and that blood can be infectious during the incubation period of vCJD, but the question of a decades-long asymptomatic carrier state in vCJD remains unresolved.

This work was funded by Baxter Bioscience (Vienna, Austria) and the Fondation Alliance Biosécure (Paris, France)

[[[old history of Baxter study...tss http://tseac.blogspot.com/2009/09/tseac-meeting-february-12-2004-baxter.html ]]]

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

Using patient-specific fibroblasts and iPSC-derived neurons to uncover cellular phenotypes associated with prion diseases

Jue Yuan1, Leslie Cooperman1, Christina Orru2, Dongyun Han1, Hisashi Fujioka1, Elizabeth Shick1, Yi-An Zhan1, Mark Rodgers1, Robert Wyza1, Brian Appleby1, Miguel Quinones-Mateu1, Shulin Zhang1, Tingwei Mu1, Byron Caughey2, Xin Qi1, Paul Tesar1, Wen-Quan Zou1

1Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OH, USA, 2NIH/NIAID Rocky Mountain Laboratories, Hamilton, MT, USA

Cell biology of prion formation and spread remains incompletely understood, largely because of lack of authentic cell models. We report isolation of fibroblasts from skin tissues, derivation of induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs), differentiation of iPSCs into mature neurons, and detection of disease-related phenotypes in fibroblasts and

HUMAN PRIONS

iPSC-derived neurons. Fibroblasts were isolated from skin samples of 23 subjects including nine asymptomatic subjects carrying six different PrP mutations, four patients with sporadic CJD (sCJD), and ten normal controls. Surprisingly, not only protease-resistant PrP was detected with Western blotting but also seeding activity was detected with RT-QuIC in fibroblasts of some PrP mutation carriers or sCJD patients. After iPSCs were derived from fibroblasts of mutation carriers (E200K or D178N) and normal controls, functional mature iPSCderived neurons were further differentiated, as evidenced by immunostaining with the neuronal marker Map2 and by patch-clamp recording of GABA-induced current. While migration and glycosylation of PrP from fibroblasts were different from those of brain PrP, iPSC-derived neurons exhibited the PrP profile similar to the brain PrP. Notably, shortened neurites and neuritic-beading, characteristics of neurodegeneration, were more readily observed in iPSC-derived E200K neurons or in iPSC-derived neurons challenged with sCJD brain homogenates compared to neurons derived from iPSCs of normal subjects. Our study has generated patient-specific fibroblasts and iPSC-derived neurons that exhibit cellular phenotypes and seem to be authentic cell models for probing human prion diseases. [Supported by the CJD Foundation Award, NIHNS087588, NIHNS062787, and bridge funding from University Hospitals Case Medical Center.]

https://prion2015.files.wordpress.com/2015/05/workshopbook1.pdf

Oral Session14：45～15：00O-12 Wenquan Zou

*** PrPSc in the skin of CJD patients

http://prion2016.org/contents/program.html

Accessing transmissibility and diagnostic marker of skin prions.

Kong, Qingzhong Safar, Jiri G. Zou, Wen-Quan

Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OH, United States

Abstract The fatal, transmissible animal and human prion diseases are characterized by the deposition in the brain of a proteinase K (PK)-resistant infectious prion protein (PrPSc), an isoform derived from the cellular protein (PrPC) through misfolding. A definitive antemortem diagnosis is virtually impossible for most patients because of the difficulty in obtaining the brain tissues by biopsy. Recently, PrPSc has been reported to be detected in the skin of experimentally or naturally scrapie-infected animals (Thomzig et al., 2007). Consistent with this finding, we have observed PK-resistant PrP in the skin of a patient with variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (vCJD), an acquired form of human prion disease caused by bovine prion (Notari et al., 2010). Unexpectedly, our latest preliminary study identified two types of PK-resistant PrP molecules [with gel mobility similar to the PrPSc types 1 and 2 from the brain of sporadic CJD (sCJD)] in the fibroblast cells extracted from the skin of clinical sCJD patients and asymptomatic subjects carrying PrP mutations linked to familial CJD (fCJD). We also detected PrPSc in the skin of humanized transgenic (Tg) mice inoculated intracerebrally with a human prion. Moreover, prion infectivity has been observed in the skin of infected greater kudu (Cunningham et al., 2004) and a murine prion inoculated to mice via skin scarification can not only propagate in the skin, but also spread to the brain to cause prion disease (Wathne et al., 2012). We hypothesize that the skin of patients with prion disease harbors prion infectivity and the presence of PK-resistant PrP in the skin is a novel diagnostic marker for preclinical CJD patients. To test the hypotheses, we propose to (1) determine prion infectivity of the skin- derived fibroblasts and skin of sCJD patients and asymptomatic PrP-mutation carriers using humanized Tg mouse bioassay, (2) to pinpoint the earliest stage at which PrPSc becomes detectable in the skin of prion- infected Tg mice, and (3) to detect PrPSc in the skin of various human prion diseases, using conventional as well as highly sensitive RT-QuIC assays for both (2) and (3). If successful, our proposal may not only help prevent potential transmission of human prion diseases but also enable definitive and less intrusive antemortem diagnosis of prion diseases. Finally, knowledge generated from this study may also enhance our understanding of other neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's disease.

Public Health Relevance Currently it is unclear whether or not the skin of patients with prion diseases is infectious and, moreover, there is no alternative preclinical definitive testing or the brain biopsy in the prion diseases. The aim of our proposal is to address the issues by detection of the infectivity of patients' skin samples using animal bioassay and a new highly sensitive RT-QuIC assay. We believe that our study will not only provide insights into the pathogenesis and transmissibility of prion disease but also will develop preclinical definitive testing for prion disease.

Funding Agency Agency National Institute of Health (NIH)

Institute National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS)

Type Exploratory/Developmental Grants (R21)

Project # 1R21NS096626-01

Application # 9092119

Study Section Special Emphasis Panel (ZRG1)

Program Officer Wong, May Project Start 2016-02-01

Project End 2018-01-31

Budget Start 2016-02-01

Budget End 2017-01-31

Support Year 1

Fiscal Year 2016

Total Cost

Indirect Cost Institution Name Case Western Reserve University

Department Pathology

Type Schools of Medicine

DUNS # 077758407

City Cleveland

State OH

Country United States

Zip Code 44106

http://grantome.com/grant/NIH/R21-NS096626-01

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

Taylor & Francis

Prion 2016 Animal Prion Disease Workshop Abstracts

WS-01: Prion diseases in animals and zoonotic potential

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

http://www.tandfonline.com/na101/home/literatum/publisher/tandf/journals/content/kprn20/2016/kprn20.v010.sup01/19336896.2016.1163048/20160418/19336896.2016.1163048.fp.png_v03

Research Project: TRANSMISSION, DIFFERENTIATION, AND PATHOBIOLOGY OF TRANSMISSIBLE SPONGIFORM ENCEPHALOPATHIES

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

Authors

item Comoy, Emmanuel - item Mikol, Jacqueline - item Luccantoni-Freire, Sophie - item Correia, Evelyne - item Lescoutra-Etchegaray, Nathalie - item Durand, Valérie - item Dehen, Capucine - item Andreoletti, Olivier - item Casalone, Cristina - item Richt, Juergen item Greenlee, Justin item Baron, Thierry - item Benestad, Sylvie - item Hills, Bob - item Brown, Paul - item Deslys, Jean-Philippe -

Submitted to: Scientific Reports Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal Publication Acceptance Date: May 28, 2015 Publication Date: June 30, 2015 Citation: Comoy, E.E., Mikol, J., Luccantoni-Freire, S., Correia, E., Lescoutra-Etchegaray, N., Durand, V., Dehen, C., Andreoletti, O., Casalone, C., Richt, J.A., Greenlee, J.J., Baron, T., Benestad, S., Brown, P., Deslys, J. 2015. Transmission of scrapie prions to primate after an extended silent incubation period. Scientific Reports. 5:11573.

Interpretive Summary: The transmissible spongiform encephalopathies (also called prion diseases) are fatal neurodegenerative diseases that affect animals and humans. The agent of prion diseases is a misfolded form of the prion protein that is resistant to breakdown by the host cells. Since all mammals express prion protein on the surface of various cells such as neurons, all mammals are, in theory, capable of replicating prion diseases. One example of a prion disease, bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE; also called mad cow disease), has been shown to infect cattle, sheep, exotic undulates, cats, non-human primates, and humans when the new host is exposed to feeds or foods contaminated with the disease agent. The purpose of this study was to test whether non-human primates (cynomologous macaque) are susceptible to the agent of sheep scrapie. After an incubation period of approximately 10 years a macaque developed progressive clinical signs suggestive of neurologic disease. Upon postmortem examination and microscopic examination of tissues, there was a widespread distribution of lesions consistent with a transmissible spongiform encephalopathy. This information will have a scientific impact since it is the first study that demonstrates the transmission of scrapie to a non-human primate with a close genetic relationship to humans. This information is especially useful to regulatory officials and those involved with risk assessment of the potential transmission of animal prion diseases to humans. Technical Abstract: Classical bovine spongiform encephalopathy (c-BSE) is an animal prion disease that also causes variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease in humans. Over the past decades, c-BSE's zoonotic potential has been the driving force in establishing extensive protective measures for animal and human health.

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

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

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

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

Saturday, April 23, 2016

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

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

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

PRION 2016 TOKYO

Zoonotic Potential of CWD Prions: An Update

Ignazio Cali1, Liuting Qing1, Jue Yuan1, Shenghai Huang2, Diane Kofskey1,3, Nicholas Maurer1, Debbie McKenzie4, Jiri Safar1,3,5, Wenquan Zou1,3,5,6, Pierluigi Gambetti1, Qingzhong Kong1,5,6

1Department of Pathology, 3National Prion Disease Pathology Surveillance Center, 5Department of Neurology, 6National Center for Regenerative Medicine, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OH 44106, USA.

4Department of Biological Sciences and Center for Prions and Protein Folding Diseases, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada,

2Encore Health Resources, 1331 Lamar St, Houston, TX 77010

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

PRION 2016 TOKYO

In Conjunction with Asia Pacific Prion Symposium 2016

PRION 2016 Tokyo

Prion 2016

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

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

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

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

PRION 2015 CONFERENCE FT. COLLINS CWD RISK FACTORS TO HUMANS

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

O18

Zoonotic Potential of CWD Prions

Liuting Qing1, Ignazio Cali1,2, Jue Yuan1, Shenghai Huang3, Diane Kofskey1, Pierluigi Gambetti1, Wenquan Zou1, Qingzhong Kong1

1Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, Ohio, USA, 2Second University of Naples, Naples, Italy, 3Encore Health Resources, Houston, Texas, USA

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Transmissible Spongiform Encephalopathy TSE PRION update January 2, 2014

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Chronic Wasting Disease and Potential Transmission to Humans

Ermias D. Belay,* Ryan A. Maddox,* Elizabeth S. Williams,† Michael W. Miller,‡ Pierluigi Gambetti,§ and Lawrence B. Schonberger*

Chronic wasting disease (CWD) of deer and elk is endemic in a tri-corner area of Colorado, Wyoming, and Nebraska, and new foci of CWD have been detected in other parts of the United States. Although detection in some areas may be related to increased surveillance, introduction of CWD due to translocation or natural migration of animals may account for some new foci of infection. Increasing spread of CWD has raised concerns about the potential for increasing human exposure to the CWD agent. The foodborne transmission of bovine spongiform encephalopathy to humans indicates that the species barrier may not completely protect humans from animal prion diseases. Conversion of human prion protein by CWDassociated prions has been demonstrated in an in vitro cellfree experiment, but limited investigations have not identified strong evidence for CWD transmission to humans. More epidemiologic and laboratory studies are needed to monitor the possibility of such transmissions.

Conclusions

The lack of evidence of a link between CWD transmission and unusual cases of CJD, despite several epidemiologic investigations, and the absence of an increase in CJD incidence in Colorado and Wyoming suggest that the risk, if any, of transmission of CWD to humans is low. Although the in vitro studies indicating inefficient conversion of human prion protein by CWD-associated prions raise the possibility of low-level transmission of CWD to humans, no human cases of prion disease with strong evidence of a link with CWD have been identified. However, the transmission of BSE to humans and the resulting vCJD indicate that, provided sufficient exposure, the species barrier may not completely protect humans from animal prion diseases. Because CWD has occurred in a limited geographic area for decades, an adequate number of people may not have been exposed to the CWD agent to result in a clinically recognizable human disease. The level and frequency of human exposure to the CWD agent may increase with the spread of CWD in the United States. Because the number of studies seeking evidence for CWD transmission to humans is limited, more epidemiologic and laboratory studies should be conducted to monitor the possibility of such transmissions. Studies involving transgenic mice expressing human and cervid prion protein are in progress to further assess the potential for the CWD agent to cause human disease. Epidemiologic studies have also been initiated to identify human cases of prion disease among persons with an increased risk for exposure to potentially CWD-infected deer or elk meat (47). If such cases are identified, laboratory data showing similarities of the etiologic agent to that of the CWD agent would strengthen the conclusion for a causal link. Surveillance for human prion diseases, particularly in areas where CWD has been detected, remains important to effectively monitor the possible transmission of CWD to humans. Because of the long incubation period associated with prion diseases, convincing negative results from epidemiologic and experimental laboratory studies would likely require years of follow-up. In the meantime, to minimize the risk for exposure to the CWD agent, hunters should consult with their state wildlife agencies to identify areas where CWD occurs and continue to follow advice provided by public health and wildlife agencies. Hunters should avoid eating meat from deer and elk that look sick or test positive for CWD. They should wear gloves when field-dressing carcasses, boneout the meat from the animal, and minimize handling of brain and spinal cord tissues. As a precaution, hunters should avoid eating deer and elk tissues known to harbor the CWD agent (e.g., brain, spinal cord, eyes, spleen, tonsils, lymph nodes) from areas where CWD has been identified.

https://cpw.state.co.us/Documents/Hunting/BigGame/CWD/PDF/ResearchArticles/EID_CDWPotTrans.pdf

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 ;

http://chronic-wasting-disease.blogspot.com/2008/04/prion-disease-of-cervids-chronic.html

CJD is so rare in people under age 30, one case in a billion (leaving out medical mishaps), that four cases under 30 is "very high," says Colorado neurologist Bosque. "Then, if you add these other two from Wisconsin [cases in the newspaper], six cases of CJD in people associated with venison is very, very high." Only now, with Mary Riley, there are at least seven, and possibly eight, with Steve, her dining companion. "It's not critical mass that matters," however, Belay says. "One case would do it for me." The chance that two people who know each other would both contact CJD, like the two Wisconsin sportsmen, is so unlikely, experts say, it would happen only once in 140 years.

Given the incubation period for TSEs in humans, it may require another generation to write the final chapter on CWD in Wisconsin. "Does chronic wasting disease pass into humans? We'll be able to answer that in 2022," says Race. Meanwhile, the state has become part of an immense experiment.

https://www.organicconsumers.org/old_articles/madcow/killer123103.php

I urge everyone to watch this video closely...terry

*** you can see video here and interview with Jeff's Mom, and scientist telling you to test everything and potential risk factors for humans ***

http://zoomify.uzh.ch:8080/zoomify/videos/video-004/video-004.html

Envt.07:

Pathological Prion Protein (PrPTSE) in Skeletal Muscles of Farmed and Free Ranging White-Tailed Deer Infected with Chronic Wasting Disease

***The presence and seeding activity of PrPTSE in skeletal muscle from CWD-infected cervids suggests prevention of such tissue in the human diet as a precautionary measure for food safety, pending on further clarification of whether CWD may be transmissible to humans.

http://www.landesbioscience.com/journals/prion/Prion5-Supp-PrionEnvironment.pdf?nocache=1333529975

Prions in Skeletal Muscles of Deer with Chronic Wasting Disease

Rachel C. Angers1,*, Shawn R. Browning1,*,†, Tanya S. Seward2, Christina J. Sigurdson4,‡, Michael W. Miller5, Edward A. Hoover4, Glenn C. Telling1,2,3,§ snip...

Abstract The emergence of chronic wasting disease (CWD) in deer and elk in an increasingly wide geographic area, as well as the interspecies transmission of bovine spongiform encephalopathy to humans in the form of variant Creutzfeldt Jakob disease, have raised concerns about the zoonotic potential of CWD. Because meat consumption is the most likely means of exposure, it is important to determine whether skeletal muscle of diseased cervids contains prion infectivity. Here bioassays in transgenic mice expressing cervid prion protein revealed the presence of infectious prions in skeletal muscles of CWD-infected deer, demonstrating that humans consuming or handling meat from CWD-infected deer are at risk to prion exposure.

http://www.sciencemag.org/content/311/5764/1117.long

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

snip...

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

snip...

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

snip...

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

snip...see full report ;

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

CJD9/10022

October 1994

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

Dear Mr Elmhirst,

CREUTZFELDT-JAKOB DISEASE (CJD) SURVEILLANCE UNIT REPORT

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Prion diseases (PD) are the unique neurodegenerative proteinopathies reputed to be transmissible under field conditions since decades. The transmission of Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE) to humans evidenced that an animal PD might be zoonotic under appropriate conditions. Contrarily, in the absence of obvious (epidemiological or experimental) elements supporting a transmission or genetic predispositions, PD, like the other proteinopathies, are reputed to occur spontaneously (atpical animal prion strains, sporadic CJD summing 80% of human prion cases). Non-human primate models provided the first evidences supporting the transmissibiity of human prion strains and the zoonotic potential of BSE. Among them, cynomolgus macaques brought major information for BSE risk assessment for human health (Chen, 2014), according to their phylogenetic proximity to humans and extended lifetime. We used this model to assess the zoonotic potential of other animal PD from bovine, ovine and cervid origins even after very long silent incubation periods.

*** We recently observed the direct transmission of a natural classical scrapie isolate to macaque after a 10-year silent incubation period,

***with features similar to some reported for human cases of sporadic CJD, albeit requiring fourfold long incubation than BSE. Scrapie, as recently evoked in humanized mice (Cassard, 2014),

***is the third potentially zoonotic PD (with BSE and L-type BSE),

***thus questioning the origin of human sporadic cases. We will present an updated panorama of our different transmission studies and discuss the implications of such extended incubation periods on risk assessment of animal PD for human health.

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

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

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

***our findings suggest that possible transmission risk of H-type BSE to sheep and human. Bioassay will be required to determine whether the PMCA products are infectious to these animals.

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

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

Research Project: TRANSMISSION, DIFFERENTIATION, AND PATHOBIOLOGY OF TRANSMISSIBLE SPONGIFORM ENCEPHALOPATHIES

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

Authors

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

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

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

snip...

R. BRADLEY

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

”The occurrence of CWD must be viewed against the contest of the locations in which it occurred. It was an incidental and unwelcome complication of the respective wildlife research programmes. Despite it’s subsequent recognition as a new disease of cervids, therefore justifying direct investigation, no specific research funding was forthcoming. The USDA veiwed it as a wildlife problem and consequently not their province!” page 26.

http://collections.europarchive.org/tna/20080102193705/http://www.bseinquiry.gov.uk/files/mb/m11b/tab01.pdf

In Confidence - Perceptions of unconventional slow virus diseases of animals in the USA - APRIL-MAY 1989 - G A H Wells

3. Prof. A. Robertson gave a brief account of BSE. The US approach was to accord it a very low profile indeed. Dr. A Thiermann showed the picture in the ''Independent'' with cattle being incinerated and thought this was a fanatical incident to be avoided in the US at all costs. ...

http://web.archive.org/web/20060307063531/http://www.bseinquiry.gov.uk/files/mb/m11b/tab01.pdf

Evidence That Transmissible Mink Encephalopathy Results from Feeding Infected Cattle Over the next 8-10 weeks, approximately 40% of all the adult mink on the farm died from TME.

snip...

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

http://collections.europarchive.org/tna/20090505194948/http://bseinquiry.gov.uk/files/mb/m09/tab05.pdf

http://collections.europarchive.org/tna/20090505194948/http://bseinquiry.gov.uk/files/mb/m09a/tab01.pdf

http://collections.europarchive.org/tna/20090505194948/http://bseinquiry.gov.uk/files/yb/1987/06/10004001.pdf

Thursday, June 2, 2011

USDA scrapie report for April 2011 NEW ATYPICAL NOR-98 SCRAPIE CASES Pennsylvania AND California

http://nor-98.blogspot.com/2011/06/usda-scrapie-report-for-april-2011-new.html

Monday, June 27, 2011

Comparison of Sheep Nor98 with Human Variably Protease-Sensitive Prionopathy and Gerstmann-Sträussler-Scheinker Disease

http://prionopathy.blogspot.com/2011/06/comparison-of-sheep-nor98-with-human.html

Monday, May 09, 2016

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

http://bse-atypical.blogspot.com/2016/05/a-comparison-of-classical-and-h-type.html

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

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

Saturday, May 30, 2015

PRION 2015 ORAL AND POSTER CONGRESSIONAL ABSTRACTS

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

http://transmissiblespongiformencephalopathy.blogspot.com/2015/05/prion-2015-oral-and-poster.html

Wednesday, June 10, 2015

Zoonotic Potential of CWD Prions LATE-BREAKING ABSTRACTS

http://chronic-wasting-disease.blogspot.com/2015/06/zoonotic-potential-of-cwd-prions.html

Friday, April 22, 2016

*** COLORADO CHRONIC WASTING DISEASE CWD TSE PRION SURVEILLANCE AND TESTING PROGRAM IS MINIMAL AND LIMITED ***

snip...

In Confidence - Perceptions of unconventional slow virus diseases of animals in the USA - APRIL-MAY 1989 - G A H Wells

Visits to Colorado State University, College of Veterinary Medicine and the Wyoming Game and Fish Department, Sybille Wildlife Research and Conservation Education Unit.

The main objective here was to obtain some understanding of CWD. A visit was made to the University of wyoming Game and Fish Department, Sybille wildlife Research and Conservation Education Unit where most of the cases of CWD have occurred. The Sybille Wildlife facility is situated some 50 miles northeast of Laramie, Wyoming through the Laramie Mountains. Here most of the hoofed big game species of North America; Hule Deer (odocoileus hemionus), Whitetail Deer (Odocoileus virginianus), Elk (Cervis canadensis) Mountain Goat (Oreamnos americana), Bighorn Sheep (0vis canadensis** and Pronghorn (Antilocapra americana) and some other wildlife species are kept in small numbers for experimental use in the investigation of wildlife diseases.

A colony of the blackfooted ferret (Hustela nigripes) has been established because of its imminent extinction. At present there are only 35 but it is proposed to breed up to 200 and then, probably in 1991, re-introduce them into the wild in a nation wide operation. Blackfooted ferret diet is mainly Prairie Dog (Cynoms spp.) and it is thought that the elimination of this species from large areas by poisoning campaigns in the past has been responsible for the precipitous ferret decline.

The buildings and pens at the facility are entirely of wooden/log construction with heavy duty wire mesh fences. Pen floors are bare earth. A long race connecting many different areas within the facility enables movement of deer and antelope between pens when necessary. There is provision for holding deer of different sizes in a custom built crush for bleeding and treatments.

The educational role of the unit includes school visits to provide instruction in the work of the department and to promote conservation. I was accompanied on this visit by Stuart Young and Beth Williams. on arrival I was introduced to Hughie Dawson who has managed the facility for some 20 years.

CWD occurred principally in two locations, this one at Sybille and in a similar facility at Fort Collins, Colorado, some 120 miles southwest. It was estimated that in total probably 60-10 cases of CWD have occurred.

It was difficult to gain a clear account of incidence and temporal sequence of events ( - this presumably is data awaiting publication - see below) but during the period 1981-84, 10-15 cases occurred at the Sybille facility. Recollections as to the relative total numbers of cases at each facility were confusing. Beth Williams recalled that more cases had occurred in the Colorado facility.

The morbidity amongst mule deer in the facilities ie. those of the natural potentially exposed group has been about 90% with 100% mortality. the age distribution of affected deer was very similar to that in ESE. The clinical duration of cases was 6-8 weeks. Mortality in CWD cases was greatest in winter months which can be very cold.

When the problem was fully appreciated both the Sybille and the Colorado facilities were depopulated. All cervids were culled but Pronghorn, Bighorn Sheep and Mountain goat, where present simultaneously in the facility, were retained. There have been no cases of CWD in these non cervid species.

A few cases continue to occur at Sybille, the last was 4 months ago.

An account of the occurrence of CWD at the Colorado facility was obtained from Terry spraker, Diagnostic Laboratory, CSU College of Veterinary Medicine, Fort Collins. He examined tissues from cases of CWD at the Colorado facility some time prior to Beth Williams's involvement and examination of brains which resulted in the initial diagnosis. The deer holding facilities in Colorado comprise the Colorado Division of Wildlife Research Pen, established 10 years ago and some older deer pens at the Foot Hills Campus of CSU, close to Fort Collins. Originally there were just 1-2 cases CWD/year and a total of 24 over several years. In contrast to Beth Williams recollection Terry Spraker thought more cases had‘ occurred at Sybille than in Colorado. The cull at the Colorado facility involved 20-30 clinically normal deer. Early lesions in dorsal nucleus of the vagus and olfactory cortex were found in (some) of these deer. At the time of the cull here Pronghorn was the only other hoofed species present. Bighorn sheep and Mountain Goat were introduced only one year after the cull and occupied ground where CWD had occurred. Immediately after depopulation the ground was ploughed and disinfection was carried out using ?1% NaOH. The buildings/pens were not changed. There has been no recurrence of disease at the Colorado facility since the cull.

Transmission Studies

Mule deer transmissions of CWD were by intracerebral inoculation and compared with natural cases (‘’first passage by this route’’ MARKED OUT...TSS) resulted in a more rapidly progressive clinical disease with repeated episodes of synocopy ending in coma. one control animal became affected, it is J believed through contamination of inoculum (?saline). Further CWD transmissions were carried out by Dick Marsh into ferret, mink and squirrel monkey. Transmission occurred in all of these species with the shortest incubation period in the ferret.

Mouse and hamster transmissions were attempted at Wyoming State Diagnostic Laboratory, Laramie and at CSU Fort Collins but were unsuccessful.

Also at the Wyoming State Diagnostic Laboratory, Laramie, transmission to goats was attempted. In 1984 three goats were inoculated intracerebrally with a 10% CWD brain suspension. one goat, untreated, was placed in contact with the CWD inoculated goats and three controls, housed separately, received saline intracerebrally. To date these animals remain healthy.

Epidemiology of CWD

Descriptive epidemiological data has been collected from the two wildlife facilities and a publication is in preparation.

The occurrence of CWD must be viewed against the context of the locations in which it occurred. It was an incidental and unwelcome complication of the respective wildlife research programmes. Despite its subsequent recognition as a new disease of cervids, therefore justifying direct investigation, no specific research funding was forthcoming. The USDA viewed it as a wildlife problem and consequently not their province! Thus

there have been no specific epidemiological studies, other than information gained from noting the occurrence of cases. Because of the relatively short term nature of the programmed research at the facilities it has not been possible to keep Mule Deer under the appropriate experimental circumstances or for sufficient periods to establish horizontal or maternal transmission. Beth Williams is of the view that the occurrence of CWD at Sybille is entirely related to propagative spread by contagion. Investigations have failed to identify any common source of infection and the incident has presented a protracted time course with sporadic cases throughout. There is no evidence that wild born deer were responsible for introduction of the disease to the facility.

I asked Hughie Dawson about the nutritional aspects of the deer kept at Sybille. Mule Deer calves are reared on condensed milk and homogenised or pasteurised domestic cow's milk from birth to 1 month or to 6 months. some would be given "Lamb milk replacer" which has a higher butter fat content than either of the former products, but is derived also from domestic cow's milk. It was thought that at the Colorado facility calves would receive only "evaporated milk". Calves are weaned on to a pelletted feed containing corn, wheat bran and linseed meal with no crude mineral suppliment. Salt licks ("sulphur blocks") which have a specific mineral composition are supplied.

CWD has occurred or is suspected to have occurred in establishments supplied with Mule Deer from the Colorado facility. In some cases evidence for this is tenuous. For example, it is understood that Denver zoo state that "they have not had cases of CWD" and yet they have had cases of Mule Deer succumbing to a chronic wasting disorder which was not diagnosed. A case of CWD occurred in a Mule Deer in Toronto zoo in 1976. The animal in

question came from Denver zoo but was originally from the Colorado wildlife facility.

Pathology of CWD

A paper (Williams et al) is in preparation on the distribution of brain lesions in CWD. Vacuolar changes occur predominantly in the dorsal nucleus of the vagus nerve (this nucleus is invariably affected), the hypothalamus and the olfactory cortex with occasional vacuolation of the olfactory tract white matter.

Cerebellar lesions are sometimes present but there are very few changes in the spinal cord which probably accounts for the rarity of ataxia clinically. As in sheep scrapie the hypothalamic lesions correlate with the common clinical occurrence of polydipsia. Beth Williams is aware of occasional neuronal vacuoles occurring in the red nucleus of clinically normal deer! Spraker has added that he has experienced vacuoles in neurons of Gasserian ganglia and at the level of the obex in normal deer.

It has never been reported but Pat Merz carried out SAF detection on CWD brain material. Work may be undertaken with NIH on the immunohistological demonstration of PrP in sections but to date there has been no PrP work.

Does CWD occur in free-living cervids?

There is some, mostly circumstantial, evidence that CWD occurs in free-living cervids but to what extent, if at all, this represents an established reservoir of infection in the wild is not known.

At Sybille two Mule Deer orphans (wild caught) and a White—tail Deer (Odocoileus virginianus) hybrid developed clinical signs when only 2 1/2 years of age.

An Elk (Cervus canadensis) wild caught as an adult, presumed 2 years old, developed signs when 3-4 years old.

Another group of elk, wild caught 400 miles from the facility, with an age range 2-8 years, old subsequently developed the disease in the facility (?period of captivity). The location of capture relative to the facility did not apparently rule out that they may have at some time had fence-line nose contact with animals in the facility!

Cases have also occurred in Mule Deer that were obtained from the wild within one hour of birth but these were never kept completely isolated through to maturity.

Also at Sybille there has been one case of CWD diagnosed in a free ranging Elk. It was killed in Sybille Canyon 3 miles from the facility. It could have had fence-line contact with captive Mule Deer in the facility.

Similar incidents had occurred in Colorado. In 1985 a free-ranging affected Elk was caught in the Rocky Mountain National Park within a 2 mile radius of the Colorado Division of Wildlife Research Pen. In 1986 and again in 1987 a single affected Mule Deer on each occasion was caught within a 5 mile radius of the Pen. These latter cases occurred within 2 years of the -cervid cull at the Pen (?1985). Brain tissue from the free—ranging Elk brain was inoculated into mice but for some reason these were kept for only 6 months and then the experiment was abandoned.

A specific exercise has been carried out by Beth Williams with the Wyoming State Diagnostic Laboratory and Fish Department to sample the brains of healthy wild Mule Deer for histological examination. On two separate occasions the first in 1985 and again in 1987 a total of 150 Mule Deer

brains were collected from areas of, and ajacent to, Sybille Canyon. These deer would have been shot under a game permit by local hunters. As they were brought down from the hills to the Game station for the mandatory registration of the kill the heads were removed and ages estimated. Most were 2-5 year old with a few 6 year old. For obvious reasons hunters were reluctant to give up stag heads. Thus, but for 15-20 brains from stags, examinations were on brains from females. No evidence of CWD lesions was found in any of these brains. However, it was considered that sporadic cases of CWD, should they occur in the wild population, would soon become separated from the herd and fall prey to coyotes (Canis latrans).

The possibility of any reservoir of infection in wild cervids originating from scrapie in domestic sheep flocks seems remote. Scrapie has been recorded in only three flocks in Wyoming since 1947 and Beth Williams could recall only one previous occurrence in 1966. This had involved a Suffolk flock close to the border with Nebraska. However, there has been one new confirmed and a suspected affected flock this year in Wyoming. In the latter a ewe bought—in from an Illinois flock is incriminated.

Spraker suggested an interesting explanation for the occurrence of CWD. The deer pens at the Foot Hills Campus were built some 30-40 years ago by a Dr Bob Davis. At or about that time, allegedly, some" scrapie work was conducted at this site. When deer were introduced to the pens they occupied ground that had previously been occupied by sheep. Whether they were scrapie infected sheep or not is unclear. There were domestic sheep and goats present in the facility also in the 1960's but there is no evidence that these animals developed scrapie. During the 60's hybridization studies between the Bighorn and domestic sheep were carried

out, again, without evidence of scrapie. Domestic goats were also kept at Sybille in the 1960's.

Spraker considers that the nasal route is responsible for transmission of CWD through nose to nose contact, which may well occur also between captive and free—living individuals.

In domestic cattle of which about 15-20 adults were necropsied per year at the Diagnostic Laboratory, CSU., Spraker had not encountered any lesions suggesting BSE. Polioencephalomalacia (PEM) and Encephalic Listeriosis were the most common morphologic neuropathological diagnoses. No bovine rabies was seen.

Appendix I

VISIT TO USA - OR A E WRATHALL — INFO ON BSE AND SCRAPIE

Dr Clark lately of the Scrapie Research Unit, Mission Texas has I successfully transmitted ovine and caprine Scrapie to cattle. The experimental results have not been published but there are plans to do this. This work was initiated in 1978. A summary of it is:-

Expt A 6 Her x Jer calves born in 1978 were inoculated as follows with a 2nd Suffolk scrapie passage:- i/c 1ml; i/m, 5ml; s/c 5ml; oral 30ml.

1/6 went down after 48 months with a scrapie/BS2-like disease.

Expt B 6 Her or Jer or HxJ calves were inoculated with angora Goat virus 2/6 went down similarly after 36 months.

Expt C Mice inoculated from brains of calves/cattle in expts A & B were resistant, only 1/20 going down with scrapie and this was the reason given for not publishing.

Diagnosis in A, B, C was by histopath. No reports on SAF were given.

2. Dr Warren Foote indicated success so far in eliminating scrapie in offspring from experimentally— (and naturally) infected sheep by ET. He had found difficulty in obtaining embryos from naturally infected sheep (cf SPA).

3. Prof. A Robertson gave a brief accout of BSE. The us approach was to

accord it a very low profile indeed. Dr A Thiermann showed the picture in the "Independent" with cattle being incinerated and thought this was a fanatical incident to be avoided in the US at all costs. BSE was not reported in USA.

4. Scrapie incidents (ie affected flocks) have shown a dramatic increase since 1978. In 1953 when the National Control scheme was started there were 10-14 incidents, in 1978 - 1 and in 1988 so far 60.

5. Scrapie agent was reported to have been isolated from a solitary fetus.

6. A western blotting diagnostic technique (? on PrP) shows some promise.

7. Results of a questionnaire sent to 33 states on" the subject of the national sheep scrapie programme survey indicated

17/33 wished to drop it

6/33 wished to develop it

8/33 had few sheep and were neutral

Information obtained from Dr Wrathall‘s notes of a meeting of the U.S. Animal Health Association at Little Rock, Arkansas Nov. 1988.

snip...see full text ;

In Confidence - Perceptions of unconventional slow virus diseases of animals in the USA - APRIL-MAY 1989 - G A H Wells

http://web.archive.org/web/20060307063531/http://www.bseinquiry.gov.uk/files/mb/m11b/tab01.pdf

snip...see full text ;

SEE CWD HIGH INFECTION RATE MAPS FOR COLORADO !

http://chronic-wasting-disease.blogspot.com/2016/04/colorado-chronic-wasting-disease-cwd.html

Sunday, May 08, 2016

*** WISCONSIN CHRONIC WASTING DISEASE CWD TSE PRION SPIRALING FURTHER INTO THE ABYSS UPDATE

http://chronic-wasting-disease.blogspot.com/2016/05/wisconsin-chronic-wasting-disease-cwd.html

Tuesday, May 03, 2016

*** Arkansas Chronic Wasting Disease CWD TSE Prion and Elk Restoration Project and Hunkering Down in the BSE Situation Room USDA 1998

http://chronic-wasting-disease.blogspot.com/2016/05/arkansas-chronic-wasting-disease-cwd.html

Monday, April 25, 2016

Arkansas AGFC Phase 2 sampling reveals CWD positive deer in Madison and Pope counties

http://chronic-wasting-disease.blogspot.com/2016/04/arkansas-agfc-phase-2-sampling-reveals.html

Tuesday, April 19, 2016

Arkansas First Phase of CWD sampling reveals 23 percent prevalence rate in focal area With 82 Confirmed to Date

http://chronic-wasting-disease.blogspot.com/2016/04/arkansas-first-phase-of-cwd-sampling.html

Wednesday, May 04, 2016

TPWD proposes the repeal of §§65.90 -65.94 and new §§65.90 -65.99 Concerning Chronic Wasting Disease - Movement of Deer Singeltary Comment Submission

http://chronic-wasting-disease.blogspot.com/2016/05/tpwd-proposes-repeal-of-6590-6594-and_4.html

Saturday, April 02, 2016

TEXAS TAHC BREAKS IT'S SILENCE WITH TWO MORE CASES CWD CAPTIVE DEER BRINGING TOTAL TO 10 CAPTIVES REPORTED TO DATE

http://chronic-wasting-disease.blogspot.com/2016/04/texas-tahc-breaks-its-silence-with-two.html

Friday, February 26, 2016

TEXAS Hartley County Mule Deer Tests Positive for Chronic Wasting Disease CWD TSE Prion

http://chronic-wasting-disease.blogspot.com/2016/02/texas-hartley-county-mule-deer-tests.html

Friday, February 05, 2016

TEXAS NEW CHRONIC WASTING DISEASE CWD CASE DISCOVERD AT CAPTIVE DEER RELEASE SITE

http://chronic-wasting-disease.blogspot.com/2016/02/texas-new-chronic-wasting-disease-cwd.html

Wednesday, April 27, 2016

WYOMING GAME AND FISH DEPARTMENT CHRONIC WASTING DISEASE MANAGEMENT PLAN APRIL 22, 2016

http://chronic-wasting-disease.blogspot.com/2016/04/wyoming-game-and-fish-department.html

Friday, April 22, 2016

Missouri MDC finds seven new cases of ChronicWasting Disease CWD during past‐season testing

http://chronic-wasting-disease.blogspot.com/2016/04/missouri-mdc-finds-seven-new-cases-of.html

Wednesday, April 20, 2016

UTAH CHRONIC WASTING DISEASE CWD TSE PRION SURVEILLANCE AND TESTING PROGRAM 70 mule deer and two elk have tested positive

http://chronic-wasting-disease.blogspot.com/2016/04/utah-chronic-wasting-disease-cwd-tse.html

KANSAS CWD CASES ALARMING

Wednesday, March 02, 2016 Kansas Chronic Wasting Disease CWD TSE Prion 52 cases 2015 updated report 'ALARMING'

http://chronic-wasting-disease.blogspot.com/2016/03/kansas-chronic-wasting-disease-cwd-tse.html

Tuesday, February 02, 2016

Illinois six out of 19 deer samples tested positive for CWD in the Oswego zone of Kendall County

http://chronic-wasting-disease.blogspot.com/2016/02/illinois-six-out-of-19-deer-samples.html

Thursday, March 31, 2016

*** Chronic Wasting Disease CWD TSE Prion Roundup USA 2016 ***

http://chronic-wasting-disease.blogspot.com/2016/03/chronic-wasting-disease-cwd-tse-prion.html

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

http://scrapie-usa.blogspot.com/2016/04/texas-scrapie-confirmed-in-hartley.html

Thursday, April 07, 2016

What is the risk of chronic wasting disease being introduced into Great Britain? An updated Qualitative Risk Assessment March 2016

Sheep and cattle may be exposed to CWD via common grazing areas with affected deer but so far, appear to be poorly susceptible to mule deer CWD (Sigurdson, 2008).

***In contrast, cattle are highly susceptible to white-tailed deer CWD and mule deer CWD in experimental conditions but no natural CWD infections in cattle have been reported (Sigurdson, 2008; Hamir et al., 2006). It is not known how susceptible humans are to CWD but given that the prion can be present in muscle, it is likely that humans have been exposed to the agent via consumption of venison (Sigurdson, 2008). Initial experimental research, however, suggests that human susceptibility to CWD is low and there may be a robust species barrier for CWD transmission to humans (Sigurdson, 2008). It is apparent, though, that CWD is affecting wild and farmed cervid populations in endemic areas with some deer populations decreasing as a result.

snip...

For the purpose of the qualitative risk assessment developed here it is necessary to estimate the probability that a 30-ml bottle of lure contains urine from an infected deer. This requires an estimate of the proportion of deer herds in the USA which are infected with CWD together with the within herd prevalence.

The distribution map of CWD in US shows it is present mainly in central states (Figure 1). However, Virginia in the east of the country has recorded seven recent cases of CWD (Anon 2015a). Some US manufacturers claim to take steps to prevent urine being taken from infected animals eg by sourcing from farms where the deer are randomly tested for CWD (Anon 2015a). However, if disease is already present and testing is not carried out regularly, captive populations are not necessarily disease free (Strausser 2014). Urine-based deer lures have been known to be collected from domestic white-tailed deer herds and therefore there is a recognised risk. This is reflected by 6 US States which have

banned the use of natural deer urine for lures, as the deer urine may be sourced from CWD-endemic areas in the USA as well as from areas free of CWD. For example, the US State of Virginia is banning the use of urine-based deer lures on July 2015 and Vermont from 2016 due to the risk of spread of CWD. Alaska banned their use in 2012 (Anon 2015a). Pennsylvania Game Commission has banned urine-based deer lures and acknowledged that there is no way to detect their use (Strausser 2014). On the basis of unpublished data (J. Manson, Pers. Comm.) it appears that up to 50% of deer herds can be infected with 80-90% of animals infected within some herds.

*** It is therefore assumed that probability that a 30-ml bottle of deer urine lure imported from the USA is sources from an infected deer is medium.

SNIP...

In the USA, under the Food and Drug Administration’s BSE Feed Regulation (21 CFR 589.2000) most material (exceptions include milk, tallow, and gelatin) from deer and elk is prohibited for use in feed for ruminant animals. With regards to feed for non-ruminant animals, under FDA law, CWD positive deer may not be used for any animal feed or feed ingredients. ***For elk and deer considered at high risk for CWD, the FDA recommends that these animals do not enter the animal feed system. ***However, this recommendation is guidance and not a requirement by law.

***Animals considered at high risk for CWD include:

***1) animals from areas declared to be endemic for CWD and/or to be CWD eradication zones and

***2) deer and elk that at some time during the 60-month period prior to slaughter were in a captive herd that contained a CWD-positive animal.

***Therefore, in the USA, materials from cervids other than CWD positive animals may be used in animal feed and feed ingredients for non-ruminants. The amount of animal PAP that is of deer and/or elk origin imported from the USA to GB cannot be determined, however, as it is not specified in TRACES. It may constitute a small percentage of the very low tonnage of non-fish origin processed animal proteins that were imported from US into GB.

*** Overall, therefore, it is considered there is a greater than negligible risk that (non-ruminant) animal feed and pet food containing deer and/or elk protein is imported into GB. There is uncertainty associated with this estimate given the lack of data on the amount of deer and/or elk protein possibly being imported in these products.

SNIP...

https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/514401/qra-chronic-wasting-disease.pdf

Summary and MORE HERE ;

What is the risk of chronic wasting disease being introduced into Great Britain? An updated Qualitative Risk Assessment March 2016

http://chronic-wasting-disease.blogspot.com/2016/04/what-is-risk-of-chronic-wasting-disease.html

Tuesday, April 12, 2016

*** The first detection of Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD) in Europe

http://chronic-wasting-disease.blogspot.com/2016/04/the-first-detection-of-chronic-wasting.html

Docket No. FDA-2003-D-0432 (formerly 03D-0186) Use of Material from Deer and Elk in Animal Feed Singeltary Submission

Greetings again FDA and Mr. Pritchett et al, I would kindly like to comment on ; Docket No. FDA-2003-D-0432 (formerly 03D-0186) Use of Material from Deer and Elk in Animal Feed Singeltary Submission

#158

Guidance for Industry

Use of Material from Deer and Elk in Animal Feed

This version of the guidance replaces the version made available September15, 2003.

This document has been revised to update the docket number, contact information, and standard disclosures. Submit comments on this guidance at any time.

Submit electronic comments to http://www.regulations.gov. Submit written comments to the Division of Dockets Management (HFA-305), Food and Drug Administration, 5630 Fishers Lane, Rm. 1061, Rockville, MD 20852. All comments should be identified with the Docket No. FDA-2003-D-0432 (formerly 03D-0186).

For further information regarding this guidance, contact Burt Pritchett, Center for Veterinary Medicine (HFV-222), Food and Drug Administration, 7519 Standish Place, Rockville, MD 20855, 240-402-6276, E-mail: burt.pritchett@fda.hhs.gov.

Additional copies of this guidance document may be requested from the Policy and Regulations Staff (HFV-6), Center for Veterinary Medicine, Food and Drug Administration, 7519 Standish Place, Rockville, MD 20855, and may be viewed on the Internet at either http://www.fda.gov/AnimalVeterinary/default.htm or http://www.regulations.gov.

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Food and Drug Administration Center for Veterinary Medicine March 2016

Contains Nonbinding Recommendations

Guidance for Industry Use of Material from Deer and Elk in Animal Feed

This guidance represents the current thinking of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA or Agency) on this topic. It does not establish any rights for any person and is not binding on FDA or the public. You can use an alternative approach if it satisfies the requirements of the applicable statutes and regulations. To discuss an alternative approach, contact the FDA office responsible for this guidance as listed on the title page.

I. Introduction

Under FDA’s BSE feed regulation (21 CFR 589.2000) most material from deer and elk is prohibited for use in feed for ruminant animals. This guidance document describes FDA’s recommendations regarding the use in all animal feed of all material from deer and elk that are positive for Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD) or are considered at high risk for CWD. The potential risks from CWD to humans or non-cervid animals such as poultry and swine are not well understood. However, because of recent recognition that CWD is spreading rapidly in white-tailed deer, and because CWD’s route of transmission is poorly understood, FDA is making recommendations regarding the use in animal feed of rendered materials from deer and elk that are CWD-positive or that are at high risk for CWD.

In general, FDA’s guidance documents do not establish legally enforceable responsibilities. Instead, guidances describe the Agency’s current thinking on a topic and should be viewed only as recommendations, unless specific regulatory or statutory requirements are cited. The use of the word should in Agency guidances means that something is suggested or recommended, but not required.

II. Background

CWD is a neurological (brain) disease of farmed and wild deer and elk that belong in the animal family cervidae (cervids). Only deer and elk are known to be susceptible to CWD by natural transmission. The disease has been found in farmed and wild mule deer, white-tailed deer, North American elk, and in farmed black-tailed deer. CWD belongs to a family of animal and human diseases called transmissible spongiform encephalopathies (TSEs). These include bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE or “mad cow” disease) in cattle; scrapie in sheep and goats; and classical and variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob diseases (CJD and vCJD) in humans. There is no known treatment for these diseases, and there is no vaccine to prevent them. In addition, although validated postmortem diagnostic tests are available, there are no validated diagnostic tests for CWD that can be used to test for the disease in live animals.

Contains Nonbinding Recommendations

III. Use in animal feed of material from CWD-positive deer and elk

Material from CWD-positive animals may not be used in any animal feed or feed ingredients. Pursuant to Sec. 402(a)(5) of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act, animal feed and feed ingredients containing material from a CWD-positive animal would be considered adulterated. FDA recommends that any such adulterated feed or feed ingredients be recalled or otherwise removed from the marketplace.

IV. Use in animal feed of material from deer and elk considered at high risk for CWD Deer and elk considered at high risk for CWD include:

(1) animals from areas declared by State officials to be endemic for CWD and/or to be CWD eradication zones; and

(2) deer and elk that at some time during the 60-month period immediately before the time of slaughter were in a captive herd that contained a CWD-positive animal.

FDA recommends that materials from deer and elk considered at high risk for CWD no longer be entered into the animal feed system. Under present circumstances, FDA is not recommending that feed made from deer and elk from a non-endemic area be recalled if a State later declares the area endemic for CWD or a CWD eradication zone. In addition, at this time, FDA is not recommending that feed made from deer and elk believed to be from a captive herd that contained no CWD-positive animals be recalled if that herd is subsequently found to contain a CWD-positive animal.

V. Use in animal feed of material from deer and elk NOT considered at high risk for CWD FDA continues to consider materials from deer and elk NOT considered at high risk for CWD to be acceptable for use in NON-RUMINANT animal feeds in accordance with current agency regulations, 21 CFR 589.2000. Deer and elk not considered at high risk include:

(1) deer and elk from areas not declared by State officials to be endemic for CWD and/or to be CWD eradication zones; and

(2) deer and elk that were not at some time during the 60-month period immediately before the time of slaughter in a captive herd that contained a CWD-positive animal.

http://www.fda.gov/downloads/AnimalVeterinary/GuidanceComplianceEnforcement/GuidanceforIndustry/UCM052506.pdf?source=govdelivery&utm_medium=email&utm_source=govdelivery

Docket No. FDA-2003-D-0432 (formerly 03D-0186) Use of Material from Deer and Elk in Animal Feed Singeltary Submission

Greetings again FDA and Mr. Pritchett et al,

MY comments and source reference of sound science on this very important issue are as follows ;

Docket No. FDA-2003-D-0432 (formerly 03D-0186) Use of Material from Deer and Elk in Animal Feed Singeltary Submission

I kindly wish to once again submit to Docket No. FDA-2003-D-0432 (formerly 03D-0186) Use of Material from Deer and Elk in Animal Feed.

Thank you kindly for allowing me to comment again, ...and again...and again, on a topic so important, why it is ‘NON-BINDING’ is beyond me. this should have been finalized and made ‘BINDING’ or MANDATORY OVER A DECADE AGO.

but here lay the problem, once made ‘BINDING’ or ‘MANDATORY’, it is still nothing but ink on paper. we have had a mad cow feed ban in place since August 1997, and since then, literally 100s of millions of pounds BANNED MAD COW FEED has been sent out to commerce and fed out (see reference materials). ENFORCEMENT OF SAID BINDING REGULATIONS HAS FAILED US TOO MANY TIMES.

so, in my opinion, any non-binding or voluntary regulations will not work, and to state further, ‘BINDING’ or MANDATORY regulations will not work unless enforced. with that said, we know that Chronic Wasting Disease CWD TSE Prion easily transmits to other cervid through the oral route. the old transmission studies of BSE TSE floored scientist once they figured out what they had, and please don’t forget about those mink that were fed 95%+ dead stock downer cow, that all came down with TME.

please see ; It is clear that the designing scientists must also have shared Mr Bradleys surprise at the results because all the dose levels right down to 1 gram triggered infection.

http://web.archive.org/web/20061003022720/http://www.bseinquiry.gov.uk/files/ws/s145d.pdf

it is clear that the designing scientists must have also shared Mr Bradleys surprise at the results because all the dose levels right down to 1 gram triggered infection.

http://web.archive.org/web/20030526212610/http://www.bseinquiry.gov.uk/files/ws/s147f.pdf

Evidence That Transmissible Mink Encephalopathy Results from Feeding Infected Cattle Over the next 8-10 weeks, approximately 40% of all the adult mink on the farm died from TME.

snip...

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

http://collections.europarchive.org/tna/20090505194948/http://bseinquiry.gov.uk/files/mb/m09/tab05.pdf

*** PLEASE SEE THIS URGENT UPDATE ON CWD AND FEED ANIMAL PROTEIN ***

Sunday, March 20, 2016 Docket No. FDA-2003-D-0432 (formerly 03D-0186) Use of Material from Deer and Elk in Animal Feed ***UPDATED MARCH 2016*** Singeltary Submission

http://www.fda.gov/downloads/AnimalVeterinary/GuidanceComplianceEnforcement/GuidanceforIndustry/UCM052506.pdf?source=govdelivery&utm_medium=email&utm_source=govdelivery

http://chronic-wasting-disease.blogspot.com/2016/03/docket-no-fda-2003-d-0432-formerly-03d.html

Sunday, March 20, 2016

UPDATED MARCH 2016 URGENT Docket No. FDA-2003-D-0432 (formerly 03D-0186) Use of Material from Deer and Elk in Animal Feed Singeltary Submission

http://chronic-wasting-disease.blogspot.com/2016/03/docket-no-fda-2003-d-0432-formerly-03d.html

Tuesday, April 19, 2016

Docket No. FDA-2013-N-0764 for Animal Feed Regulatory Program Standards Singeltary Comment Submission

http://madcowfeed.blogspot.com/2016/04/docket-no-fda-2013-n-0764-for-animal.html

I strenuously once again urge the FDA and its industry constituents, to make it MANDATORY that all ruminant feed be banned to all ruminants, and this should include all cervids as soon as possible for the following reasons...

======

In the USA, under the Food and Drug Administrations BSE Feed Regulation (21 CFR 589.2000) most material (exceptions include milk, tallow, and gelatin) from deer and elk is prohibited for use in feed for ruminant animals. With regards to feed for non-ruminant animals, under FDA law, CWD positive deer may not be used for any animal feed or feed ingredients. For elk and deer considered at high risk for CWD, the FDA recommends that these animals do not enter the animal feed system.

***However, this recommendation is guidance and not a requirement by law.

======

31 Jan 2015 at 20:14 GMT

*** Ruminant feed ban for cervids in the United States? ***

31 Jan 2015 at 20:14 GMT

see Singeltary comment ;

http://www.plosone.org/annotation/listThread.action?root=85351

Thursday, March 31, 2016

*** Chronic Wasting Disease CWD TSE Prion Roundup USA 2016 ***

http://chronic-wasting-disease.blogspot.com/2016/03/chronic-wasting-disease-cwd-tse-prion.html

*** Singeltary reply ; Molecular, Biochemical and Genetic Characteristics of BSE in Canada Singeltary reply ;

http://www.plosone.org/annotation/listThread.action;jsessionid=635CE9094E0EA15D5362B7D7B809448C?root=7143

*** It also suggests a similar cause or source for atypical BSE in these countries. ***

Discussion: The C, L and H type BSE cases in Canada exhibit molecular characteristics similar to those described for classical and atypical BSE cases from Europe and Japan.

*** This supports the theory that the importation of BSE contaminated feedstuff is the source of C-type BSE in Canada.

*** It also suggests a similar cause or source for atypical BSE in these countries. ***

see page 176 of 201 pages...tss

http://www.neuroprion.org/resources/pdf_docs/conferences/prion2009/prion2009_bookofabstracts.pdf

Thursday, April 14, 2016

*** Arizona 22 year old diagnosed with Creutzfeldt Jakob Disease CJD

http://creutzfeldt-jakob-disease.blogspot.com/2016/04/arizona-22-year-old-diagnosed-with.html

Saturday, April 23, 2016

*** v-CJD prion distribution in the tissues of patients at preclinical and clinical stage of the disease

http://vcjd.blogspot.com/2016/04/v-cjd-prion-distribution-in-tissues-of.html

Saturday, April 16, 2016

*** APHIS [Docket No. APHIS-2016-0029] Secretary's Advisory Committee on Animal Health; Meeting May 2, 2016, and June 16, 2016 Singeltary Submission ***

http://animalhealthreportpriontse.blogspot.com/2016/04/aphis-docket-no-aphis-2016-0029.html

Sunday, May 1, 2016

*** Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research 25th Meeting of: The Transmissible Spongiform Encephalopathies Advisory Committee June 1, 2015 Transcript ***

FOOD AND DRUG ADMINISTRATION

http://tseac.blogspot.com/2016/05/center-for-biologics-evaluation-and.html

Sunday, February 08, 2015

*** FDA SCIENCE BOARD TO THE FOOD AND DRUG ADMINISTRATION BOVINE HEPARIN BSE CJD TSE PRION Wednesday, June 4, 2014 ***

http://creutzfeldt-jakob-disease.blogspot.com/2015/02/fda-science-board-to-food-and-drug.html

Saturday, January 16, 2016

*** Revised Preventive Measures to Reduce the Possible Risk of Transmission of Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease and Variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease by Blood and Blood Products Guidance for Industry

http://creutzfeldt-jakob-disease.blogspot.com/2016/01/revised-preventive-measures-to-reduce.html

Thursday, November 12, 2015

Evaluation of the protection of primates transfused with variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease–infected blood products filtered with prion removal devices: a 5-year update

http://vcjdtransfusion.blogspot.com/2015/11/evaluation-of-protection-of-primates.html

Tuesday, August 4, 2015

*** FDA U.S. Measures to Protect Against BSE ***

http://bseusa.blogspot.com/2015/08/fda-us-measures-to-protect-against-bse.html

Thursday, August 13, 2015

Iatrogenic CJD due to pituitary-derived growth hormone with genetically determined incubation times of up to 40 years

http://creutzfeldt-jakob-disease.blogspot.com/2015/08/iatrogenic-cjd-due-to-pituitary-derived.html

Thursday, January 23, 2014

Medical Devices Containing Materials Derived from Animal Sources (Except for In Vitro Diagnostic Devices) [Docket No. FDA–2013–D–1574]

http://transmissiblespongiformencephalopathy.blogspot.com/2014/01/medical-devices-containing-materials.html

Comment

Subject: BSE; MRR; IMPORTATION OF LIVE BOVINES AND PRODUCTS DERIVED FROM BOVINES [Docket No. APHIS-2006-0041] RIN 0579-AC01

Date: January 9, 2007 at 9:08 am PST

https://www.regulations.gov/#!documentDetail;D=APHIS-2006-0041-0006;oldLink=false

Owens, Julie

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

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

To: FSIS RegulationsComments

Subject: [Docket No. FSIS-2006-0011] FSIS Harvard Risk Assessment of Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE) Page 1 of 98

http://www.fsis.usda.gov/OPPDE/Comments/2006-0011/2006-0011-1.pdf

Comment from Terry S Singletary

This is a Comment on the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS)

Proposed Rule: Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy; Minimal-Risk Regions, Identification of Ruminants and Processing and Importation of Commodities

For related information, Open Docket Folder Docket folder icon

Comment

I IMPLORE, that due to the lack of surveillance and proper BSE/TSE protocols for testing and surveillance, the fact that sporadic CJD in the USA has tripled over the last few years or so, the new findings of BASE, the fact that CWD and Scrapie are out of control in the USA, I IMPLORE that the BSE MRR policy be repealed and the BSE GBR risk assessments revised to address all TSEs i.e. TSE GBR, for the following reasons ;

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

From: "Terry S. Singeltary Sr." flounder9@verizon.net

To: "EFSA Press" Press@efsa.europa.eu

Sent: Tuesday, November 21, 2006 12:21 PM

Subject: Re: re-Geographical BSE Risk: EFSA consults on revision of assessment methodology

Greetings EFSA,

a sad day. i think any weakening of the BSE GBR risk assessments, especially for USA, is a huge mistake. i think the BSE GBR should be revised to include all TSE i.e. TSE GBR. The USA has the most documented TSE in all the world, BSE/BASE?/Scrapie/CWD/TME, all of which has been rendered and fed back to animals for human and animal consumption for decades, and still are. The USA is still feeding cows to cows as lates as Oct. 2006;

http://www.fda.gov/foi/warning_letters/g6104d.pdf

besides the other tons and tons of recall of potential BSE/BASE/TSE feed in the USA in 2006;

http://www.fda.gov/bbs/topics/enforce/2006/ENF00968.html

http://www.fda.gov/bbs/topics/ENFORCE/2006/ENF00964.html

http://www.fda.gov/bbs/topics/enforce/2006/ENF00963.html

http://www.fda.gov/bbs/topics/enforce/2006/ENF00960.html

http://www.fda.gov/foi/warning_letters/g5883d.htm

see full text ;

https://www.regulations.gov/#!documentDetail;D=APHIS-2006-0026-0012;oldLink=false

FSIS, USDA, REPLY TO SINGELTARY

http://www.fsis.usda.gov/PDF/BSE_Risk_Assess_Response_Public_Comments.pdf

Comment from Terry Singeltary

This is a Comment on the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Notice: Draft Guidance for Industry on Ensuring Safety of Animal Feed Maintained and Fed On-Farm; Availability

For related information, Open Docket Folder Docket folder icon

https://www.regulations.gov/#!documentDetail;D=FDA-2014-D-1180-0003

Comment from Terry Singeltary

This is a Comment on the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) Notice: Environmental Impact Statements; Availability, etc.: Animal Carcass Management

https://www.regulations.gov/#!documentDetail;D=APHIS-2013-0044-0002

Comment from Terry Singeltary This is a Comment on the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) Proposed Rule: Scrapie in Sheep and Goats

For related information, Open Docket Folder Docket folder icon

Show agency attachment(s) AttachmentsView All (0)

Comment View document:

Indeed, much science has changed about the Scrapie TSE prion, including more science linking Scrapie to humans. sadly, politics, industry, and trade, have not changed, and those usually trump sound science, as is the case with all Transmissible Spongiform Encephalopathy TSE Prion disease in livestock producing animals and the OIE. we can look no further at the legal trading of the Scrapie TSE prion both typical and atypical of all strains, and CWD all stains. With as much science of old, and now more new science to back this up, Scrapie of all types i.e. atypical and typical, BSE all strains, and CWD all strains, should be regulated in trade as BSE TSE PRION. In fact, I urge APHIS et al and the OIE, and all trading partners to take heed to the latest science on the TSE prion disease, all of them, and seriously reconsider the blatant disregards for human and animal health, all in the name of trade, with the continued relaxing of TSE Prion trade regulations through the 'NEGLIGIBLE BSE RISK' PROGRAM, which was set up to fail in the first place. If the world does not go back to the 'BSE RISK ASSESSMENTS', enhance, and or change that assessment process to include all TSE prion disease, i.e. 'TSE RISK ASSESSMENT', if we do not do this and if we continue this farce with OIE and the USDA et al, and the 'NEGLIGIBLE BSE RISK' PROGRAM, we will never eradicate the TSE prion aka mad cow type disease, they will continue to mutate and spread among species of human and animal origin, and they will continue to kill. ...

please see ;

AttachmentsView All (1) scrapie-usa-blogspot-com View Attachment:

http://www.regulations.gov/#!documentDetail;D=APHIS-2007-0127-0032

Comment from Terry S. Singeltary Sr. Return to Docket Folder Summary This is a Comment on the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Notice:

Risk Assessment of Foodborne Illness Associated With Pathogens From Produce Grown in Fields Amended With Untreated Biological Soil Amendments of Animal Origin; Request for Scientific Data, Information, and Comments

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Comment View document:Greetings FDA et al, I kindly would like to make comment submission to ;

Docket No. FDA-2016-N-0321 Risk Assessment of Foodborne Illness Associated with Pathogens from Produce Grown in Fields Amended with Untreated Biological Soil Amendments of Animal Origin; Request for Comments, Scientific Data, and Information

A Notice by the Food and Drug Administration on 03/04/2016

MY comment as follows,

There has been proven documented risk for Untreated Biological Soil Amendments of Animal Origin and risk of transmitting Transmissible Spongiform Encephalopathy TSE Prion disease aka mad cow type disease such as the typical and atypical Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy strains, typical and atypical Scrapie strains, typical and atypical Chronic Wasting Disease CWD strains, and even the Transmissible Mink Encephalopathy TME Prion disease.

Science has shown that infected deer harbor and shed high levels of infectious prions in saliva, blood, urine, and feces thereby leading to transmission by direct contact and environmental contamination.

Ingestion of prion contaminated 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.

Plants can uptake prions from contaminated soil and transport them to different parts of the plant tissue (stem and leaves) [please see data from Soto et al Prion2015 Conference below in Science reference data].

Also, Detection of protease-resistant cervid prion protein in water from a CWD-endemic area is very concerning.

Science has shown that soil plays a role in the spreading and transmission of the CWD and Scrapie TSE prion agent.

For these reason and more (see reference materials) I urge the FDA to stop this practice of Untreated Biological Soil Amendments of Animal Origin, including blood, for use on our produce grown in fields, for the following reasons,

please see attachments and updated TSE Prion science on these very important matters here (I do not advertise or make money the science is there for educational use for Transmissible Spongiform Encephalopathy TSE Prion disease.

just made a promise to mom dod 12/14/97 confirmed Heidenhain Variant Creutzfeldt Jakob Disease, hvCJD. ...

AttachmentsView All (1)

Comment from Terry S Singeltary Sr View Attachment: https://www.regulations.gov/#!documentDetail;D=FDA-2016-N-0321-0005

https://www.regulations.gov/#!documentDetail;D=FDA-2016-N-0321-0005

Tuesday, March 15, 2016 Docket No. FDA-2016-N-0321

Risk Assessment of Foodborne Illness Associated with Pathogens from Produce Grown in Fields Amended with Untreated Biological Soil Amendments of Animal Origin; Request for Comments, Scientific Data, and Information

Singeltary Submission

http://animalhealthreportpriontse.blogspot.com/2016/03/docket-no-fda-2016-n-0321-risk.html

Thursday, February 25, 2016

U.S. Food & Drug Administration (FDA) FDA/CFSAN Cosmetics Update: Cosmetics Program; Import and Domestic and Transmissible Spongiform Encephalopathy TSE Prion Disease Risk Factors

***WARNING TO ALL CONSUMERS AND COUNTRIES AROUND THE WORLD***

***Note: FDA labs do not conduct BSE analysis and thus no sampling guidance is issued for BSE. ***

http://transmissiblespongiformencephalopathy.blogspot.com/2016/02/us-food-drug-administration-fda.html

Tuesday, March 5, 2013

Use of Materials Derived From Cattle in Human Food and Cosmetics; Reopening of the Comment Period FDA-2004-N-0188-0051 (TSS SUBMISSION)

FDA believes current regulation protects the public from BSE but reopens comment period due to new studies

http://transmissiblespongiformencephalopathy.blogspot.com/2013/03/use-of-materials-derived-from-cattle-in_6452.html

Sunday, April 06, 2014

SPORADIC CJD and the potential for zoonotic transmission there from, either directly or indirectly via friendly fire iatrogenic mode, evidence to date

http://creutzfeldt-jakob-disease.blogspot.com/2014/04/sporadic-cjd-and-potential-for-zoonotic.html

Wednesday, December 11, 2013

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

http://creutzfeldt-jakob-disease.blogspot.com/2013/12/detection-of-infectivity-in-blood-of.html

Saturday, December 12, 2015

CREUTZFELDT JAKOB DISEASE CJD TSE PRION REPORT DECEMBER 14, 2015

http://creutzfeldt-jakob-disease.blogspot.com/2015/12/creutzfeldt-jakob-disease-cjd-tse-prion.html

BSE INQUIRY DFAs

http://bseinquiry.blogspot.com/

Sunday, May 18, 2008

BSE Inquiry DRAFT FACTUAL ACCOUNTS DFA's

http://bseinquiry.blogspot.com/2008/05/bse-inquiry-draft-factual-account-dfa.html

Sunday, May 18, 2008

BSE, CJD, and Baby foods (the great debate 1999 to 2005)

http://bseinquiry.blogspot.com/2008/05/bse-cjd-and-baby-foods-great-debate.html

Sunday, May 18, 2008

MAD COW DISEASE BSE CJD CHILDREN VACCINES

http://bseinquiry.blogspot.com/2008/05/mad-cow-disease-bse-cjd-children.html

http://www.mad-cow.org/00/jul00_dont_eat_sheep.html#hhh

http://web.archive.org/web/20060517075116/http://www.bseinquiry.gov.uk/files/mb/m11g/tab03.pdf

http://web.archive.org/web/20060517075135/http://www.bseinquiry.gov.uk/files/mb/m11g/tab04.pdf http://bseinquiry.blogspot.com/2008/05/mad-cow-disease-bse-cjd-children.html

with reference to vaccine blunders, some might find interest here ;

8. The Secretary of State has a number of licences. We understand that the inactivated polio vaccine is no longer being used. There is a stock of smallpox vaccine. We have not been able to determine the source material. (Made in sheep very unlikely to contain bovine ingredients).

CONFIDENTIAL

http://collections.europarchive.org/tna/20080102164642/http://www.bseinquiry.gov.uk/files/yb/1989/02/14010001.pdf

5.3.3 The greatest risk, in theory, would be from parenteral injection of material derived from bovine brain or lymphoid tissue. Medicinal products for injection or surgical implantation which are prepared from bovine tissues, or which utilise bovine serum albumin or similar agents in their manufacture, might also be capable of transmitting infectious agents. All medicinal products are licensed under the Medicines Act by the Licensing Authority following guidance, for example from the Committee on Safety of Medicines (CSM), the Committee on Dental and Surgical Materials (CDSM) and their subcommittees. The Licensing Authority have been alerted to potential concern about BSE in medicinal products and will ensure that scrutiny of source materials and manufacturing processes now takes account of BSE agent.

see all 76 pages ;

http://collections.europarchive.org/tna/20080102132706/http://www.bseinquiry.gov.uk/files/ib/ibd1/tab02.pdf

3. _________ have measles, mumps, MMR, rubella vaccines. These are sourced from the USA and the company believes that US material only used. CONFIDENTIAL

http://collections.europarchive.org/tna/20080102164642/http://www.bseinquiry.gov.uk/files/yb/1989/02/14010001.pdf

Scrapie Louping-ill vaccine blunder

http://www.whale.to/v/singeltary.html

http://bseinquiry.blogspot.com/2008/05/mad-cow-disease-bse-cjd-children.html

MANAGEMENT IN CONFIDENCE

CERTIFIED BSE-FREE HERDS FOR SOURCE OF MATERIAL FOR BIOLOGICAL PRODUCTS

http://collections.europarchive.org/tna/20080102184729/http://www.bseinquiry.gov.uk/files/yb/1989/01/04001001.pdf

U.S.A. 50 STATE BSE MAD COW CONFERENCE CALL Jan. 9, 2001

Subject: BSE--U.S. 50 STATE CONFERENCE CALL Jan. 9, 2001

Date: Tue, 9 Jan 2001 16:49:00 -0800

From: "Terry S. Singeltary Sr."

Reply-To: Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy

To: BSE-L@uni-karlsruhe.de

######### Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy #########

Greetings List Members,

I was lucky enough to sit in on this BSE conference call today and even managed to ask a question. that is when the trouble started.

I submitted a version of my notes to Sandra Blakeslee of the New York Times, whom seemed very upset, and rightly so.

"They tell me it is a closed meeting and they will release whatever information they deem fit. Rather infuriating."

and i would have been doing just fine, until i asked my question. i was surprised my time to ask a question so quick.

(understand, these are taken from my notes for now. the spelling of names and such could be off.)

[host Richard Barns] and now a question from Terry S. Singeltary of CJD Watch.

[TSS] yes, thank you, U.S. cattle, what kind of guarantee can you give for serum or tissue donor herds?

[no answer, you could hear in the back ground, mumbling and 'we can't. have him ask the question again.]

[host Richard] could you repeat the question?

[TSS] U.S. cattle, what kind of guarantee can you give for serum or tissue donor herds?

[not sure whom ask this] what group are you with?

[TSS] CJD Watch, my Mom died from hvCJD and we are tracking CJD world-wide.

[not sure who is speaking] could you please disconnect Mr. Singeltary

[TSS] you are not going to answer my question?

[not sure whom speaking] NO

snip...see full text ;

http://tseac.blogspot.com/2011/02/usa-50-state-bse-mad-cow-conference.html

The documents below were provided by Terry S. Singeltary Sr on 8 May 2000. They are optically character read (scanned into computer) and so may contain typos and unreadable parts.

TIP740203/l 0424 CONFIDENTIAL

Mr Cunningham CMP3 From: D O Hagger MBI Dr Salisbury MED/IMCD3 Mr Burton PD/STB/PG1B B/17/2 Date: 15.02.1989 Mr Dudley PD/AD4

BOVINE SPONGIFORM ENCEPHALOPATHY

1. The purpose of this minute is to alert you to recent developments on BSE as they affect medicines and to invite representatives to a meeting in Market Towers on 22 February 1989.

http://www.mad-cow.org/00/may00_news.html

40,000 human heart valves a year from BSE herds Sun, 3 Sep 2000.

Unpublished Inquiry documents obtained by CJD activist Terry S. Singeltary Sr. of Bacliff, Texas

http://www.mad-cow.org/00/sep00_news.html#hhh

‘’I shall not forget the profound effect on my emotions when I visited these farms and was warmly welcomed because of the great benefits resulting from the application of louping-ill vaccine, wheras the chief purpose of my visit was to determine if scrapie was appearing in the inoculated sheep. The enquiry made the position clear. Scrapie was developing in the sheep vaccinated in 1935 and it was only in a few instances that the owner was associating the occurrence with louping-ill vaccination. The disease was affecting all breeds and it was confined to the animals vaccinated with batch 2.’’

http://www.whale.to/v/singeltary.html

KURU Transmissible Spongiform Encephalopthy TSE Prion Disease

*** Kuru Video ***

Kuru: The Science and The Sorcery

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vw_tClcS6To

*** Scrapie Video

http://zoomify.uzh.ch:8080/zoomify/videos/video-011/video-011.html

*** Human Mad Cow Video

http://zoomify.uzh.ch:8080/zoomify/videos/video-009/video-009.html

*** USA sporadic CJD MAD COW DISEASE HAS HUGE PROBLEM Video

http://zoomify.uzh.ch:8080/zoomify/videos/video-004/video-004.html

2001 FDA CJD TSE Prion Singeltary Submission TSEAC

http://www.fda.gov/ohrms/dockets/ac/01/slides/3681s2_09.pdf

1: J Neurol Neurosurg Psychiatry 1994 Jun;57(6):757-8

Transmission of Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease to a chimpanzee by electrodes contaminated during neurosurgery.

Gibbs CJ Jr, Asher DM, Kobrine A, Amyx HL, Sulima MP, Gajdusek DC.

Laboratory of Central Nervous System Studies, National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD 20892.

Stereotactic multicontact electrodes used to probe the cerebral cortex of a middle aged woman with progressive dementia were previously implicated in the accidental transmission of Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD) to two younger patients. The diagnoses of CJD have been confirmed for all three cases. More than two years after their last use in humans, after three cleanings and repeated sterilisation in ethanol and formaldehyde vapour, the electrodes were implanted in the cortex of a chimpanzee. Eighteen months later the animal became ill with CJD. This finding serves to re-emphasise the potential danger posed by reuse of instruments contaminated with the agents of spongiform encephalopathies, even after scrupulous attempts to clean them.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&list_uids=8006664&dopt=Abstract

PLEASE REMEMBER, IN 55 YEARS AND OLDER, THE RATE OF DOCUMENTED CJD JUMPS TO ONE IN 9,000. but officials don’t tell you that either. carry on...

Diagnosis and Reporting of Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease

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

Diagnosis and Reporting of Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease

To the Editor: In their Research Letter, Dr Gibbons and colleagues1 reported that the annual US death rate due to Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD) has been stable since 1985. These estimates, however, are based only on reported cases, and do not include misdiagnosed or preclinical cases. It seems to me that misdiagnosis alone would drastically change these figures. An unknown number of persons with a diagnosis of Alzheimer disease in fact may have CJD, although only a small number of these patients receive the postmortem examination necessary to make this diagnosis. Furthermore, only a few states have made CJD reportable. Human and animal transmissible spongiform encephalopathies should be reportable nationwide and internationally.

Terry S. Singeltary, Sr Bacliff, Tex

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

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

26 March 2003

Terry S. Singeltary, retired (medically) CJD WATCH

I lost my mother to hvCJD (Heidenhain Variant CJD). I would like to comment on the CDC's attempts to monitor the occurrence of emerging forms of CJD. Asante, Collinge et al [1] have reported that BSE transmission to the 129-methionine genotype can lead to an alternate phenotype that is indistinguishable from type 2 PrPSc, the commonest sporadic CJD. However, CJD and all human TSEs are not reportable nationally. CJD and all human TSEs must be made reportable in every state and internationally. I hope that the CDC does not continue to expect us to still believe that the 85%+ of all CJD cases which are sporadic are all spontaneous, without route/source. We have many TSEs in the USA in both animal and man. CWD in deer/elk is spreading rapidly and CWD does transmit to mink, ferret, cattle, and squirrel monkey by intracerebral inoculation. With the known incubation periods in other TSEs, oral transmission studies of CWD may take much longer. Every victim/family of CJD/TSEs should be asked about route and source of this agent. To prolong this will only spread the agent and needlessly expose others. In light of the findings of Asante and Collinge et al, there should be drastic measures to safeguard the medical and surgical arena from sporadic CJDs and all human TSEs. I only ponder how many sporadic CJDs in the USA are type 2 PrPSc?

http://www.neurology.org/content/60/2/176/reply#neurology_el_535

2 January 2000

British Medical Journal

U.S. Scientist should be concerned with a CJD epidemic in the U.S., as well

http://www.bmj.com/rapid-response/2011/10/28/us-scientist-should-be-concerned-cjd-epidemic-us-well

The Lancet Infectious Diseases, Volume 3, Issue 8, Page 463, August 2003 doi:10.1016/S1473-3099(03)00715-1Cite or Link Using DOI

Tracking spongiform encephalopathies in North America

Original

Xavier Bosch

“My name is Terry S Singeltary Sr, and I live in Bacliff, Texas. I lost my mom to hvCJD (Heidenhain variant CJD) and have been searching for answers ever since. What I have found is that we have not been told the truth. CWD in deer and elk is a small portion of a much bigger problem.” 49-year—old Singeltary is one of a number of people who have remained largely unsatisfied after being told that a close relative died from a rapidly progressive dementia compatible with spontaneous Creutzfeldt—Jakob ...

http://www.thelancet.com/journals/laninf/article/PIIS1473-3099(03)00715-1/abstract

no need to print this, you will be laughed at like I have been for almost two decades...terry

Terry S. Singeltary Sr.

Evidence for human transmission of amyloid-β pathology and cerebral amyloid angiopathy

07 02:27 AM

Terry S. Singeltary Sr. said:

re-Evidence for human transmission of amyloid-β pathology and cerebral amyloid angiopathy

2015-12-07 02:27 AM

Terry S. Singeltary Sr. said: re-Evidence for human transmission of amyloid-β pathology and cerebral amyloid angiopathy

Nature 525, 247?250 (10 September 2015) doi:10.1038/nature15369 Received 26 April 2015 Accepted 14 August 2015 Published online 09 September 2015 Updated online 11 September 2015 Erratum (October, 2015)

http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v525/n7568/full/nature15369.html

I would kindly like to comment on the Nature Paper, the Lancet reply, and the newspaper articles.

First, I applaud Nature, the Scientist and Authors of the Nature paper, for bringing this important finding to the attention of the public domain, and the media for printing said findings.

Secondly, it seems once again, politics is getting in the way possibly of more important Transmissible Spongiform Encephalopathy TSE Prion scientific findings. findings that could have great implications for human health, and great implications for the medical surgical arena. but apparently, the government peer review process, of the peer review science, tries to intervene again to water down said disturbing findings.

where have we all heard this before? it’s been well documented via the BSE Inquiry. have they not learned a lesson from the last time?

we have seen this time and time again in England (and other Country’s) with the BSE mad cow TSE Prion debacle.

That ‘anonymous' Lancet editorial was disgraceful. The editor, Dick Horton is not a scientist.

The pituitary cadavers were very likely elderly and among them some were on their way to CJD or Alzheimer's. Not a bit unusual. Then the recipients who got pooled extracts injected from thousands of cadavers were 100% certain to have been injected with both seeds. No surprise that they got both diseases going after thirty year incubations.

That the UK has a "system in place to assist science journalists" to squash embargoed science reports they find ‘alarming’ is pathetic.

Sounds like the journalists had it right in the first place: ‘Alzheimer’s may be a transmissible infection’ in The Independent to ’You can catch Alzheimer’s’ in The Daily Mirror or ‘Alzheimer’s bombshell" in The Daily Express.

if not for the journalist, the layperson would not know about these important findings.

where would we be today with sound science, from where we were 30 years ago, if not for the cloak of secrecy and save the industry at all cost mentality?

when you have a peer review system for science, from which a government constantly circumvents, then you have a problem with science, and humans die.

to date, as far as documented body bag count, with all TSE prion named to date, that count is still relatively low (one was too many in my case, Mom hvCJD), however that changes drastically once the TSE Prion link is made with Alzheimer’s, the price of poker goes up drastically.

so, who makes that final decision, and how many more decades do we have to wait?

the iatrogenic mode of transmission of TSE prion, the many routes there from, load factor, threshold from said load factor to sub-clinical disease, to clinical disease, to death, much time is there to spread a TSE Prion to anywhere, but whom, by whom, and when, do we make that final decision to do something about it globally? how many documented body bags does it take? how many more decades do we wait? how many names can we make up for one disease, TSE prion?

Professor Collinge et al, and others, have had troubles in the past with the Government meddling in scientific findings, that might in some way involve industry, never mind human and or animal health.

FOR any government to continue to circumvent science for monetary gain, fear factor, or any reason, shame, shame on you.

in my opinion, it’s one of the reasons we are at where we are at to date, with regards to the TSE Prion disease science i.e. money, industry, politics, then comes science, in that order.

greed, corporate, lobbyist there from, and government, must be removed from the peer review process of sound science, it’s bad enough having them in the pharmaceutical aspect of healthcare policy making, in my opinion.

my mother died from confirmed hvCJD, and her brother (my uncle) Alzheimer’s of some type (no autopsy?). just made a promise, never forget, and never let them forget, before I do.

I kindly wish to remind the public of the past, and a possible future we all hopes never happens again. ...

[9. Whilst this matter is not at the moment directly concerned with the iatrogenic CJD cases from hgH, there remains a possibility of litigation here, and this presents an added complication. There are also results to be made available shortly (1) concerning a farmer with CJD who had BSE animals, (2) on the possible transmissibility of Alzheimer’s and (3) a CMO letter on prevention of iatrogenic CJD transmission in neurosurgery, all of which will serve to increase media interest.]

http://web.archive.org/web/20030714222309/www.bseinquiry.gov.uk/files/yb/1992/12/16005001.pdf

http://collections.europarchive.org/tna/20080102232842/http://www.bseinquiry.gov.uk/files/yb/1992/11/04001001.pdf

snip...see full Singeltary Nature comment here;

http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v525/n7568/full/nature15369.html#/comments

see Singeltary comments to Plos ;

Subject: 1992 IN CONFIDENCE TRANSMISSION OF ALZHEIMER TYPE PLAQUES TO PRIMATES POSSIBILITY ON A TRANSMISSIBLE PRION REMAINS OPEN

BSE101/1 0136

IN CONFIDENCE

CMO

From: . Dr J S Metiers DCMO

4 November 1992

TRANSMISSION OF ALZHEIMER TYPE PLAQUES TO PRIMATES

1. Thank you for showing me Diana Dunstan's letter. I am glad that MRC have recognised the public sensitivity of these findings and intend to report them in their proper context. 'This hopefully will avoid misunderstanding and possible distortion by the media to portray the results as having more greater significance than the findings so far justify.

2. Using a highly unusual route of transmission (intra-cerebral injection) the researchers have demonstrated the transmission of a pathological process from two cases one of severe Alzheimer's disease the other of Gerstmann-Straussler disease to marmosets. However they have not demonstrated the transmission of either clinical condition as the "animals were behaving normally when killed". As the report emphasises the unanswered question is whether the disease condition would have revealed itself if the marmosets had lived longer. They are planning further research to see if the conditions, as opposed to the partial pathological process, is transmissible.

what are the implications for public health?

3. The route 'of transmission is very specific and in the natural state of things highly unusual. However it could be argued that the results reveal a potential risk, in that brain tissue from these two patients has been shown to transmit a pathological process. Should therefore brain tissue from such cases be regarded as potentially infective? Pathologists, morticians, neuro surgeons and those assisting at neuro surgical procedures and others coming into contact with "raw" human brain tissue could in theory be at risk. However, on a priori grounds given the highly specific route of transmission in these experiments that risk must be negligible if the usual precautions for handling brain tissue are observed.

92/11.4/1.1

BSE101/1 0137

4. The other dimension to consider is the public reaction. To some extent the GSS case demonstrates little more than the transmission of BSE to a pig by intra-cerebral injection. If other prion diseases can be transmitted in this way it is little surprise that some pathological findings observed in GSS were also transmissible to a marmoset. But the transmission of features of Alzheimer's pathology is a different matter, given the much greater frequency of this disease and raises the unanswered question whether some cases are the result of a transmissible prion. The only tenable public line will be that "more research is required’’ before that hypothesis could be evaluated. The possibility on a transmissible prion remains open. In the meantime MRC needs carefully to consider the range and sequence of studies needed to follow through from the preliminary observations in these two cases. Not a particularly comfortable message, but until we know more about the causation of Alzheimer's disease the total reassurance is not practical.

J S METTERS Room 509 Richmond House Pager No: 081-884 3344 Callsign: DOH 832 llllYc!eS 2 92/11.4/1.2

http://collections.europarchive.org/tna/20081106170650/http://www.bseinquiry.gov.uk/files/yb/1992/11/04001001.pdf

>>> The only tenable public line will be that "more research is required’’ <<<

>>> possibility on a transmissible prion remains open<<<

O.K., so it’s about 23 years later, so somebody please tell me, when is "more research is required’’ enough time for evaluation ?

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

*** Singeltary comment PLoS ***

Alzheimer’s disease and Transmissible Spongiform Encephalopathy prion disease, Iatrogenic, what if ?

Posted by flounder on 05 Nov 2014 at 21:27 GMT

http://www.plosone.org/annotation/listThread.action?root=82860

Sunday, November 22, 2015

*** Effect of heating on the stability of amyloid A (AA) fibrils and the intra- and cross-species transmission of AA amyloidosis Abstract

Amyloid A (AA) amyloidosis is a protein misfolding disease characterized by extracellular deposition of AA fibrils. AA fibrils are found in several tissues from food animals with AA amyloidosis. For hygienic purposes, heating is widely used to inactivate microbes in food, but it is uncertain whether heating is sufficient to inactivate AA fibrils and prevent intra- or cross-species transmission. We examined the effect of heating (at 60 °C or 100 °C) and autoclaving (at 121 °C or 135 °C) on murine and bovine AA fibrils using Western blot analysis, transmission electron microscopy (TEM), and mouse model transmission experiments. TEM revealed that a mixture of AA fibrils and amorphous aggregates appeared after heating at 100 °C, whereas autoclaving at 135 °C produced large amorphous aggregates. AA fibrils retained antigen specificity in Western blot analysis when heated at 100 °C or autoclaved at 121 °C, but not when autoclaved at 135 °C. Transmissible pathogenicity of murine and bovine AA fibrils subjected to heating (at 60 °C or 100 °C) was significantly stimulated and resulted in amyloid deposition in mice. Autoclaving of murine AA fibrils at 121 °C or 135 °C significantly decreased amyloid deposition. Moreover, amyloid deposition in mice injected with murine AA fibrils was more severe than that in mice injected with bovine AA fibrils. Bovine AA fibrils autoclaved at 121 °C or 135 °C did not induce amyloid deposition in mice. These results suggest that AA fibrils are relatively heat stable and that similar to prions, autoclaving at 135 °C is required to destroy the pathogenicity of AA fibrils. These findings may contribute to the prevention of AA fibril transmission through food materials to different animals and especially to humans.

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http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.3109/13506129.2015.1095735?journalCode=iamy20

http://betaamyloidcjd.blogspot.com/2015/11/effect-of-heating-on-stability-of.html

*** Transmission of Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease to a chimpanzee by electrodes contaminated during neurosurgery ***

Gibbs CJ Jr, Asher DM, Kobrine A, Amyx HL, Sulima MP, Gajdusek DC. Laboratory of Central Nervous System Studies, National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD 20892.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&list_uids=8006664&dopt=Abstract

the warning shots fired over the bow of the boat that were never heard ;

PITUITARY EXTRACT

This was used to help cows super ovulate. This tissue was considered to be of greatest risk of containing BSE and consequently transmitting the disease...

http://collections.europarchive.org/tna/20090114081754/http://www.bseinquiry.gov.uk/files/yb/1988/06/08011001.pdf

NON-LICENSED HUMAN TISSUE DEVICES WERE NOT COMMERCIALLY AVAILABLE

snip...

I was quite prepared to believe in unofficial pituitary hormones, also in the 1970's, whether as described by Dr. Little, or in other circumstances, for animal use.

snip...

The fact that there were jars of pituitaries (or extract) around on shelves is attested by the still potent 1943 pituitaries, described in Stockell Hartree et al. (J/RF/17/291) which had come from the lab. at Mill Hill. Having taken the trouble to collect them, they were not lightly thrown out...

http://collections.europarchive.org/tna/20080102174454/http://www.bseinquiry.gov.uk/files/ws/s467bx.pdf

3. The extraction is from a pool of pituitary glands collected from abbatoirs and the process used is unlikely to have any effect on the BSE agent. Hormones extracted from human pituitary glands have been responsible for a small number of Creutzfeldt Jacob disease in man.

http://collections.europarchive.org/tna/20090505194948/http://bseinquiry.gov.uk/files/yb/1988/06/10001001.pdf

SEE LOOPHOLE ;

http://collections.europarchive.org/tna/20090505194948/http://bseinquiry.gov.uk/files/yb/1988/06/13008001.pdf

SEE LOOPHOLE SHOULD BE CLOSED ;

http://collections.europarchive.org/tna/20090505194948/http://bseinquiry.gov.uk/files/yb/1988/06/13010001.pdf

http://collections.europarchive.org/tna/20090505194948/http://bseinquiry.gov.uk/files/yb/1988/06/14006001.pdf

Singeltary Submissions to Plos and Nature...

26/01/2016

Alzheimer-type brain pathology may be transmitted by grafts of dura mater 26/01/2016

http://blog.smw.ch/alzheimer-type-brain-pathology-may-be-transmitted-by-grafts-of-dura-mater/#comment-89016

Sunday, January 17, 2016

Of Grave Concern Heidenhain Variant Creutzfeldt Jakob Disease