Friday, December 5, 2014

SPECIAL ALERT The OIE recommends strengthening animal disease surveillance worldwide

The OIE recommends strengthening animal disease surveillance worldwide

 

Lessons to be learned from the spread of HPAI H5N8 in Asia and Europe. Following the recent spread of HPAI H5N8 virus in Asia and Europe, the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE) warns of the need to strengthen surveillance and early detection systems for diseases of domestic and wild animals throughout the world and recommends making this a major objective of official health policies.

 

 Millions of poultry have already fallen victim to highly pathogenic avian influenza H5N8 in less than 11 months. This new strain appeared in the Republic of Korea in January before spreading in the People’s Republic of China and Japan, and recently in three countries of Europe, Germany, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom. Although the outbreaks of this new virus have so far been rapidly controlled by the sanitary authorities, there are important economic repercussions for the poultry sector.

 

In recent decades, the impact of the globalisation of movements of animals, people and commercial products has greatly increased the possibilities for pathogens to spread from one side of the world to the other in record time. Yet the recent discovery of virus H5N8 in Europe serves as a reminder to the international community that a simple natural phenomenon such as migratory movements of wild birds can also cause the worldwide dissemination of a disease.

 

To date, the H5N8 strain has not been linked to any cases in humans. Nevertheless, it is important to remain on the alert given the capacity of influenza viruses to mutate. With 75% of human emerging diseases being derived from pathogens transmitted by animals, whether domestic or wild, public health protection is inextricably linked to the preservation of animal health. Transmission of the Ebola virus from a wild animal to a human, followed by human-to-human transmission on a massive scale, is another tragically notorious example today.

 

In this context, the OIE issues a reminder that poor management of disease control at source in animals, irrespective of whether diseases are potentially transmissible to humans, can have consequences that are often severe for the local population and economy, and even at a regional and global level. “The crises of the last 20 years, such as those related to avian influenza H5N1 and H7N9, foot and mouth disease and mad cow disease, and now Ebola, show us that while it is true that the policies of combating diseases at their animal source are an expense for the budgets of individual States or the international community, the amount is derisory compared to the costs involved in dealing with a panzootic or a pandemic”, says Dr Vallat, Director General of the Organisation, speaking from experience.

 

The existence of competent, well-organised national Veterinary Services, irrespective of a country’s level of development, is a precondition for early detection of animal disease outbreaks and a rapid, transparent response. This is why, through its intergovernmental standards and its tools for improving the performance of the Veterinary Services, the OIE provides its 180 Member Countries with the necessary foundations for strengthening the governance of their animal health systems backed up by adequate human and financial resources, which also implies the existence of suitable legislation coupled with high level veterinary training. In parallel, it is important to ensure extensive, optimal surveillance for animal diseases in wildlife as in domestic animals. “Animal producers, hunters, anglers and other users of the natural environment are also key players with whom it is important to cooperate”, notes Dr Vallat, “and additional resources are also needed everywhere for the active search for pathogens in wild animals, including aquatic birds.”

 

At an international level, tools have been developed during the past ten years aimed at preventing panzootics and pandemics at their source in animals. The OIE PVS Pathway, a global programme to improve the performance of national Veterinary Services, the International Health Regulations developed by WHO and the OIE’s World Animal Health Information System, WAHIS, are excellent examples of this. “It is worth disseminating them and giving priority to ensure that they benefit developing countries, where the explosion of demand for animal protein will bring a profound change in livestock production in favour of more intensive systems, which will require stricter veterinary control. And we must do this quickly, as the pathogens will not wait.”

 

More information:

 


 


 

>>> (OIE) warns of the need to strengthen surveillance and early detection systems for diseases of domestic and wild animals throughout the world and recommends making this a major objective of official health policies. <<<

 

>>>In recent decades, the impact of the globalisation of movements of animals, people and commercial products has greatly increased the possibilities for pathogens to spread from one side of the world to the other in record time.<<<

 

>>> With 75% of human emerging diseases being derived from pathogens transmitted by animals, whether domestic or wild, public health protection is inextricably linked to the preservation of animal health. <<<

 

>>> In this context, the OIE issues a reminder that poor management of disease control at source in animals, irrespective of whether diseases are potentially transmissible to humans, can have consequences that are often severe for the local population and economy, and even at a regional and global level. <<<

 

OIE BSE TSE PRION...the silence was deafening...TSS

 

>>> The existence of competent, well-organised national Veterinary Services, irrespective of a country’s level of development, is a precondition for early detection of animal disease outbreaks and a rapid, transparent response. This is why, through its intergovernmental standards and its tools for improving the performance of the Veterinary Services, the OIE provides its 180 Member Countries with the necessary foundations for strengthening the governance of their animal health systems backed up by adequate human and financial resources, which also implies the existence of suitable legislation coupled with high level veterinary training. <<<

 

IN A NUT SHELL ;

 

(Adopted by the International Committee of the OIE on 23 May 2006)

 

11. Information published by the OIE is derived from appropriate declarations made by the official Veterinary Services of Member Countries. The OIE is not responsible for inaccurate publication of country disease status based on inaccurate information or changes in epidemiological status or other significant events that were not promptly reported to the Central Bureau,

 


 

‘’LOL LAUGH OUT LOUD’’...TSS

 

Greetings, A Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to all, with warmest regards for the new years. ...TSS

 

some old history of the OIE and me trying to get them to wake up, as follows. wasted days and wasted nights, Freddy Fender. ...TSS

 

 IT is of my opinion, that the OIE and the USDA et al, are the soul reason, and responsible parties, for Transmissible Spongiform Encephalopathy TSE prion diseases, including typical and atypical BSE, typical and atypical Scrapie, and all strains of CWD, and human TSE there from, spreading around the globe.

 

I have lost all confidence of this organization as a regulatory authority on animal disease, and consider it nothing more than a National Trading Brokerage for all strains of animal TSE, just to satisfy there commodity. AS i said before, OIE should hang up there jock strap now, since it appears they will buckle every time a country makes some political hay about trade protocol, commodities and futures. IF they are not going to be science based, they should do everyone a favor and dissolve there organization.

 

JUST because of low documented human body count with nvCJD and the long incubation periods, the lack of sound science being replaced by political and corporate science in relations with the fact that science has now linked some sporadic CJD with atypical BSE and atypical scrapie, and the very real threat of CWD being zoonosis, I believed the O.I.E. has failed terribly and again, I call for this organization to be dissolved. ...

 

Monday, May 05, 2014

 

Member Country details for listing OIE CWD 2013 against the criteria of Article 1.2.2., the Code Commission recommends consideration for listing

 


 

Monday, May 05, 2014

 

Member Country details for listing OIE CWD 2013 against the criteria of Article 1.2.2., the Code Commission recommends consideration for listing

 

UPDATE May 13, 2014

 

 Member Country details for listing OIE CWD 2013 against the criteria of Article 1.2.2., the Code Commission recommends consideration for listing

 

Greetings everyone,

 

Finally, got a confirmation from top official inside OIE.

 

YES!

 

 Indeed, CHRONIC WASTING DISEASE CWD has been brought to the OIE table, by more than one country, and WILL BE BROUGHT TO THE TABLE AGAIN, WHEN THE NEXT AD HOC EXPERT GROUP IS CONVENED...tss

 

‘’On more than one occasion our Commission has received a request from a Member Country to list CWD as a disease notifiable to the OIE. However, it is not our practice to specify which Member Countries make specific requests to us. All countries which submit national comments to us at our February and September meetings are listed in the reports of our meetings. However, the country names are not linked to specific comments or requests.’’

 

’’they may also evaluate CWD against the OIE’s CRITERIA.’’

 

‘’That is where the situation stands at present. Next time an ad hoc group is convened to consider issues of listing and delisting, CWD will be evaluated. I have no idea of time frames.’’

 

personal communication with OIE top official...tss

 

Rome was not built overnight I suppose...tss

 

> In response to a _Member Country’s_ detailed justification for listing of chronic wasting disease of cervids (CWD) against the criteria of Article 1.2.2., the Code Commission _recommended_ this disease be reconsidered for listing.

 


 

 Annual report of the Scientific Network on BSE-TSE EFSA, Question No EFSA-Q-2013-01004, approved on 11 December 2013

 

*** Further, it was addressed that recently discussions have being held at OIE level on Chronic Wasting Disease of cervids.

 

page 6;

 


 

 REPORT OF THE MEETING OF THE OIE TERRESTRIAL ANIMAL HEALTH STANDARDS COMMISSION Paris, 19–28 February 2013

 

 In response to a Member Country’s detailed justification for listing of chronic wasting disease of cervids (CWD) against the criteria of Article 1.2.2., the Code Commission recommended this disease be reconsidered for listing.

 


 

 REPORT OF THE MEETING OF THE OIE TERRESTRIAL ANIMAL HEALTH STANDARDS COMMISSION Paris, 17–26 September 2013

 

Item 5 Criteria for listing diseases (Chapter 1.2.)

 

Comments were received from Australia, EU, Japan, New Zealand, Switzerland, Thailand and AU-IBAR The Code Commission noted a Member Country’s comment suggesting that greater clarity was needed for the term ‘significant morbidity and mortality’. As noted in the February 2013 report, the Code Commission considered that the structured process of listing diseases, first by an expert group whose conclusions are documented and circulated for Member Countries’ review and comment, then consideration by the World Assembly of Delegates before final adoption, is sufficiently rigorous and transparent.

 


 

 greetings,

 

 what is criteria of Article 1.2.2. ???

 

 curious as to what country detailed justification for listing ???

 

 kind regards, terry

 

 *******UPDATE ON OIE ARTICLE 1.2.2********

 

 OIE Article 1.2.2.

 

The criteria for the inclusion of a disease, infection or infestation in the OIE list are as follows:

 

1) International spread of the agent (via live animals or their products, vectors or fomites) has been proven.

 

AND

 

2) At least one country has demonstrated freedom or impending freedom from the disease, infection or infestation in populations of susceptible animals, based on the animal health surveillance provisions of the Terrestrial Code, in particular those contained in Chapter 1.4.

 

AND

 

3)

 

 a) Natural transmission to humans has been proven, and human infection is associated with severe consequences.

 

OR

 

b) The disease has been shown to cause significant morbidity or mortality in domestic animals at the level of a

 

country or a zone.

 

OR

 

c) The disease has been shown to, or scientific evidence indicates that it would, cause significant morbidity or

 

mortality in wild animal populations.

 

AND

 

4) A reliable means of detection and diagnosis exists and a precise case definition is available to clearly identify cases

 

and allow them to be distinguished from other diseases, infections and infestations.

 

OR

 

5) The disease or infection is an emerging disease with evidence of zoonotic properties, rapid spread, or significant morbidity or mortality and a case definition is available to clearly identify cases and allow them to be distinguished from other diseases or infections.

 

2 2013 © OIE - Terrestrial Animal Health Code Chapter 1.2.- Criteria for the inclusion of diseases, infections and infestations on the OIE list

 


 

 *** URGENT CWD UPDATE Friday, January 17, 2014

 

 FINALLY, 12 years later, the OIE becomes concerned with CWD to humans, not that I did not try and warn them 12 years ago. ...kind regards, terry

 

 Friday, January 17, 2014

 

 Annual report of the Scientific Network on BSE-TSE EFSA, Question No EFSA-Q-2013-01004, approved on 11 December 2013

 

 *** Further, it was addressed that recently discussions have being held at OIE level on Chronic Wasting Disease of cervids.

 

*** 2002 Singeltary vs O.I.E. on CWD to human risk factor ;

 

Subject: Re: CWD AMERICA ???

 

 Date: Fri, 12 Jul 2002 19:10:18 +0200

 

 From: "INFORMATION DEPT"

 

 Organization: O.I.E

 

 To: "Terry S. Singeltary Sr."

 

 References: <3d2f0169 .3="" wt.net=""> < 012901c229b2 ad43bb90="" f00000a=""> 3D2F2358.5010700@wt.net

 

 I agree with you Dr Terry. The OIE, namely the International Animal Health Code Commission is working on making proposals to Member Countries to change the OIE lists so to avoid some the problems mentioned in you e-mail. This will take at least two years before adoption by the International Committee. For BSE, countries asked the OIE to post information on BSE on the OIE web site.

 

 Personally, I am interested in Chronic Wasting Disease and I follow what is distributed through ProMed. Delegates of OIE Member Countries can propose diseases to be added to the list.

 

 Kind regards.

 

 Karim Ben Jebara

 


 

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

 

 From: "Terry S. Singeltary Sr."

 

 To: "INFORMATION DEPT"

 

 Sent: Friday, July 12, 2002 8:43 PM

 

 Subject: Re: CWD AMERICA ???

 

>>> *** Further, it was addressed that recently discussions have being held at OIE level on Chronic Wasting Disease of cervids. <<<

 

> hello Dr. Jebara,

 

>

 

> many thanks for your swift and kind reply.

 

>

 

> if i am not mistaken, it was the same email address.

 

> it was 3 or 4 weeks ago i wrote, as it is, i don't

 

> save 'sent' emails anymore, unless very important.

 

>

 

> my main concern (besides the fact that a potential TSE

 

> has been in the USA cattle for some time, but the APHIS

 

> do not test to find), is that the CWD could very well be

 

> transmitting to humans, and i just did not see to much

 

> posted about it on OIE site.

 

>

 

> > Coming back to your question, Chronic Wasting Disease is not an OIE

 

>

 

> > listed disease. Please see OIE disease lists at

 

>

 


 

>

 

> why is this TSE (CWD) not listed and followed as with BSE ?

 

>

 

> Article 1.1.3.2.

 

> 1. Countries shall make available to other countries, through the

 

> OIE, whatever information is necessary to minimise the spread of

 

> important animal diseases and to assist in achieving better worldwide

 

> control of these diseases.

 

>

 


 

>

 

> The USA CWD is an important animal disease.

 

>

 

> why is it not followed?

 

>

 

> > The decision to add or delete a disease from the OIE lists, come

 

>

 

> > through proposals made by Member Countries and it has to be adopted by

 

>

 

> > the International Committee.

 

>

 

> i _urgently_ suggest a proposal to the OIE to follow this disease very

 

> closely, and to propose _more_ testing in the USA for TSEs in the USA

 

> cattle...

 

>

 

> kindest regards,

 

> terry

 

>

 

> INFORMATION DEPT wrote:

 

>

 

> > Dear Sir,

 

> >

 

> > This is the first time that I receive your e-mail. To whom have you written

 

> > in the OIE or to which address?

 

> >

 

> > Coming back to your question, Chronic Wasting Disease is not an OIE listed

 

> > disease. Please see OIE disease lists at

 


 

> >

 

> > Countries should report to the OIE any disease even is not listed in the

 

> > OIE's lists in some conditions (example: an exceptional epidemiological

 

> > event). Please read Chapter 1.1.3 of the International animal health code to

 

> > have more information on disease notification and epidemiological

 

> > information agreed by OIE Member Countries at :

 


 

> >

 

> > The decision to add or delete a disease from the OIE lists, come through

 

> > proposals made by Member Countries and it has to be adopted by the

 

> > International Committee.

 

> >

 

> > Hope that I answered to your question.

 

> >

 

> > Best regards.

 

> >

 

> > Dr Karim Ben Jebara

 

> > Head

 

> > Animal Health Information Department

 

> > OIE

 

> >

 

> >

 

> >

 

> > ----- Original Message -----

 

> > From: "Terry S. Singeltary Sr."

 

> > To:

 

> > Sent: Friday, July 12, 2002 6:18 PM

 

> > Subject: CWD AMERICA ???

 

> >

 

> >

 

> >

 

> >>I WROTE TO OIE RECENTLY ASKING 'WHY OIE DOES NOT FOLLOW CWD IN

 

> >>AMERICA' ? with no reply ? i am still seeking an answer ?

 

> >>

 

> >>many thanks,

 

> >>and kind regards,

 

> >>terry

 

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

 


 

SNIP...SEE FULL REPORT HERE ;

 

Friday, January 17, 2014

 

Annual report of the Scientific Network on BSE-TSE EFSA, Question No EFSA-Q-2013-01004, approved on 11 December 2013

 


 

Program Standards: Chronic Wasting Disease Herd Certification Program and Interstate Movement of Farmed or Captive Deer, Elk, and Moose

 

 *** DOCUMENT ID: APHIS-2006-0118-0411

 


 


 

*** 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).

 


 

Saturday, April 19, 2014

 

Exploring the zoonotic potential of animal prion diseases: In vivo and in vitro approaches

 


 

CHRONIC WASTING DISEASE TSE PRION DISEASE IN CERVIDS

 

spreading cwd around...tss

 

Between 1996 and 2002, chronic wasting disease was diagnosed in 39 herds of farmed elk in Saskatchewan in a single epidemic. All of these herds were depopulated as part of the Canadian Food Inspection Agency’s (CFIA) disease eradication program. Animals, primarily over 12 mo of age, were tested for the presence CWD prions following euthanasia. Twenty-one of the herds were linked through movements of live animals with latent CWD from a single infected source herd in Saskatchewan, 17 through movements of animals from 7 of the secondarily infected herds.

 

***The source herd is believed to have become infected via importation of animals from a game farm in South Dakota where CWD was subsequently diagnosed (7,4). A wide range in herd prevalence of CWD at the time of herd depopulation of these herds was observed. Within-herd transmission was observed on some farms, while the disease remained confined to the introduced animals on other farms.

 


 

spreading cwd around...tss

 

Friday, May 13, 2011

 

Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD) outbreaks and surveillance program in the Republic of Korea Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD) outbreaks and surveillance program in the Republic of Korea

 

Hyun-Joo Sohn, Yoon-Hee Lee, Min-jeong Kim, Eun-Im Yun, Hyo-Jin Kim, Won-Yong Lee, Dong-Seob Tark, In- Soo Cho, Foreign Animal Disease Research Division, National Veterinary Research and Quarantine Service, Republic of Korea

 

Chronic wasting disease (CWD) has been recognized as an important prion disease in native North America deer and Rocky mountain elks. The disease is a unique member of the transmissible spongiform encephalopathies (TSEs), which naturally affects only a few species. CWD had been limited to USA and Canada until 2000.

 

On 28 December 2000, information from the Canadian government showed that a total of 95 elk had been exported from farms with CWD to Korea. These consisted of 23 elk in 1994 originating from the so-called “source farm” in Canada, and 72 elk in 1997, which had been held in pre export quarantine at the “source farm”.Based on export information of CWD suspected elk from Canada to Korea, CWD surveillance program was initiated by the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry (MAF) in 2001.

 

All elks imported in 1997 were traced back, however elks imported in 1994 were impossible to identify. CWD control measures included stamping out of all animals in the affected farm, and thorough cleaning and disinfection of the premises. In addition, nationwide clinical surveillance of Korean native cervids, and improved measures to ensure reporting of CWD suspect cases were implemented.

 

Total of 9 elks were found to be affected. CWD was designated as a notifiable disease under the Act for Prevention of Livestock Epidemics in 2002.

 

Additional CWD cases - 12 elks and 2 elks - were diagnosed in 2004 and 2005.

 

Since February of 2005, when slaughtered elks were found to be positive, all slaughtered cervid for human consumption at abattoirs were designated as target of the CWD surveillance program. Currently, CWD laboratory testing is only conducted by National Reference Laboratory on CWD, which is the Foreign Animal Disease Division (FADD) of National Veterinary Research and Quarantine Service (NVRQS).

 

In July 2010, one out of 3 elks from Farm 1 which were slaughtered for the human consumption was confirmed as positive. Consequently, all cervid – 54 elks, 41 Sika deer and 5 Albino deer – were culled and one elk was found to be positive. Epidemiological investigations were conducted by Veterinary Epidemiology Division (VED) of NVRQS in collaboration with provincial veterinary services.

 

Epidemiologically related farms were found as 3 farms and all cervid at these farms were culled and subjected to CWD diagnosis. Three elks and 5 crossbreeds (Red deer and Sika deer) were confirmed as positive at farm 2.

 

All cervids at Farm 3 and Farm 4 – 15 elks and 47 elks – were culled and confirmed as negative.

 

Further epidemiological investigations showed that these CWD outbreaks were linked to the importation of elks from Canada in 1994 based on circumstantial evidences.

 

In December 2010, one elk was confirmed as positive at Farm 5. Consequently, all cervid – 3 elks, 11 Manchurian Sika deer and 20 Sika deer – were culled and one Manchurian Sika deer and seven Sika deer were found to be positive. This is the first report of CWD in these sub-species of deer. Epidemiological investigations found that the owner of the Farm 2 in CWD outbreaks in July 2010 had co-owned the Farm 5.

 

In addition, it was newly revealed that one positive elk was introduced from Farm 6 of Jinju-si Gyeongsang Namdo. All cervid – 19 elks, 15 crossbreed (species unknown) and 64 Sika deer – of Farm 6 were culled, but all confirmed as negative.

 

: Corresponding author: Dr. Hyun-Joo Sohn (+82-31-467-1867, E-mail: shonhj@korea.kr) 2011 Pre-congress Workshop: TSEs in animals and their environment 5

 


 


 

***raising the possibility that deer may be susceptible to multiple scrapie strains. ***

 

Saturday, August 02, 2014

 

Structural effects of PrP polymorphisms on intra- and inter-species prion transmission

 

*** Finally, our findings showing that Tg(DeerPrP), but not Tg(ElkPrP) are sensitive to infection with SSBP/1 belie previously published results showing that SSBP/1 of the same provenance caused disease in two lines of Tg mice expressing elk PrP (13). However, our results appear to be consistent with the reported susceptibilities of elk and deer to sheep prions. In previous studies, of six elk inoculated with scrapie, three presented with neurological signs and neuropathology, but only after long and variable times to disease onset ranging from 25 to 46 months (29). In contrast, our results with SSBP/1 demonstrate relatively facile transmission of scrapie to deer, with all inoculated animals developing within 19 to 20 months, which is in accordance with susceptibility of deer to a US scrapie isolate with a similar time to disease onset (24). Polymorphisms ovine PrP add a further level of complexity, since they control the propagation scrapie strains. Occupancy of residue 136 by A or V is of particular importance. Our previous results indicated that SSBP/1 is comprised of a dominant strain that is preferentially propagated by sheep PrP encoding V at 136 (12). In contrast, the scrapie prions used in the deer transmission studies of Greenlee and colleagues were isolated from a sheep encoding A136, ***raising the possibility that deer may be susceptible to multiple scrapie strains. ***

 

Significance

 

The unpredictable recurrences of prion epidemics, their incurable lethality, and the capacity of animal prions to infect humans, provide significant motivation to ascertain the parameters governing disease transmission. The unprecedented spread, and uncertain zoonotic potential of chronic wasting disease (CWD), a contagious epidemic among deer, elk, and other cervids, is of particular concern. Here we demonstrate that naturally occurring primary structural differences in cervid PrPs differentially impact the efficiency of intra- and interspecies prion transmission. Our results not only deliver new information about the role of primary structural variation on prion susceptibility, but also provide functional support to a mechanism in which plasticity of a tertiary structural epitope governs prion protein conversion and intra- and inter-species susceptibility to prions.-

 

snip...

 

Saturday, August 02, 2014

 

Structural effects of PrP polymorphisms on intra- and inter-species prion transmission

 


 

never say never as far as cwd transmission to humans, and second hand friendly fire there from i.e. iatrogenic. see ;

 

as I said, what if ?

 

*** our results raise the possibility that CJD cases classified as VV1 may include cases caused by iatrogenic transmission of sCJD-MM1 prions or food-borne infection by type 1 prions from animals, e.g., chronic wasting disease prions in cervid. In fact, two CJD-VV1 patients who hunted deer or consumed venison have been reported (40, 41). The results of the present study emphasize the need for traceback studies and careful re-examination of the biochemical properties of sCJD-VV1 prions. ***

 


 

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

 

Thursday, January 2, 2014

 

*** CWD TSE Prion in cervids to hTGmice, Heidenhain Variant Creutzfeldt-Jacob Disease MM1 genotype, and iatrogenic CJD ??? ***

 

WHAT IF ?

 


 

Saturday, April 19, 2014

 

Exploring the zoonotic potential of animal prion diseases: In vivo and in vitro approaches

 


 

*** PPo3-7: Prion Transmission from Cervids to Humans is Strain-dependent

 

*** Here we report that a human prion strain that had adopted the cervid prion protein (PrP) sequence through passage in cervidized transgenic mice efficiently infected transgenic mice expressing human PrP,

 

*** indicating that the species barrier from cervid to humans is prion strain-dependent and humans can be vulnerable to novel cervid prion strains.

 

PPo2-27:

 

Generation of a Novel form of Human PrPSc by Inter-species Transmission of Cervid Prions

 

*** Our findings suggest that CWD prions have the capability to infect humans, and that this ability depends on CWD strain adaptation, implying that the risk for human health progressively increases with the spread of CWD among cervids.

 

PPo2-7:

 

Biochemical and Biophysical Characterization of Different CWD Isolates

 

*** The data presented here substantiate and expand previous reports on the existence of different CWD strains.

 


 

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.

 


 

>>>CHRONIC WASTING DISEASE , THERE WAS NO ABSOLUTE BARRIER TO CONVERSION OF THE HUMAN PRION PROTEIN<<<

 

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

 

Transmissible Spongiform Encephalopathy TSE PRION update January 2, 2014

 

Wednesday, January 01, 2014

 

Molecular Barriers to Zoonotic Transmission of Prions

 

*** 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.

 


 


 

PRION2013 CONGRESSIONAL ABSTRACTS CWD

 

Sunday, August 25, 2013

 

HD.13: CWD infection in the spleen of humanized transgenic mice

 

***These results indicate that the CWD prion may have the potential to infect human peripheral lymphoid tissues.

 

Oral.15: Molecular barriers to zoonotic prion transmission: Comparison of the ability of sheep, cattle and deer prion disease isolates to convert normal human prion protein to its pathological isoform in a cell-free system ***However, they also show that there is no absolute barrier ro conversion of human prion protein in the case of chronic wasting disease.

 

PRION2013 CONGRESSIONAL ABSTRACTS CWD

 

Sunday, August 25, 2013

 

***Chronic Wasting Disease CWD risk factors, humans, domestic cats, blood, and mother to offspring transmission

 


 

>>> There is no evidence that humans or livestock can get the disease, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

 

hang on now, what do you call this ;

 

> First transmission of CWD to transgenic mice over-expressing bovine prion protein gene (TgSB3985)

 

PRION 2014 - PRIONS: EPIGENETICS and NEURODEGENERATIVE DISEASES – Shaping up the future of prion research

 

Animal TSE Workshop 10.40 – 11.05 Talk Dr. L. Cervenakova First transmission of CWD to transgenic mice over-expressing bovine prion protein gene (TgSB3985)

 


 

FORGOT TO ADD THIS ONE...

 

P.126: Successful transmission of chronic wasting disease (CWD) into mice over-expressing bovine prion protein (TgSB3985)

 

Larisa Cervenakova,1 Christina J Sigurdson,2 Pedro Piccardo,3 Oksana Yakovleva,1 Irina Vasilyeva,1 Jorge de Castro,1 Paula Saá,1 and Anton Cervenak1 1American Red Cross, Holland Laboratory; Rockville, MD USA; 2University of California; San Diego, CA USA; 3Lab TSE/OBRR /CBER/FDA; Rockville, MD USA

 

Keywords: chronic wasting disease, transmission, transgenic mouse, bovine prion protein

 

Background. CWD is a disease affecting wild and farmraised cervids in North America. Epidemiological studies provide no evidence of CWD transmission to humans. Multiple attempts have failed to infect transgenic mice expressing human PRNP gene with CWD. The extremely low efficiency of PrPCWD to convert normal human PrPC in vitro provides additional evidence that transmission of CWD to humans cannot be easily achieved. However, a concern about the risk of CWD transmission to humans still exists. This study aimed to establish and characterize an experimental model of CWD in TgSB3985 mice with the following attempt of transmission to TgHu mice.

 

Materials and Methods. TgSB3985 mice and wild-type FVB/ NCrl mice were intracranially injected with 1% brain homogenate from a CWD-infected Tga20 mouse (CWD/Tga20). TgSB3985 and TgRM (over-expressing human PrP) were similarly injected with 5% brain homogenates from CWD-infected white-tailed deer (CWD/WTD) or elk (CWD/Elk). Animals were observed for clinical signs of neurological disease and were euthanized when moribund. Brains and spleens were removed from all mice for PrPCWD detection by Western blotting (WB). A histological analysis of brains from selected animals was performed: brains were scored for the severity of spongiform change, astrogliosis, and PrPCWD deposition in ten brain regions.

 

Results. Clinical presentation was consistent with TSE. More than 90% of TgSB3985 and wild-type mice infected with CWD/Tga20, tested positive for PrPres in the brain but only mice in the latter group carried PrPCWD in their spleens. We found evidence for co-existence or divergence of two CWD/ Tga20 strains based on biochemical and histological profiles. In TgSB3985 mice infected with CWD-elk or CWD-WTD, no animals tested positive for PrPCWD in the brain or in the spleen by WB. However, on neuropathological examination we found presence of amyloid plaques that stained positive for PrPCWD in three CWD/WTD- and two CWD/Elk-infected TgSB3985 mice. The neuropathologic profiles in CWD/WTD- and CWD/Elkinfected mice were similar but unique as compared to profiles of BSE, BSE-H or CWD/Tg20 agents propagated in TgSB3985 mice. None of CWD-infected TgRM mice tested positive for PrPCWD by WB or by immunohistochemical detection.

 

Conclusions. To our knowledge, this is the first established experimental model of CWD in TgSB3985. We found evidence for co-existence or divergence of two CWD strains adapted to Tga20 mice and their replication in TgSB3985 mice. Finally, we observed phenotypic differences between cervid-derived CWD and CWD/Tg20 strains upon propagation in TgSB3985 mice. Further studies are underway to characterize these strains.

 

TSS

 

UPDATED CORRESPONDENCE FROM AUTHORS OF THIS STUDY I.E. COLBY, PRUSINER ET AL, ABOUT MY CONCERNS OF THE DISCREPANCY BETWEEN THEIR FIGURES AND MY FIGURES OF THE STUDIES ON CWD TRANSMISSION TO CATTLE ;

 

CWD to cattle figures CORRECTION

 

Greetings,

 

I believe the statement and quote below is incorrect ;

 

"CWD has been transmitted to cattle after intracerebral inoculation, although the infection rate was low (4 of 13 animals [Hamir et al. 2001]). This finding raised concerns that CWD prions might be transmitted to cattle grazing in contaminated pastures."

 

Please see ;

 

Within 26 months post inoculation, 12 inoculated animals had lost weight, revealed abnormal clinical signs, and were euthanatized. Laboratory tests revealed the presence of a unique pattern of the disease agent in tissues of these animals. These findings demonstrate that when CWD is directly inoculated into the brain of cattle, 86% of inoculated cattle develop clinical signs of the disease.

 


 

" although the infection rate was low (4 of 13 animals [Hamir et al. 2001]). "

 

shouldn't this be corrected, 86% is NOT a low rate. ...

 

kindest regards,

 

Terry S. Singeltary Sr. P.O. Box 42 Bacliff, Texas USA 77518

 

Thank you!

 

Thanks so much for your updates/comments. We intend to publish as rapidly as possible all updates/comments that contribute substantially to the topic under discussion.

 


 

re-Prions David W. Colby1,* and Stanley B. Prusiner1,2 + Author Affiliations

 

1Institute for Neurodegenerative Diseases, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, California 94143 2Department of Neurology, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, California 94143 Correspondence: stanley@ind.ucsf.edu

 


 

Mule deer, white-tailed deer, and elk have been reported to develop CWD. As the only prion disease identified in free-ranging animals, CWD appears to be far more communicable than other forms of prion disease. CWD was first described in 1967 and was reported to be a spongiform encephalopathy in 1978 on the basis of histopathology of the brain. Originally detected in the American West, CWD has spread across much of North America and has been reported also in South Korea. In captive populations, up to 90% of mule deer have been reported to be positive for prions (Williams and Young 1980). The incidence of CWD in cervids living in the wild has been estimated to be as high as 15% (Miller et al. 2000). The development of transgenic (Tg) mice expressing cervid PrP, and thus susceptible to CWD, has enhanced detection of CWD and the estimation of prion titers (Browning et al. 2004; Tamgüney et al. 2006). Shedding of prions in the feces, even in presymptomatic deer, has been identified as a likely source of infection for these grazing animals (Williams and Miller 2002; Tamgüney et al. 2009b). CWD has been transmitted to cattle after intracerebral inoculation, although the infection rate was low (4 of 13 animals [Hamir et al. 2001]). This finding raised concerns that CWD prions might be transmitted to cattle grazing in contaminated pastures.

 

snip...

 


 

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

 

From: David Colby To: flounder9@verizon.net

 

Cc: stanley@XXXXXXXX

 

Sent: Tuesday, March 01, 2011 8:25 AM

 

Subject: Re: FW: re-Prions David W. Colby1,* and Stanley B. Prusiner1,2 + Author Affiliations

 

Dear Terry Singeltary,

 

Thank you for your correspondence regarding the review article Stanley Prusiner and I recently wrote for Cold Spring Harbor Perspectives. Dr. Prusiner asked that I reply to your message due to his busy schedule. We agree that the transmission of CWD prions to beef livestock would be a troubling development and assessing that risk is important. In our article, we cite a peer-reviewed publication reporting confirmed cases of laboratory transmission based on stringent criteria. The less stringent criteria for transmission described in the abstract you refer to lead to the discrepancy between your numbers and ours and thus the interpretation of the transmission rate. We stand by our assessment of the literature--namely that the transmission rate of CWD to bovines appears relatively low, but we recognize that even a low transmission rate could have important implications for public health and we thank you for bringing attention to this matter. Warm Regards, David Colby -- David Colby, PhDAssistant Professor Department of Chemical Engineering University of Delaware

 

===========END...TSS==============

 

SNIP...SEE FULL TEXT ;

 


 

UPDATED DATA ON 2ND CWD STRAIN Wednesday, September 08, 2010 CWD PRION CONGRESS SEPTEMBER 8-11 2010

 


 

Sunday, August 19, 2012

 

Susceptibility of cattle to the agent of chronic wasting disease from elk after intracranial inoculation 2012

 

Research Project: TRANSMISSION, DIFFERENTIATION, AND PATHOBIOLOGY OF TRANSMISSIBLE SPONGIFORM ENCEPHALOPATHIES Location: Virus and Prion Research Unit

 


 

Thursday, November 21, 2013

 

*** Assessing the susceptibility of transgenic mice over-expressing deer prion protein to bovine spongiform encephalopathy

 

The present study was designed to assess the susceptibility of the prototypic mouse line, Tg(CerPrP)1536+/- to bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) prions, which have the ability to overcome species barriers. Tg(CerPrP)1536+/- mice challenged with red deer-adapted BSE resulted in a 90-100% attack rates, BSE from cattle failed to transmit, indicating agent adaptation in the deer.

 


 

*** 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.

 


 

 *** 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.

 

 Friday, December 14, 2012

 

 DEFRA U.K. What is the risk of Chronic Wasting Disease CWD being introduced into Great Britain? A Qualitative Risk Assessment October 2012

 

 snip...

 

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

 

 Animals considered at high risk for CWD include:

 

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

 

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

 

 Therefore, in the USA, materials from cervids other than CWD positive animals may be used in animal feed and feed ingredients for non-ruminants.

 

 The amount of animal PAP that is of deer and/or elk origin imported from the USA to GB can not be determined, however, as it is not specified in TRACES. It may constitute a small percentage of the 8412 kilos of non-fish origin processed animal proteins that were imported from US into GB in 2011.

 

 Overall, therefore, it is considered there is a __greater than negligible risk___ that (nonruminant) animal feed and pet food containing deer and/or elk protein is imported into GB.

 

 There is uncertainty associated with this estimate given the lack of data on the amount of deer and/or elk protein possibly being imported in these products.

 

 snip...

 

 36% in 2007 (Almberg et al., 2011). In such areas, population declines of deer of up to 30 to 50% have been observed (Almberg et al., 2011). In areas of Colorado, the prevalence can be as high as 30% (EFSA, 2011).

 

 The clinical signs of CWD in affected adults are weight loss and behavioural changes that can span weeks or months (Williams, 2005). In addition, signs might include excessive salivation, behavioural alterations including a fixed stare and changes in interaction with other animals in the herd, and an altered stance (Williams, 2005). These signs are indistinguishable from cervids experimentally infected with bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE).

 

 Given this, if CWD was to be introduced into countries with BSE such as GB, for example, infected deer populations would need to be tested to differentiate if they were infected with CWD or BSE to minimise the risk of BSE entering the human food-chain via affected venison.

 

 snip...

 

 The rate of transmission of CWD has been reported to be as high as 30% and can approach 100% among captive animals in endemic areas (Safar et al., 2008).

 

 snip...

 

 In summary, in endemic areas, there is a medium probability that the soil and surrounding environment is contaminated with CWD prions and in a bioavailable form. In rural areas where CWD has not been reported and deer are present, there is a greater than negligible risk the soil is contaminated with CWD prion.

 

 snip...

 

 In summary, given the volume of tourists, hunters and servicemen moving between GB and North America, the probability of at least one person travelling to/from a CWD affected area and, in doing so, contaminating their clothing, footwear and/or equipment prior to arriving in GB is greater than negligible. For deer hunters, specifically, the risk is likely to be greater given the increased contact with deer and their environment. However, there is significant uncertainty associated with these estimates.

 

 snip...

 

 Therefore, it is considered that farmed and park deer may have a higher probability of exposure to CWD transferred to the environment than wild deer given the restricted habitat range and higher frequency of contact with tourists and returning GB residents.

 

 snip...

 


 

Friday, December 14, 2012

 

DEFRA U.K. What is the risk of Chronic Wasting Disease CWD being introduced into Great Britain? A Qualitative Risk Assessment October 2012

 


 

NEW URL LINK ;

 


 

 8420-20.5% Antler Developer For Deer and Game in the wild Guaranteed Analysis Ingredients / Products Feeding Directions snip...

 

 _animal protein_

 


 

Saturday, October 18, 2014

 

Chronic wasting disease threatens Canadian agriculture, Alberta MLA says

 


 

Thursday, October 23, 2014

 

*** FIRST CASE OF CHRONIC WASTING DISEASE CONFIRMED IN OHIO ON PRIVATE PRESERVE

 


 

Tuesday, October 21, 2014

 

*** Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture Tenth Pennsylvania Captive Deer Tests Positive for Chronic Wasting Disease CWD TSE PRION DISEASE

 


 

Tuesday, October 07, 2014

 

*** Wisconsin white-tailed deer tested positive for CWD on a Richland County breeding farm, and a case of CWD has been discovered on a Marathon County hunting preserve

 


 

Thursday, October 02, 2014

 

*** IOWA TEST RESULTS FROM CAPTIVE DEER HERD WITH CHRONIC WASTING DISEASE RELEASED 79.8 percent of the deer tested positive for the disease

 


 

Thursday, July 03, 2014

 

*** How Chronic Wasting Disease is affecting deer population and what’s the risk to humans and pets?

 


 

Tuesday, July 01, 2014

 

*** CHRONIC WASTING DISEASE CWD TSE PRION DISEASE, GAME FARMS, AND POTENTIAL RISK FACTORS THERE FROM

 


 

Saturday, October 25, 2014

 

118th USAHA Annual Meeting CWD and Captive Cerivds

 


 

Sunday, July 07, 2013

 

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

 

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

 


 

Wednesday, October 17, 2012

 

Prion Remains Infectious after Passage through Digestive System of American Crows (Corvus brachyrhynchos)

 


 


 


 

BOVINE SPONGIFORM ENCEPHALOPATHY BSE TSE PRION AKA MAD COW DISEASE

 

Thursday, May 30, 2013

 

World Organization for Animal Health (OIE) has upgraded the United States' risk classification for mad cow disease to "negligible" from "controlled", and risk further exposing the globe to the TSE prion mad cow type disease

 

U.S. gets top mad-cow rating from international group and risk further exposing the globe to the TSE prion mad cow type disease

 


 


 

Tuesday, July 2, 2013

 

APHIS USDA Administrator Message to Stakeholders: Agency Vision and Goals Eliminating ALL remaining BSE barriers to export market

 


 

Monday, June 18, 2012

 

R-CALF Submits Incomplete Comments Under Protest in Bizarre Rulemaking “Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy; Importation of Bovines and Bovine Products”

 


 

Tuesday, July 17, 2012

 

O.I.E. BSE, CWD, SCRAPIE, TSE PRION DISEASE Final Report of the 80th General Session, 20 - 25 May 2012

 


 

Thursday, December 20, 2012

 

OIE GROUP RECOMMENDS THAT SCRAPE PRION DISEASE BE DELISTED AND SAME OLD BSe WITH BOVINE MAD COW DISEASE

 


 

Monday, November 30, 2009

 

*** USDA AND OIE COLLABORATE TO EXCLUDE ATYPICAL SCRAPIE NOR-98 ANIMAL HEALTH CODE, DOES NOT SURPRISE ME $

 


 

Saturday, July 6, 2013

 

*** Small Ruminant Nor98 Prions Share Biochemical Features with Human Gerstmann-Sträussler-Scheinker Disease and Variably Protease-Sensitive Prionopathy

 

Research Article

 


 

 

Tuesday, December 2, 2014

 

*** UK EXPORTS OF MBM TO WORLD Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy BSE TSE Prion aka Mad Cow Disease

 

*** USA, NORTH AMERICA, MBM (or any potential TSE prion disease) EXPORTS TO THE WORLD (?) [protected by the BSE MRR policy] $$$

 


 

 

Monday, December 1, 2014

 

*** Germany Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy BSE CJD TSE Prion disease A Review December 1, 2014

 


 

Friday, November 28, 2014

 

*** BOVINE SPONGIFORM ENCEPHALOPATHY BSE AKA MAD COW DISEASE PORTUGAL CONFIRMED

 




Sunday, October 5, 2014

 

France stops BSE testing for Mad Cow Disease

 


 

Monday, May 5, 2014

 

Brazil BSE Mad Cow disease confirmed OIE 02/05/2014

 

 
 

Thursday, February 14, 2013

 

Unique Properties of the Classical Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy Strain and Its Emergence From H-Type Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy Substantiated by VM Transmission Studies

 


 

Saturday, December 15, 2012

 

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

 


 

Saturday, August 14, 2010

 

***BSE Case Associated with Prion Protein Gene Mutation (g-h-BSEalabama) and VPSPr PRIONPATHY

 

*** (see mad cow feed in COMMERCE IN ALABAMA...TSS)

 


 

However, a BSE expert said that consumption of infected material is the only known way that cattle get the disease under natural conditons.

 

***“In view of what we know about BSE after almost 20 years experience, contaminated feed has been the source of the epidemic,” said Paul Brown, a scientist retired from the National Institute of Neurological Diseases and Stroke.

 

BSE is not caused by a microbe. It is caused by the misfolding of the so-called “prion protein” that is a normal constituent of brain and other tissues. If a diseased version of the protein enters the brain somehow, it can slowly cause all the normal versions to become misfolded. It is possible the disease could arise spontaneously, though such an event has never been recorded, Brown said.

 


 

*** What irks many scientists is the USDA’s April 25 statement that the rare disease is “not generally associated with an animal consuming infected feed.”

 

The USDA’s conclusion is a “gross oversimplification,” said Dr. Paul Brown, one of the world’s experts on this type of disease who retired recently from the National Institutes of Health. "(The agency) has no foundation on which to base that statement.”

 


 

Wednesday, February 12, 2014

 

*** USDA/APHIS NOTICE: Final Rule Regarding Imports and BSE Effective March 4, 2014

 


 

Thursday, February 20, 2014

 

Unnecessary precautions BSE MAD COW DISEASE Dr. William James FSIS VS Dr. Linda Detwiler 2014

 


 

I ask Professor Kong ; Thursday, December 04, 2008 3:37 PM

 

Subject: RE: re--Chronic Wating Disease (CWD) and Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathies (BSE): Public Health Risk Assessment ''IS the h-BSE more virulent than typical BSE as well, or the same as cBSE, or less virulent than cBSE? just curious.....'' Professor Kong reply ;

 

.....snip

 

''As to the H-BSE, we do not have sufficient data to say one way or another, but we have found that H-BSE can infect humans. I hope we could publish these data once the study is complete. Thanks for your interest.''

 

Best regards, Qingzhong Kong, PhD Associate Professor Department of Pathology Case Western Reserve University Cleveland, OH 44106 USA END...TSS

 

Thursday, December 04, 2008 2:37 PM

 

"we have found that H-BSE can infect humans."

 

personal communication with Professor Kong. ...TSS

 

BSE-H is also transmissible in our humanized Tg mice. The possibility of more than two atypical BSE strains will be discussed.

 

Supported by NINDS NS052319, NIA AG14359, and NIH AI 77774.

 


 


 

please see below from PRION2013 ;

 

*** This study imply the possibility that the novel BSE prions with high virulence in cattle will be emerged during intraspecies transmission.

 

AD.56: The emergence of novel BSE prions by serial passages of H-type BSE in bovinized mice

 

Kentaro Masujin, Naoko Tabeta, Ritsuko Miwa, Kohtaro Miyazawa, Hiroyuki Okada, Shirou Mohri and Takashi Yokoyama National Institute of Animal Health; Tsukuba, Japan

 

H-type bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) is an atypical form of BSE, and has been detected in several European countries, and North America. Transmission studies of H-type BSE led to the emergence of the classical BSE (C-BSE) phenotypes during passages in inbred wild type and bovinized PrP-overexpressing transgenic mice. In this study, we conducted serial passages of Canadian H-type BSE isolate in bovinized PrP-overexpressing transgenic mice (TgBoPrP). H-type BSE isolate was transmitted to TgBoPrP with incubation periods of 320 ± 12.2 d at primary passage. The incubation period of 2nd and 3rd passage were constant (~= 220 d), no clear differences were observed in their biological and biochemical properties. However, at the forth passage, 2 different BSE phenotypes were confirmed; one is shorter survival times (109 ± 4 d) and the other is longer survival times. TgBoPrP mice with longer incubation period showed the H-type phenotype of PrPsc profile and pathology. However, those of shorter incubation period were different phenotypes from previously existed BSE prions (C-BSE, L-type BSE, and H-type BSE).

 

*** This study imply the possibility that the novel BSE prions with high virulence in cattle will be emerged during intraspecies transmission.

 


 

www.landesbioscience.com

 

please see ;

 

Thursday, August 15, 2013

 

The emergence of novel BSE prions by serial passages of H-type BSE in bovinized mice

 


 

Sunday, September 1, 2013

 

*** Evaluation of the Zoonotic Potential of Transmissible Mink Encephalopathy

 

We previously described the biochemical similarities between PrPres derived from L-BSE infected macaque and cortical MM2 sporadic CJD: those observations suggest a link between these two uncommon prion phenotypes in a primate model (it is to note that such a link has not been observed in other models less relevant from the human situation as hamsters or transgenic mice overexpressing ovine PrP [28]). We speculate that a group of related animal prion strains (L-BSE, c-BSE and TME) would have a zoonotic potential and lead to prion diseases in humans with a type 2 PrPres molecular signature (and more specifically type 2B for vCJD)

 

snip...

 

Together with previous experiments performed in ovinized and bovinized transgenic mice and hamsters [8,9] indicating similarities between TME and L-BSE, the data support the hypothesis that L-BSE could be the origin of the TME outbreaks in North America and Europe during the mid-1900s.

 


 

Sunday, December 15, 2013

 

*** FDA PART 589 -- SUBSTANCES PROHIBITED FROM USE IN ANIMAL FOOD OR FEED VIOLATIONS OFFICIAL ACTION INDICATED OAI UPDATE DECEMBER 2013 UPDATE ***

 


 

Saturday, August 4, 2012

 

*** Final Feed Investigation Summary – California L-type BASE BSE Case - July 2012

 


 

SUMMARY REPORT CALIFORNIA BOVINE SPONGIFORM ENCEPHALOPATHY CASE INVESTIGATION JULY 2012

 

Summary Report BSE 2012

 

Executive Summary

 


 

MAD COW USDA ATYPICAL L-TYPE BASE BSE, the rest of the story...

 

***Oral Transmission of L-type Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy in Primate Model

 


 

***Infectivity in skeletal muscle of BASE-infected cattle

 


 

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

 


 

***Also, a link is suspected between atypical BSE and some apparently sporadic cases of Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease in humans.

 


 

The present study demonstrated successful intraspecies transmission of H-type BSE to cattle and the distribution and immunolabeling patterns of PrPSc in the brain of the H-type BSE-challenged cattle. TSE agent virulence can be minimally defined by oral transmission of different TSE agents (C-type, L-type, and H-type BSE agents) [59]. Oral transmission studies with H-type BSEinfected cattle have been initiated and are underway to provide information regarding the extent of similarity in the immunohistochemical and molecular features before and after transmission.

 

In addition, the present data will support risk assessments in some peripheral tissues derived from cattle affected with H-type BSE.

 


 

in the url that follows, I have posted

 

SRM breaches first, as late as 2011.

 

then

 

MAD COW FEED BAN BREACHES AND TONNAGES OF MAD COW FEED IN COMMERCE up until 2007, when they ceased posting them.

 

then,

 

MAD COW SURVEILLANCE BREACHES.

 

Friday, May 18, 2012

 

Update from APHIS Regarding a Detection of Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE) in the United States Friday May 18, 2012

 


 

SUMMARY REPORT CALIFORNIA BOVINE SPONGIFORM ENCEPHALOPATHY CASE INVESTIGATION JULY 2012

 

Summary Report BSE 2012

 

Executive Summary

 


 

Saturday, August 4, 2012

 

Update from APHIS Regarding Release of the Final Report on the BSE Epidemiological Investigation

 


 

Wednesday, May 30, 2012

 

PO-028: Oral transmission of L-type bovine spongiform encephalopathy (L-BSE) in primate model Microcebus murinus

 


 

Sunday, November 13, 2011 California BSE mad cow beef recall, QFC, CJD, and dead stock downer livestock

 

QFC sued over mad cow case Grocer negligently exposed them to beef, family claims

 

Friday, March 5, 2004

 


 

2004

 

highly suspect stumbling and staggering mad cow reported, however, NO TESTING DONE, ON ORDERS FROM AUSTIN $

 

May 4, 2004

 

Statement on Texas Cow With Central Nervous System Symptoms

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

Cattle with central nervous system symptoms are of particular interest because cattle with bovine spongiform encephalopathy or BSE, also known as "mad cow disease," can exhibit such symptoms. In this case, there is no way now to test for BSE. But even if the cow had BSE, FDA's animal feed rule would prohibit the feeding of its rendered protein to other ruminant animals (e.g., cows, goats, sheep, bison)...

 


 

USDA regulations, any cow that exhibits signs of central nervous system (CNS)

 

According to a 1997 Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (NHIS) Memorandum, brain samples all of such animals should be sent for BSE testing.2 The memorandum notes that "it is essential that brain specimens be collected from adult cattle condemned for CNS signs as part of our national surveillance of BSE."

 

The cow slaughtered at the Lone Star Beef slaughterhouse last week staggered and fell, and was condemned ante mortem by FSIS personnel.4 Despite a request from APHIS personnel at the plant to conduct BSE testing, however, an APHIS supervisor in Austin reportedly refused the test and instructed the plant to send the carcass for rendering.5

 

May 13,2004

 

Page 2

 

snip...

 

The cow slaughtered at the Lone Star Beef slaughterhouse last week staggered and fell, and was condemned ante mortem by FSIS personnel.4 Despite a request from APHIS personnel at the plant to conduct BSE testing, however, an APHIS supervisor in Austin reportedly refused the test and instructed the plant to send the carcass for rendering.5

 

This sequence of events is troubling, and it raises the question of whether this is an isolated incident. In 1997, USDA noted a major gap between the number of cattle condemned for CNS symptoms and the number of these cows actually tested for mad cow disease. The Department found:

 


 

May 13, 2004

 

Failure To Test Staggering Cow May Reflect Wider Problems Rep. Waxman raises concerns that the recent failure of USDA to test an impaired cow for BSE may not be an isolated incident, citing the failure of USDA to monitor whether cows condemned for central nervous system symptoms are actually tested for mad cow disease. - Letter to USDA

 

July 13, 2004 IG Audit Finds Multiple Flaws in Mad Cow Surveillance Plan Rep. Waxman raises questions about the effectiveness and credibility of USDA's response to mad cow disease, citing an audit by the USDA Inspector General that finds systemic deficiencies in the Department's surveillance plan and new evidence that USDA misled the public in the wake of the detection of an infected cow in Washington State. - Letter to USDA

 


 

IG Draft Audit

 


 

SUPPRESSED peer review of Harvard study October 31, 2002

 


 

[Docket No. FSIS-2006-0011]

 

FSIS Harvard Risk Assessment of Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE)

 


 

Response to Public Comments on the Harvard Risk Assessment of Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy Update, October 31, 2005 INTRODUCTION The United States Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) held a public meeting on July 25, 2006 in Washington, D.C. to present findings from the Harvard Risk Assessment of Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy Update, October 31, 2005 (report and model located on the

 

FSIS website:

 


 

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

 

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

 

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

 


 

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

 

Sent: Monday, July 24, 2006 1:09 PM To: FSIS RegulationsComments

 

Subject: [Docket No. FSIS-2006-0011] FSIS Harvard Risk Assessment of Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE) Page 1 of 98 8/3/2006

 

Greetings FSIS, I would kindly like to comment on the following ;

 


 

Suppressed peer review of Harvard study October 31, 2002.

 

October 31, 2002 Review of the Evaluation of the Potential for Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy in the United States Conducted by the Harvard Center for Risk Analysis, Harvard School of Public Health and Center for Computational Epidemiology, College of Veterinary Medicine, Tuskegee University Final Report Prepared for U.S. Department of Agriculture Food Safety and Inspection Service Office of Public Health and Science Prepared by RTI Health, Social, and Economics Research Research Triangle Park, NC 27709 RTI Project Number 07182.024

 


 

Sunday, February 14, 2010

 

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

 


 

Thursday, April 9, 2009

 

Docket No. FDA2002N0031 (formerly Docket No. 2002N0273) RIN 0910AF46 Substances Prohibited From Use in Animal Food or Feed; Final Rule: Proposed Thursday, April 09, 2009

 

Docket No. FDA2002N0031 (formerly Docket No. 2002N0273) RIN 0910AF46 Substances Prohibited From Use in Animal Food or Feed; Final Rule: Proposed

 

mailto:burt.pritchett@fda.hhs.gov

 

Greetings FDA et al,

 

I kindly wish to comment on the following ;

 

[Docket No. FDA-2002-N-0031] (formerly Docket No. 2002N-0273) RIN 0910-AF46

 

[Federal Register: April 9, 2009 (Volume 74, Number 67)] [Proposed Rules] [Page 16160-16161] From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov] [DOCID:fr09ap09-18]

 


 

Tuesday, September 14, 2010

 

Transmissible Spongiform Encephalopathies Advisory Committee; Notice of Meeting October 28 and 29, 2010 (COMMENT SUBMISSION)

 


 

FULL TEXT OF GOA REPORT BELOW (takes a while to load)

 

2. Mad Cow Disease: Improvements in the Animal Feed Ban and Other Regulatory Areas Would Strengthen U.S. Prevention Efforts. GAO-02-183, January 25.

 


 

January 2002

 

MAD COW DISEASE Improvements in the Animal Feed Ban and Other Regulatory Areas Would Strengthen U.S. Prevention Efforts

 

snip...

 

As you also requested, we considered, to the extent feasible, a study by the Harvard Center for Risk Analysis and sponsored by USDA to examine the potential for BSE in the United States.2 That study, issued in November 2001, concluded that BSE is extremely unlikely to become established in the United States and that, if introduced here, it would be eliminated within 20 years.3 The authors acknowledged that those conclusions, which were based on a probabilistic simulation model developed for the study, could be influenced by a number of model assumptions that could not be verified with confidence—including assumptions about U.S. measures to prevent the introduction and spread of BSE.

 

snip...

 

TSS COMMENTS;

 

IN OTHER WORDS, in was meaningless, just words on paper, rules and regulations that were not complied with, much less enforced. as i so kindly said, a farce. how many reports from peer reviewed experts do we need to say that the USA BSE/TSE program is failing, has failed, and will fail in the future, how many do we have to have before someone does something, and i don't mean stand up there in front of God and the world and lie, i don't mean that, i mean when is something going to be done...TSS

 

snip...

 

GAO Comments

 

The following are GAO’s comments on the Department of Health and Human Services’ letter dated January 9, 2002.

 

1. Our report acknowledged FDA’s ongoing review but also notes that FDA has not set a date to announce a decision on the exemptions. The report also recognizes that recent research suggests the possibility of “silent” incubation in species not previously thought susceptible to TSEs. This research argues against waiting until BSE is found to strengthen measures shown to prevent the spread of the disease. As FDA notes, other countries strengthened their feed bans due to concerns about commingling prohibited and non-prohibited proteins. Such commingling is a common area of noncompliance in the United States.

 

2. As FDA points out, its June 22, 2001, transmittal of compliance information to the Chairman of the House Committee on Energy and Commerce “made an effort to identify the fact that there were reporting problems, including incomplete data, i.e., blanks.” However, we do not believe that this caveat conveyed the extent to which the information could be inaccurate. In fact, noncompliance could be much higher than FDA reported, because FDA treated all firms with blanks on compliance questions as if they were in compliance. We found that over 700 inspection records for firms that handled prohibited proteins had blanks on compliance questions. In its response to the Chairman, FDA did not disclose that some of those records contained inspector comments stating that the firms were not in compliance. Nor did FDA disclose that, at the time it responded to the Chairman, it was aware of the need for “significant improvements in its data collection system for enforcing the feed ban.” As a result, we believe the data were misleading.

 

3. We believe that the nature and severity of the problems we found in FDA’s management, oversight, and enforcement of the feed ban point to insufficient attention by FDA management. Moreover, the fact that FDA gave all headquarters responsibility to one individual—as an addon to that individual’s other duties—is further evidence of the relatively low priority FDA gave to its regulatory responsibility.

 

4. Although FDA’s field inspectors and state inspectors carried out the inspections, FDA headquarters tracked overall compliance with the feed ban and brought together data on FDA field and state compliance inspections. In meetings with FDA officials, we were repeatedly told Page 52 GAO-02-183 Mad Cow Disease Appendix II: Comments from the Department of Health and Human Services that a single person had designed the program and the database to monitor inspections and, until January 2001, made all enforcement decisions. While administrative and other support may have been available for this person, the overall design and direction of feed ban implementation rested with this individual. Moreover, because FDA had no other information system, the database that individual developed was FDA’s only mechanism to monitor the program and track feed ban compliance.

 

5. Although FDA cites a number of high-level interagency policy and technical initiatives aimed at ensuring that BSE-risk products do not enter the United States, our recommendation is grounded in problems we found at the operational level. First, the high error rates in importer-provided information found by Customs are unacceptable. Second, the ever-increasing volume of imported shipments strains inspection resources at both USDA and FDA. Third, we observed or were told by federal field personnel about problems affecting USDA and FDA staff responsible for reviewing import documentation and conducting inspections of shipments. FDA staff told us that they need integrated information technologies, dedicated inspection facilities, and additional staff to effectively address their workload.

 

6. We do not agree that FDA has made extensive progress implementing our recommendation, based on the fact that it periodically meets with states on BSE-related issues and has increased the number of states under contracts to conduct inspections. With regard to its progress in identifying the universe of firms subject to the ban, our work shows that FDA’s efforts have not been successful. In reports, FDA states that the number of on-farm feed mills, feed blenders, and feed haulers is still unknown. FDA also asserts that the feed industry has undergone extensive consolidation, but it has not reconciled the number of firms inspected with industry or state estimates. Although FDA asserts it has incorporated into state contracts a requirement to identify firms subject to the ban, the contracts we reviewed did not include such provisions. Moreover, as recently as May 2001, we found that FDA was adding to its database information on inspections conducted in 1998 by states under contract.

 

7. FDA agrees on the need for a comprehensive strategy for BSE but points out that it began an enforcement strategy in 1998. However, our review shows that the strategy did not contain criteria and timeframes for specific enforcement actions against firms that fail to comply with the feed ban, as our recommendation envisions. FDA’s contention that Page 53 GAO-02-183 Mad Cow Disease Appendix II: Comments from the Department of Health and Human Services its initial approach was to educate firms does not explain its failure to take action against firms found out of compliance on repeated inspections. Now that the feed ban has been in effect for more than 4 years, FDA points out that inspections have resulted in more than 200 recalls. However, those recalls consist of actions taken by 22 firms, one of which accounted for about 150 recalls. By FDA’s own estimates, more than 300 firms are out of compliance.

 

8. Regardless of variations in state laws, FDA has instructed states to provide specific information on the feed ban inspections they conduct. We believe FDA should request these states to also include information on enforcement actions taken as a result of those feed ban inspections.

 

9. While we agree that FDA has initiated efforts to increase the integrity and usefulness of the BSE inspection data, it has not taken the steps necessary to ensure that the inspection data are accurate and complete and recorded in a timely manner. For example, neither the steps listed in FDA’s letter nor the terms of the contracts we reviewed include periodic assessment of error rates or controls to help ensure data entered are complete and accurate. Moreover, FDA’s response does not address how the data on past BSE inspections will be merged with the Field Accomplishment Compliance Tracking System. Many of the firms have never before been subject to FDA oversight and would not have such control numbers to effectively merge the old and new data. Also, FDA has not included steps to capture timeliness of inspections, enforcement actions, and follow up, especially for past inspections. Page 54 GAO-02-183 Mad Cow Disease

 


 

2005

 

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

 

Subject: re-USDA's surveillance plan for BSE aka mad cow disease

 

Date: Mon, 02 May 2005 16:59:07 -0500

 

From: "Terry S. Singeltary Sr."

 

To: paffairs@oig.hhs.gov, HHSTips@oig.hhs.gov, contactOIG@hhsc.state.tx.us

 

Greetings Honorable Paul Feeney, Keith Arnold, and William Busbyet al at OIG, ...............

 

snip...

 

There will be several more emails of my research to follow. I respectfully request a full inquiry into the cover-up of TSEs in the United States of America over the past 30 years. I would be happy to testify...

 

Thank you, I am sincerely, Terry S. Singeltary Sr. P.O. Box 42 Bacliff, Texas USA 77518 xxx xxx xxxx

 

Date: June 14, 2005 at 1:46 pm PST In

 

Reply to: Re: Transcript Ag. Secretary Mike Johanns and Dr. John Clifford, Regarding further analysis of BSE Inconclusive Test Results posted by TSS on June 13, 2005 at 7:33 pm:

 

Secretary of Agriculture Ann M. Veneman resigns Nov 15 2004, three days later inclusive Mad Cow is announced. June 7th 2005 Bill Hawks Under Secretary for Marketing and Regulatory Programs resigns. Three days later same mad cow found in November turns out to be positive. Both resignation are unexpected. just pondering... TSS

 

*** HISTORY MAD COW IN TEXAS NOVEMBER 2004 ***

 

TIME FRAME FOR BSE CONFIRMATION SHOULD BE 48 HOUR TURNAROUND. THIS CASE WAS COVERED UP FOR 7 MONTHS, ONLY CONFIRMED AFTER MY LETTER AND OTHERS TO OFFICIALS ASKING FOR A RETEST, IN WHICH A CONFIRMATION WAS CONFIRMED MAD COW BSE. ...TSS

 

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

 

Director, Public Information Carla Everett ceverett@tahc.state.tx.us

 

Subject: Re: BSE 'INCONCLUSIVE' COW from TEXAS ???

 

Date: Mon, 22 Nov 2004 17:12:15 –0600

 

From: "Terry S. Singeltary Sr."

 

To: Carla Everett References: <[log in to unmask]> <[log in to unmask] us>

 

Greetings Carla,still hear a rumor;

 

Texas single beef cow not born in Canada no beef entered the food chain?

 

and i see the TEXAS department of animal health is ramping up forsomething, but they forgot a url for update?I HAVE NO ACTUAL CONFIRMATION YET...can you confirm???

 

terry

 

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

 

Subject: Re: BSE 'INCONCLUSIVE' COW from TEXAS ???

 

Date: Fri, 19 Nov 2004 11:38:21 –0600

 

From: Carla Everett

 

To: "Terry S. Singeltary Sr." References: <[log in to unmask]>

 

The USDA has made a statement, and we are referring all callers to the USDA web site. We have no information about the animal being in Texas. Carla At 09:44 AM 11/19/2004, you wrote:>Greetings Carla,>>i am getting unsubstantiated claims of this BSE 'inconclusive' cow is from>TEXAS. can you comment on this either way please?>>

 

thank you,>

 

Terry S. Singeltary Sr.>>

 

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

 

Subject: Re: BSE 'INCONCLUSIVE' COW from TEXAS ???

 

Date: Mon, 22 Nov 2004 18:33:20 -0600 From: Carla Everett

 

To: "Terry S. Singeltary Sr."

 

References: ...snip tss

 

our computer department was working on a place holder we could post USDA's announcement of any results. There are no results to be announced tonight by NVSL, so we are back in a waiting mode and will post the USDA announcement when we hear something. At 06:05 PM 11/22/2004,

 

you wrote:

 

>why was the announcement on your TAHC site removed?

 

>>Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy:

 

>November 22: Press Release title here

 

>>star image More BSE information

 

>>>>terry

 

>>Carla Everett wrote:

 

>>>no confirmation on the U.S.' inconclusive test...

 

>>no confirmation on location of animal.>>>>>>

 

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

 

Director, Public Information Carla Everett ceverett@tahc.state.tx.us

 

Subject: Re: BSE 'INCONCLUSIVE' COW from TEXAS ???

 

Date: Mon, 22 Nov 2004 17:12:15 –0600

 

From: "Terry S. Singeltary Sr."

 

To: Carla Everett References: <[log in to unmask]> <[log in to unmask] us>

 

Greetings Carla, still hear a rumor;

 

Texas single beef cow not born in Canada no beef entered the food chain?

 

and i see the TEXAS department of animal health is ramping up forsomething, but they forgot a url for update?I HAVE NO ACTUAL CONFIRMATION YET...can you confirm???

 

terry

 

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

 


 


 

USDA did not test possible mad cows

 

By Steve Mitchell

 

United Press International

 

Published 6/8/2004 9:30 PM

 

WASHINGTON, June 8 (UPI) -- The U.S. Department of Agriculture claims ittested 500 cows with signs of a brain disorder for mad cow disease last year, but agency documents obtained by United Press International show the agency tested only half that number.

 


 

FULL 130 LASHINGS TO USDA BY OIG again

 


 

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

 

THIS WAS DONE FOR A REASON!

 

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

 

TEXAS 2ND MAD COW THAT WAS COVERED UP, AFTER AN ACT OF CONGRESS, AND CALLS FROM TSE PRION SCIENTIST AROUND THE GLOBE, THIS 2ND MAD COW IN TEXAS WAS CONFIRMED

 

THE USDA MAD COW FOLLIES POSITIVE TEST COVER UP

 

JOHANNS SECRET POSTIVE MAD COW TEST THAT WERE IGNORED

 

OIG AND THE HONORABLE FONG CONFIRMS TEXAS MAD AFTER AN ACT OF CONGRESS 7 MONTHS LATER

 

TEXAS MAD COW

 

THEY DID FINALLY TEST AFTER SITTING 7+ MONTHS ON A SHELF WHILE GW BORE THE BSE MRR POLICY, i.e. legal trading of all strains of TSE. now understand, i confirmed this case 7 months earlier to the TAHC, and then, only after i contacted the Honorable Phyllis Fong and after an act of Congress, this animal was finally confirmed ;

 

During the course of the investigation, USDA removed and tested a total of 67 animals of interest from the farm where the index animal's herd originated. All of these animals tested negative for BSE. 200 adult animals of interest were determined to have left the index farm. Of these 200, APHIS officials determined that 143 had gone to slaughter, two were found alive (one was determined not to be of interest because of its age and the other tested negative), 34 are presumed dead, one is known dead and 20 have been classified as untraceable. In addition to the adult animals, APHIS was looking for two calves born to the index animal. Due to record keeping and identification issues, APHIS had to trace 213 calves. Of these 213 calves, 208 entered feeding and slaughter channels, four are presumed to have entered feeding and slaughter channels and one calf was untraceable.

 


 

Executive Summary In June 2005,

 

an inconclusive bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) sample from November 2004, that had originally been classified as negative on the immunohistochemistry test, was confirmed positive on SAF immunoblot (Western blot). The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) identified the herd of origin for the index cow in Texas; that identification was confirmed by DNA analysis. USDA, in close cooperation with the Texas Animal Health Commission (TAHC), established an incident command post (ICP) and began response activities according to USDA’s BSE Response Plan of September 2004. Response personnel removed at-risk cattle and cattle of interest (COI) from the index herd, euthanized them, and tested them for BSE; all were negative. USDA and the State extensively traced all at-risk cattle and COI that left the index herd. The majority of these animals entered rendering and/or slaughter channels well before the investigation began. USDA’s response to the Texas finding was thorough and effective.

 

snip...

 

Trace Herd 3 The owner of Trace Herd 3 was identified as possibly having received an animal of interest. The herd was placed under hold order on 7/27/05. The herd inventory was conducted on 7/28/05. The animal of interest was not present within the herd, and the hold order was released on 7/28/05. The person who thought he sold the animal to the owner of Trace Herd 3 had no records and could not remember who else he might have sold the cow to. Additionally, a search of GDB for all cattle sold through the markets by that individual did not result in a match to the animal of interest. The animal of interest traced to this herd was classified as untraceable because all leads were exhausted.

 

Trace Herd 4 The owner of Trace Herd 4 was identified as having received one of the COI through an order buyer. Trace Herd 4 was placed under hold order on 7/29/05. A complete herd inventory was conducted on 8/22/05 and 8/23/05. There were 233 head of cattle that were examined individually by both State and Federal personnel for all man-made identification and brands. The animal of interest was not present within the herd. Several animals were reported to have died in the herd sometime after they arrived on the premises in April 2005. A final search of GDB records yielded no further results on the eartag of interest at either subsequent market sale or slaughter. With all leads having been exhausted, this animal of interest has been classified as untraceable. The hold order on Trace Herd 4 was released on 8/23/05.

 

Trace Herd 5 The owner of Trace Herd 5 was identified as having received two COI and was placed under hold order on 8/1/05. Trace Herd 5 is made up of 67 head of cattle in multiple pastures. During the course of the herd inventory, the owner located records that indicated that one of the COI, a known birth cohort, had been sold to Trace Herd 8 where she was subsequently found alive. Upon completion of the herd inventory, the other animal of interest was not found within the herd. A GDB search of all recorded herd tests conducted on Trace Herd 5 and all market sales by the owner failed to locate the identification tag of the animal of interest and she was subsequently classified as untraceable due to all leads having been exhausted. The hold order on Trace Herd 5 was released on 8/8/05.

 

Trace Herd 6 The owner of Trace Herd 6 was identified as possibly having received an animal of interest and was placed under hold order on 8/1/05. This herd is made up of 58 head of cattle on two pastures. A herd inventory was conducted and the animal of interest was not present within the herd. The owner of Trace Herd 6 had very limited records and was unable to provide further information on where the cow might have gone after he purchased her from the livestock market. A search of GDB for all cattle sold through the markets by that individual did not result in a match to the animal of interest. Additionally, many of the animals presented for sale by the owner of the herd had been re-tagged at the market effectually losing the traceability of the history of that animal prior to re-tagging. The animal of interest traced to this herd was classified as untraceable due to all leads having been exhausted. The hold order on Trace Herd 6 was released on 8/3/05.

 

Trace Herd 7 The owner of Trace Herd 7 was identified as having received an animal of interest and was placed under hold order on 8/1/05. Trace Herd 7 contains 487 head of cattle on multiple pastures in multiple parts of the State, including a unit kept on an island. The island location is a particularly rough place to keep cattle and the owner claimed to have lost 22 head on the island in 2004 due to liver flukes. Upon completion of the herd inventory, the animal of interest was not found present within Trace Herd 7. A GDB search of all recorded herd tests conducted on Trace Herd 7 and all market sales by the owner failed to locate the identification tag of the animal of interest. The cow was subsequently classified as untraceable. It is quite possible though that she may have died within the herd, especially if she belonged to the island unit. The hold order on Trace Herd 7 was released on 8/8/05.

 


 

THE SECRET MAD COW POSITIVE TEST, THAT WAS COVERED UP

 

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

 

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

 

snip...

 

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

 


 

2006

 

PAUL BROWN COMMENT TO ME ON THIS ISSUE

 

Tuesday, September 12, 2006 11:10 AM

 

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

 

end...tss

 

2012

 

Saturday, May 26, 2012

 

Are USDA assurances on mad cow case 'gross oversimplification'?

 

SNIP...

 

What irks many scientists is the USDA’s April 25 statement that the rare disease is “not generally associated with an animal consuming infected feed.”

 

The USDA’s conclusion is a “gross oversimplification,” said Dr. Paul Brown, one of the world’s experts on this type of disease who retired recently from the National Institutes of Health. "(The agency) has no foundation on which to base that statement.”

 

“We can’t say it’s not feed related,” agreed Dr. Linda Detwiler, an official with the USDA during the Clinton Administration now at Mississippi State.

 

In the May 1 email to me, USDA’s Cole backed off a bit. “No one knows the origins of atypical cases of BSE,” she said

 

The argument about feed is critical because if feed is the cause, not a spontaneous mutation, the California cow could be part of a larger outbreak.

 

SNIP...

 


 

HISTORY OF TEXAS AND ALABAMA MAD COWS ;

 

2009 UPDATE ON ALABAMA AND TEXAS MAD COWS 2005 and 2006

 


 

Saturday, August 4, 2012

 

*** Final Feed Investigation Summary - California BSE Case - July 2012 (ATYPICAL L-TYPE BASE BSE)

 


 

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

 


 

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

 


 

Saturday, August 16, 2008

 

*** Qualitative Analysis of BSE Risk Factors in the United States February 13, 2000 at 3:37 pm PST (BSE red book)

 


 

Tuesday, July 14, 2009 U.S.

 

*** Emergency Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy Response Plan Summary and BSE Red Book

 

Date: February 14, 2000 at 8:56 am PST

 

WHERE did we go wrong $$$

 


 

Thursday, March 29, 2012

 

*** atypical Nor-98 Scrapie has spread from coast to coast in the USA 2012

 

NIAA Annual Conference April 11-14, 2011San Antonio, Texas

 


 

P03.141

 

Aspects of the Cerebellar Neuropathology in Nor98

 

Gavier-Widén, D1; Benestad, SL2; Ottander, L1; Westergren, E1 1National Veterinary Insitute, Sweden; 2National Veterinary Institute,

 

Norway Nor98 is a prion disease of old sheep and goats. This atypical form of scrapie was first described in Norway in 1998. Several features of Nor98 were shown to be different from classical scrapie including the distribution of disease associated prion protein (PrPd) accumulation in the brain. The cerebellum is generally the most affected brain area in Nor98. The study here presented aimed at adding information on the neuropathology in the cerebellum of Nor98 naturally affected sheep of various genotypes in Sweden and Norway. A panel of histochemical and immunohistochemical (IHC) stainings such as IHC for PrPd, synaptophysin, glial fibrillary acidic protein, amyloid, and cell markers for phagocytic cells were conducted. The type of histological lesions and tissue reactions were evaluated. The types of PrPd deposition were characterized. The cerebellar cortex was regularly affected, even though there was a variation in the severity of the lesions from case to case. Neuropil vacuolation was more marked in the molecular layer, but affected also the granular cell layer. There was a loss of granule cells. Punctate deposition of PrPd was characteristic. It was morphologically and in distribution identical with that of synaptophysin, suggesting that PrPd accumulates in the synaptic structures. PrPd was also observed in the granule cell layer and in the white matter. The pathology features of Nor98 in the cerebellum of the affected sheep showed similarities with those of sporadic Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease in humans.

 

***The pathology features of Nor98 in the cerebellum of the affected sheep showed similarities with those of sporadic Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease in humans.

 


 

PR-26

 

NOR98 SHOWS MOLECULAR FEATURES REMINISCENT OF GSS

 

R. Nonno1, E. Esposito1, G. Vaccari1, E. Bandino2, M. Conte1, B. Chiappini1, S. Marcon1, M. Di Bari1, S.L. Benestad3, U. Agrimi1 1 Istituto Superiore di Sanità, Department of Food Safety and Veterinary Public Health, Rome, Italy (romolo.nonno@iss.it); 2 Istituto Zooprofilattico della Sardegna, Sassari, Italy; 3 National Veterinary Institute, Department of Pathology, Oslo, Norway

 

Molecular variants of PrPSc are being increasingly investigated in sheep scrapie and are generally referred to as "atypical" scrapie, as opposed to "classical scrapie". Among the atypical group, Nor98 seems to be the best identified. We studied the molecular properties of Italian and Norwegian Nor98 samples by WB analysis of brain homogenates, either untreated, digested with different concentrations of proteinase K, or subjected to enzymatic deglycosylation. The identity of PrP fragments was inferred by means of antibodies spanning the full PrP sequence. We found that undigested brain homogenates contain a Nor98-specific PrP fragment migrating at 11 kDa (PrP11), truncated at both the C-terminus and the N-terminus, and not N-glycosylated. After mild PK digestion, Nor98 displayed full-length PrP (FL-PrP) and N-glycosylated C-terminal fragments (CTF), along with increased levels of PrP11. Proteinase K digestion curves (0,006-6,4 mg/ml) showed that FL-PrP and CTF are mainly digested above 0,01 mg/ml, while PrP11 is not entirely digested even at the highest concentrations, similarly to PrP27-30 associated with classical scrapie. Above 0,2 mg/ml PK, most Nor98 samples showed only PrP11 and a fragment of 17 kDa with the same properties of PrP11, that was tentatively identified as a dimer of PrP11. Detergent solubility studies showed that PrP11 is insoluble in 2% sodium laurylsorcosine and is mainly produced from detergentsoluble, full-length PrPSc. Furthermore, among Italian scrapie isolates, we found that a sample with molecular and pathological properties consistent with Nor98 showed plaque-like deposits of PrPSc in the thalamus when the brain was analysed by PrPSc immunohistochemistry. Taken together, our results show that the distinctive pathological feature of Nor98 is a PrP fragment spanning amino acids ~ 90-155. This fragment is produced by successive N-terminal and C-terminal cleavages from a full-length and largely detergent-soluble PrPSc, is produced in vivo and is extremely resistant to PK digestion.

 

*** Intriguingly, these conclusions suggest that some pathological features of Nor98 are reminiscent of Gerstmann-Sträussler-Scheinker disease.

 

119

 


 

A newly identified type of scrapie agent can naturally infect sheep with resistant PrP genotypes

 

Annick Le Dur*,?, Vincent Béringue*,?, Olivier Andréoletti?, Fabienne Reine*, Thanh Lan Laï*, Thierry Baron§, Bjørn Bratberg¶, Jean-Luc Vilotte?, Pierre Sarradin**, Sylvie L. Benestad¶, and Hubert Laude*,?? +Author Affiliations

 

*Virologie Immunologie Moléculaires and ?Génétique Biochimique et Cytogénétique, Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique, 78350 Jouy-en-Josas, France; ?Unité Mixte de Recherche, Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique-Ecole Nationale Vétérinaire de Toulouse, Interactions Hôte Agent Pathogène, 31066 Toulouse, France; §Agence Française de Sécurité Sanitaire des Aliments, Unité Agents Transmissibles Non Conventionnels, 69364 Lyon, France; **Pathologie Infectieuse et Immunologie, Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique, 37380 Nouzilly, France; and ¶Department of Pathology, National Veterinary Institute, 0033 Oslo, Norway

 

***Edited by Stanley B. Prusiner, University of California, San Francisco, CA (received for review March 21, 2005)

 

Abstract Scrapie in small ruminants belongs to transmissible spongiform encephalopathies (TSEs), or prion diseases, a family of fatal neurodegenerative disorders that affect humans and animals and can transmit within and between species by ingestion or inoculation. Conversion of the host-encoded prion protein (PrP), normal cellular PrP (PrPc), into a misfolded form, abnormal PrP (PrPSc), plays a key role in TSE transmission and pathogenesis. The intensified surveillance of scrapie in the European Union, together with the improvement of PrPSc detection techniques, has led to the discovery of a growing number of so-called atypical scrapie cases. These include clinical Nor98 cases first identified in Norwegian sheep on the basis of unusual pathological and PrPSc molecular features and "cases" that produced discordant responses in the rapid tests currently applied to the large-scale random screening of slaughtered or fallen animals. Worryingly, a substantial proportion of such cases involved sheep with PrP genotypes known until now to confer natural resistance to conventional scrapie. Here we report that both Nor98 and discordant cases, including three sheep homozygous for the resistant PrPARR allele (A136R154R171), efficiently transmitted the disease to transgenic mice expressing ovine PrP, and that they shared unique biological and biochemical features upon propagation in mice. *** These observations support the view that a truly infectious TSE agent, unrecognized until recently, infects sheep and goat flocks and may have important implications in terms of scrapie control and public health.

 


 

Monday, December 1, 2008

 

When Atypical Scrapie cross species barriers

 

Authors

 

Andreoletti O., Herva M. H., Cassard H., Espinosa J. C., Lacroux C., Simon S., Padilla D., Benestad S. L., Lantier F., Schelcher F., Grassi J., Torres, J. M., UMR INRA ENVT 1225, Ecole Nationale Veterinaire de Toulouse.France; ICISA-INlA, Madrid, Spain; CEA, IBiTec-5, DSV, CEA/Saclay, Gif sur Yvette cedex, France; National Veterinary Institute, Postboks 750 Sentrum, 0106 Oslo, Norway, INRA IASP, Centre INRA de Tours, 3738O Nouzilly, France.

 

Content

 

Atypical scrapie is a TSE occurring in small ruminants and harbouring peculiar clinical, epidemiological and biochemical properties. Currently this form of disease is identified in a large number of countries. In this study we report the transmission of an atypical scrapie isolate through different species barriers as modeled by transgenic mice (Tg) expressing different species PRP sequence.

 

The donor isolate was collected in 1995 in a French commercial sheep flock. inoculation into AHQ/AHQ sheep induced a disease which had all neuro-pathological and biochemical characteristics of atypical scrapie. Transmitted into Transgenic mice expressing either ovine or PrPc, the isolate retained all the described characteristics of atypical scrapie.

 

Surprisingly the TSE agent characteristics were dramatically different v/hen passaged into Tg bovine mice. The recovered TSE agent had biological and biochemical characteristics similar to those of atypical BSE L in the same mouse model. Moreover, whereas no other TSE agent than BSE were shown to transmit into Tg porcine mice, atypical scrapie was able to develop into this model, albeit with low attack rate on first passage.

 

Furthermore, after adaptation in the porcine mouse model this prion showed similar biological and biochemical characteristics than BSE adapted to this porcine mouse model. Altogether these data indicate.

 

(i) the unsuspected potential abilities of atypical scrapie to cross species barriers

 

(ii) the possible capacity of this agent to acquire new characteristics when crossing species barrier

 

These findings raise some interrogation on the concept of TSE strain and on the origin of the diversity of the TSE agents and could have consequences on field TSE control measures.

 


 

Friday, February 11, 2011

 

Atypical/Nor98 Scrapie Infectivity in Sheep Peripheral Tissues

 


 

Monday, December 14, 2009

 

Similarities between Forms of Sheep Scrapie and Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease Are Encoded by Distinct Prion Types

 

(hmmm, this is getting interesting now...TSS)

 

Sporadic CJD type 1 and atypical/ Nor98 scrapie are characterized by fine (reticular) deposits,

 

see also ;

 

All of the Heidenhain variants were of the methionine/ methionine type 1 molecular subtype.

 


 

Saturday, July 6, 2013

 

Small Ruminant Nor98 Prions Share Biochemical Features with Human Gerstmann-Sträussler-Scheinker Disease and Variably Protease-Sensitive Prionopathy

 

Research Article

 


 

Monday, December 1, 2008

 

When Atypical Scrapie cross species barriers

 

Authors

 

Andreoletti O., Herva M. H., Cassard H., Espinosa J. C., Lacroux C., Simon S., Padilla D., Benestad S. L., Lantier F., Schelcher F., Grassi J., Torres, J. M., UMR INRA ENVT 1225, Ecole Nationale Veterinaire de Toulouse.France; ICISA-INlA, Madrid, Spain; CEA, IBiTec-5, DSV, CEA/Saclay, Gif sur Yvette cedex, France; National Veterinary Institute, Postboks 750 Sentrum, 0106 Oslo, Norway, INRA IASP, Centre INRA de Tours, 3738O Nouzilly, France.

 

Content

 

Atypical scrapie is a TSE occurring in small ruminants and harbouring peculiar clinical, epidemiological and biochemical properties. Currently this form of disease is identified in a large number of countries. In this study we report the transmission of an atypical scrapie isolate through different species barriers as modeled by transgenic mice (Tg) expressing different species PRP sequence.

 

The donor isolate was collected in 1995 in a French commercial sheep flock. inoculation into AHQ/AHQ sheep induced a disease which had all neuro-pathological and biochemical characteristics of atypical scrapie. Transmitted into Transgenic mice expressing either ovine or PrPc, the isolate retained all the described characteristics of atypical scrapie.

 

Surprisingly the TSE agent characteristics were dramatically different v/hen passaged into Tg bovine mice. The recovered TSE agent had biological and biochemical characteristics similar to those of atypical BSE L in the same mouse model. Moreover, whereas no other TSE agent than BSE were shown to transmit into Tg porcine mice, atypical scrapie was able to develop into this model, albeit with low attack rate on first passage.

 

Furthermore, after adaptation in the porcine mouse model this prion showed similar biological and biochemical characteristics than BSE adapted to this porcine mouse model. Altogether these data indicate.

 

(i) the unsuspected potential abilities of atypical scrapie to cross species barriers

 

(ii) the possible capacity of this agent to acquire new characteristics when crossing species barrier

 

These findings raise some interrogation on the concept of TSE strain and on the origin of the diversity of the TSE agents and could have consequences on field TSE control measures.

 


 

Friday, February 11, 2011

 

Atypical/Nor98 Scrapie Infectivity in Sheep Peripheral Tissues

 


 

Saturday, August 14, 2010

 

BSE Case Associated with Prion Protein Gene Mutation (g-h-BSEalabama) and VPSPr PRIONPATHY

 

(see mad cow feed in COMMERCE IN ALABAMA...TSS)

 


 

***The successful oral transmission of C.J.D. and scrapie to primates (Gibbs et al., 1980) and the close resemblance between the properties of the transmissible agent in the two conditions (Gibbs and Gajdusek, 1976) has raised the possibility that the human disease is contracted from sheep. No direct evidence is available and the concept is based on inference and interesting but unconvincing anecdotes

 

(Alter et al., 1971; Lo Russo et al., 1980; Kamin and Patten, 1984). The patient discovered in this study who had never been known to eat meat suggests that eating scrapie infected meat cannot be the only source of C.J.D. in man. C.J.D. occurs in countries in which natural scrapie has not been observed (Galvez et al., 1980; Kondo and Kuroiwa, 1982) and no relationship was discovered in France (Chatelain et al., 1981) between the geographic distribution of scrapie and the incidence of C.J.D. A similar investigation could not be carried out in England and Wales as notification of scrapie to the Ministry of Agriculture is inconsistent and sheep farmers often destroy affected animals without seeking veterinary advice for fear of financial loss.

 

A detailed residential history was obtained in cases and controls. Although over-representation of cases was discovered in certain areas, similar but distinct areas of previous residence common to an apparent excess of controls was discovered. If C.J.D. does have a prolonged incubation period extending to decades the detailed study of residential history may, however, establish potential contact between individual cases which would be otherwise undetectable. The detailed study of individual cases in the prospective study has revealed the possibility of tenuous but extraordinarily coincidental contact between patients.

 

This may only be a reflection of intensive investigation, but if C.J.D. is transmitted by relatively minor surgical or dental procedures many years prior to death it is only by the systematic study of individual cases that potential cross-contamination may be discovered.

 

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

 

snip...see full text here;

 


 

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

 

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

 

snip...

 

R. BRADLEY

 


 

1: J Infect Dis 1980 Aug;142(2):205-8

 

Oral transmission of kuru, Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, and scrapie to nonhuman primates.

 

Gibbs CJ Jr, Amyx HL, Bacote A, Masters CL, Gajdusek DC.

 

Kuru and Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease of humans and scrapie disease of sheep and goats were transmitted to squirrel monkeys (Saimiri sciureus) that were exposed to the infectious agents only by their nonforced consumption of known infectious tissues. The asymptomatic incubation period in the one monkey exposed to the virus of kuru was 36 months; that in the two monkeys exposed to the virus of Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease was 23 and 27 months, respectively; and that in the two monkeys exposed to the virus of scrapie was 25 and 32 months, respectively. Careful physical examination of the buccal cavities of all of the monkeys failed to reveal signs or oral lesions. One additional monkey similarly exposed to kuru has remained asymptomatic during the 39 months that it has been under observation.

 

snip...

 

The successful transmission of kuru, Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, and scrapie by natural feeding to squirrel monkeys that we have reported provides further grounds for concern that scrapie-infected meat may occasionally give rise in humans to Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease.

 

PMID: 6997404

 


 

Recently the question has again been brought up as to whether scrapie is transmissible to man. This has followed reports that the disease has been transmitted to primates. One particularly lurid speculation (Gajdusek 1977) conjectures that the agents of scrapie, kuru, Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease and transmissible encephalopathy of mink are varieties of a single "virus". The U.S. Department of Agriculture concluded that it could "no longer justify or permit scrapie-blood line and scrapie-exposed sheep and goats to be processed for human or animal food at slaughter or rendering plants" (ARC 84/77)" The problem is emphasised by the finding that some strains of scrapie produce lesions identical to the once which characterise the human dementias"

 

Whether true or not. the hypothesis that these agents might be transmissible to man raises two considerations. First, the safety of laboratory personnel requires prompt attention. Second, action such as the "scorched meat" policy of USDA makes the solution of the acrapie problem urgent if the sheep industry is not to suffer grievously.

 

snip...

 

76/10.12/4.6

 


 

Nature. 1972 Mar 10;236(5341):73-4.

 

Transmission of scrapie to the cynomolgus monkey (Macaca fascicularis).

 

Gibbs CJ Jr, Gajdusek DC.

 

Nature 236, 73 - 74 (10 March 1972); doi:10.1038/236073a0

 

Transmission of Scrapie to the Cynomolgus Monkey (Macaca fascicularis)

 

C. J. GIBBS jun. & D. C. GAJDUSEK

 

National Institute of Neurological Diseases and Stroke, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland

 

SCRAPIE has been transmitted to the cynomolgus, or crab-eating, monkey (Macaca fascicularis) with an incubation period of more than 5 yr from the time of intracerebral inoculation of scrapie-infected mouse brain. The animal developed a chronic central nervous system degeneration, with ataxia, tremor and myoclonus with associated severe scrapie-like pathology of intensive astroglial hypertrophy and proliferation, neuronal vacuolation and status spongiosus of grey matter. The strain of scrapie virus used was the eighth passage in Swiss mice (NIH) of a Compton strain of scrapie obtained as ninth intracerebral passage of the agent in goat brain, from Dr R. L. Chandler (ARC, Compton, Berkshire).

 


 


 

Suspect symptoms

 

What if you can catch old-fashioned CJD by eating meat from a sheep infected with scrapie?

 

28 Mar 01

 

Like lambs to the slaughter 31 March 2001 by Debora MacKenzie Magazine issue 2284. Subscribe and get 4 free issues. FOUR years ago, Terry Singeltary watched his mother die horribly from a degenerative brain disease. Doctors told him it was Alzheimer's, but Singeltary was suspicious. The diagnosis didn't fit her violent symptoms, and he demanded an autopsy. It showed she had died of sporadic Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease.

 

Most doctors believe that sCJD is caused by a prion protein deforming by chance into a killer. But Singeltary thinks otherwise. He is one of a number of campaigners who say that some sCJD, like the variant CJD related to BSE, is caused by eating meat from infected animals. Their suspicions have focused on sheep carrying scrapie, a BSE-like disease that is widespread in flocks across Europe and North America.

 

Now scientists in France have stumbled across new evidence that adds weight to the campaigners' fears. To their complete surprise, the researchers found that one strain of scrapie causes the same brain damage in mice as sCJD.

 

"This means we cannot rule out that at least some sCJD may be caused by some strains of scrapie," says team member Jean-Philippe Deslys of the French Atomic Energy Commission's medical research laboratory in Fontenay-aux-Roses, south-west of Paris. Hans Kretschmar of the University of Göttingen, who coordinates CJD surveillance in Germany, is so concerned by the findings that he now wants to trawl back through past sCJD cases to see if any might have been caused by eating infected mutton or lamb.

 

Scrapie has been around for centuries and until now there has been no evidence that it poses a risk to human health. But if the French finding means that scrapie can cause sCJD in people, countries around the world may have overlooked a CJD crisis to rival that caused by BSE.

 

Deslys and colleagues were originally studying vCJD, not sCJD. They injected the brains of macaque monkeys with brain from BSE cattle, and from French and British vCJD patients. The brain damage and clinical symptoms in the monkeys were the same for all three. Mice injected with the original sets of brain tissue or with infected monkey brain also developed the same symptoms.

 

As a control experiment, the team also injected mice with brain tissue from people and animals with other prion diseases: a French case of sCJD; a French patient who caught sCJD from human-derived growth hormone; sheep with a French strain of scrapie; and mice carrying a prion derived from an American scrapie strain. As expected, they all affected the brain in a different way from BSE and vCJD. But while the American strain of scrapie caused different damage from sCJD, the French strain produced exactly the same pathology.

 

"The main evidence that scrapie does not affect humans has been epidemiology," says Moira Bruce of the neuropathogenesis unit of the Institute for Animal Health in Edinburgh, who was a member of the same team as Deslys. "You see about the same incidence of the disease everywhere, whether or not there are many sheep, and in countries such as New Zealand with no scrapie." In the only previous comparisons of sCJD and scrapie in mice, Bruce found they were dissimilar.

 

But there are more than 20 strains of scrapie, and six of sCJD. "You would not necessarily see a relationship between the two with epidemiology if only some strains affect only some people," says Deslys. Bruce is cautious about the mouse results, but agrees they require further investigation. Other trials of scrapie and sCJD in mice, she says, are in progress.

 

People can have three different genetic variations of the human prion protein, and each type of protein can fold up two different ways. Kretschmar has found that these six combinations correspond to six clinical types of sCJD: each type of normal prion produces a particular pathology when it spontaneously deforms to produce sCJD.

 

But if these proteins deform because of infection with a disease-causing prion, the relationship between pathology and prion type should be different, as it is in vCJD. "If we look at brain samples from sporadic CJD cases and find some that do not fit the pattern," says Kretschmar, "that could mean they were caused by infection."

 

There are 250 deaths per year from sCJD in the US, and a similar incidence elsewhere. Singeltary and other US activists think that some of these people died after eating contaminated meat or "nutritional" pills containing dried animal brain. Governments will have a hard time facing activists like Singeltary if it turns out that some sCJD isn't as spontaneous as doctors have insisted.

 

Deslys's work on macaques also provides further proof that the human disease vCJD is caused by BSE. And the experiments showed that vCJD is much more virulent to primates than BSE, even when injected into the bloodstream rather than the brain. This, says Deslys, means that there is an even bigger risk than we thought that vCJD can be passed from one patient to another through contaminated blood transfusions and surgical instruments.

 


 

Sunday, December 12, 2010

 

EFSA reviews BSE/TSE infectivity in small ruminant tissues News Story 2 December 2010

 


 

Wednesday, January 18, 2012

 

Selection of Distinct Strain Phenotypes in Mice Infected by Ovine Natural Scrapie Isolates Similar to CH1641 Experimental Scrapie

 

Journal of Neuropathology & Experimental Neurology: February 2012 - Volume 71 - Issue 2 - p 140–147

 


 

Thursday, July 14, 2011

 

Histopathological Studies of "CH1641-Like" Scrapie Sources Versus Classical Scrapie and BSE Transmitted to Ovine Transgenic Mice (TgOvPrP4)

 


 

Wednesday, January 18, 2012

 

BSE IN GOATS CAN BE MISTAKEN FOR SCRAPIE

 

February 1, 2012

 


 

Thursday, December 23, 2010

 

Molecular Typing of Protease-Resistant Prion Protein in Transmissible Spongiform Encephalopathies of Small Ruminants, France, 2002-2009

 

Volume 17, Number 1 January 2011

 


 

Thursday, November 18, 2010

 

Increased susceptibility of human-PrP transgenic mice to bovine spongiform encephalopathy following passage in sheep

 


 

Saturday, December 21, 2013

 

**** Complementary studies detecting classical bovine spongiform encephalopathy infectivity in jejunum, ileum and ileocaecal junction in incubating cattle ****

 


 

Wednesday, December 4, 2013

 

*** Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy; Importation of Bovines and Bovine Products; Final Rule Federal Register / Vol. 78 , No. 233 /

 

Wednesday, December 4, 2013

 


 

Saturday, November 2, 2013

 

*** APHIS Finalizes Bovine Import Regulations in Line with International Animal Health Standards while enhancing the spread of BSE TSE prion mad cow type disease around the Globe

 


 


 

UPDATE NORTH AMERICA MAD COW DISEASE

 

Monday, March 19, 2012

 

Infectivity in Skeletal Muscle of Cattle with Atypical Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy

 

PLoS One. 2012; 7(2): e31449.

 


 

Monday, October 10, 2011

 

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

 

snip...

 

EFSA and the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) recently delivered a scientific opinion on any possible epidemiological or molecular association between TSEs in animals and humans (EFSA Panel on Biological Hazards (BIOHAZ) and ECDC, 2011). This opinion confirmed Classical BSE prions as the only TSE agents demonstrated to be zoonotic so far ***but the possibility that a small proportion of human cases so far classified as "sporadic" CJD are of zoonotic origin could not be excluded. Moreover, transmission experiments to non-human primates suggest that some TSE agents in addition to Classical BSE prions in cattle (namely L-type Atypical BSE, Classical BSE in sheep, transmissible mink encephalopathy (TME) and chronic wasting disease (CWD) agents) might have zoonotic potential.

 

snip...

 


 


 

see follow-up here about North America BSE Mad Cow TSE prion risk factors, and the ever emerging strains of Transmissible Spongiform Encephalopathy in many species here in the USA, including humans ;

 


 

Thursday, August 12, 2010

 

Seven main threats for the future linked to prions

 

First threat

 

The TSE road map defining the evolution of European policy for protection against prion diseases is based on a certain numbers of hypotheses some of which may turn out to be erroneous. In particular, a form of BSE (called atypical Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy), recently identified by systematic testing in aged cattle without clinical signs, may be the origin of classical BSE and thus potentially constitute a reservoir, which may be impossible to eradicate if a sporadic origin is confirmed.

 

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

 

Second threat

 

snip...

 


 

Sunday, November 23, 2014

 

Confirmed Variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease (variant CJD) Case in Texas in June 2014 confirmed as USA case NOT European

 

The completed investigation did not support the patient's having had extended travel to European countries, including the United Kingdom, or travel to Saudi Arabia. The specific overseas country where this patient’s infection occurred is less clear largely because the investigation did not definitely link him to a country where other known vCJD cases likely had been infected.

 


 

Monday, November 3, 2014

 

USA CJD TSE PRION UNIT, TEXAS, SURVEILLANCE UPDATE NOVEMBER 2014

 

National Prion Disease Pathology Surveillance Center Cases Examined1 (October 7, 2014)

 

***6 Includes 11 cases in which the diagnosis is pending, and 19 inconclusive cases;

 

***7 Includes 12 (11 from 2014) cases with type determination pending in which the diagnosis of vCJD has been excluded.

 

***The sporadic cases include 2660 cases of sporadic Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (sCJD),

 

***50 cases of Variably Protease-Sensitive Prionopathy (VPSPr)

 

***and 21 cases of sporadic Fatal Insomnia (sFI).

 


 

Terry S. Singeltary Sr. on the Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease Public Health Crisis *video*

 


 

Jeff Schwan, sporadic cjd, clustering, and BSE aka mad cow type disease, is there a link ? *video*

 


 

1997-11-10: Panorama - The british disease *video*

 


 

Sunday, September 6, 2009

 

MAD COW USA 1997 *video*

 


 


 

Singeltary submission to PLOS ;

 

RE: re-Human Prion Diseases in the United States part 2 flounder replied to flounder on 02 Jan 2010 at 21:26 GMT

 

No competing interests declared.

 

see full text ;

 


 

FACT is, BSE cases in Europe of the past years have dropped dramatically due to feed ban that was enforced, and extensive BSE testing, in large numbers. just the opposite has happened in the USA. it’s all been documented. there is ample evidence that there is as much of a chance (if not more), that this victim contracted human mad cow disease from sources right here in the USA. this PR push to alienate a USA source factor for human BSE in the USA is a PR stunt by the USDA inc., and not justified now, in my opinion. compare BSE testing figures in the EU compared to the USA, compare mad cow feed ban breaches, and you will see. hell, the 2004 enhanced BSE surveillance program was flawed so bad, the top Prion God at the NIH TSE prion expert Paul Brown, says he does not trust anything from the USDA since Texas covered up a mad cow for 7 months, on a 48 hour confirmation turn around. it’s all documented below in link. USDA inc shut down the mad cow testing after so many atypical BSE cases started showing up. ...

 

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

 


 

2014

 

***Moreover, L-BSE has been transmitted more easily to transgenic mice overexpressing a human PrP [13,14] or to primates [15,16] than C-BSE.

 

***It has been suggested that some sporadic CJD subtypes in humans may result from an exposure to the L-BSE agent.

 

*** Lending support to this hypothesis, pathological and biochemical similarities have been observed between L-BSE and an sCJD subtype (MV genotype at codon 129 of PRNP) [17], and between L-BSE infected non-human primate and another sCJD subtype (MM genotype) [15].

 

snip...

 


 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

snip...

 

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

 

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

 

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

 


 

To date the OIE/WAHO assumes that the human and animal health standards set out in the BSE chapter for classical BSE (C-Type) applies to all forms of BSE which include the H-type and L-type atypical forms. This assumption is scientifically not completely justified and accumulating evidence suggests that this may in fact not be the case. Molecular characterization and the spatial distribution pattern of histopathologic lesions and immunohistochemistry (IHC) signals are used to identify and characterize atypical BSE. Both the L-type and H-type atypical cases display significant differences in the conformation and spatial accumulation of the disease associated prion protein (PrPSc) in brains of afflicted cattle. Transmission studies in bovine transgenic and wild type mouse models support that the atypical BSE types might be unique strains because they have different incubation times and lesion profiles when compared to C-type BSE. When L-type BSE was inoculated into ovine transgenic mice and Syrian hamster the resulting molecular fingerprint had changed, either in the first or a subsequent passage, from L-type into C-type BSE.

 

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

 


 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

Dear Terry,

 

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

 

Thank you for your interest in the paper.

 

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

 

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

 

Emmanuel Asante

 

<>

 

____________________________________

 

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

 

____________________________________ END

 

Singeltary submission to PLOS ;

 

RE: re-Human Prion Diseases in the United States part 2 flounder replied to flounder on 02 Jan 2010 at 21:26 GMT

 

No competing interests declared.

 

No competing interests declared.

 

see full text ;

 


 

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?

 


 

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. FREE FULL TEXT

 


 

2 January 2000

 

British Medical Journal

 

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

 


 

15 November 1999

 

British Medical Journal

 

vCJD in the USA * BSE in U.S.

 


 

14th ICID International Scientific Exchange Brochure -

 

Final Abstract Number: ISE.114

 

Session: International Scientific Exchange

 

Transmissible Spongiform encephalopathy (TSE) animal and human TSE in North America update October 2009

 

T. Singeltary

 

Bacliff, TX, USA

 

Background:

 

An update on atypical BSE and other TSE in North America. Please remember, the typical U.K. c-BSE, the atypical l-BSE (BASE), and h-BSE have all been documented in North America, along with the typical scrapie's, and atypical Nor-98 Scrapie, and to date, 2 different strains of CWD, and also TME. All these TSE in different species have been rendered and fed to food producing animals for humans and animals in North America (TSE in cats and dogs ?), and that the trading of these TSEs via animals and products via the USA and Canada has been immense over the years, decades.

 

Methods:

 

12 years independent research of available data

 

Results:

 

I propose that the current diagnostic criteria for human TSEs only enhances and helps the spreading of human TSE from the continued belief of the UKBSEnvCJD only theory in 2009. With all the science to date refuting it, to continue to validate this old myth, will only spread this TSE agent through a multitude of potential routes and sources i.e. consumption, medical i.e., surgical, blood, dental, endoscopy, optical, nutritional supplements, cosmetics etc.

 

Conclusion:

 

I would like to submit a review of past CJD surveillance in the USA, and the urgent need to make all human TSE in the USA a reportable disease, in every state, of every age group, and to make this mandatory immediately without further delay. The ramifications of not doing so will only allow this agent to spread further in the medical, dental, surgical arena's. Restricting the reporting of CJD and or any human TSE is NOT scientific. Iatrogenic CJD knows NO age group, TSE knows no boundaries. I propose as with Aguzzi, Asante, Collinge, Caughey, Deslys, Dormont, Gibbs, Gajdusek, Ironside, Manuelidis, Marsh, et al and many more, that the world of TSE Transmissible Spongiform Encephalopathy is far from an exact science, but there is enough proven science to date that this myth should be put to rest once and for all, and that we move forward with a new classification for human and animal TSE that would properly identify the infected species, the source species, and then the route.

 


 

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

 

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

 


 

Singeltary comment ;

 


 

Wednesday, July 23, 2014

 

After the storm? UK blood safety and the risk of variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease

 


 

Sunday, August 09, 2009

 

CJD...Straight talk with...James Ironside...and...Terry Singeltary... 2009

 


 

Tuesday, August 18, 2009

 

* BSE-The Untold Story - joe gibbs and singeltary 1999 – 2009

 


 

Transmissible Spongiform Encephalopathy TSE Prion Disease North America 2014

 

Transmissible Spongiform Encephalopathy TSE Prion Disease have now been discovered in a wide verity of species across North America. typical C-BSE, atypical L-type BASE BSE, atypical H-type BSE, atypical H-G BSE, of the bovine, typical and atypical Scrapie strains, in sheep and goats, with atypical Nor-98 Scrapie spreading coast to coast in about 5 years. Chronic Wasting Disease CWD in cervid is slowly spreading without any stopping it in Canada and the USA and now has mutated into many different strains. Transmissible Mink Encephalopathy TME outbreaks. These Transmissible Spongiform Encephalopathy TSE Prion Disease have been silently mutating and spreading in different species in North America for decades.

 

The USDA, FDA, et al have assured us of a robust Triple BSE TSE prion Firewall, of which we now know without a doubt, that it was nothing but ink on paper. Since the 1997 mad cow feed ban in the USA, literally tons and tons of banned mad cow feed has been put out into commerce, never to return, as late as December of 2013, serious, serious breaches in the FDA mad cow feed ban have been documented. The 2004 enhanced BSE surveillance program was so flawed, that one of the top TSE prion Scientist for the CDC, Dr. Paul Brown stated ; Brown, who is preparing a scientific paper based on the latest two mad cow cases to estimate the maximum number of infected cows that occurred in the United States, said he has "absolutely no confidence in USDA tests before one year ago" because of the agency's reluctance to retest the Texas cow that initially tested positive.

 

see ;

 


 

The BSE surveillance and testing have also been proven to be flawed, and the GAO and OIG have both raised serious question as to just how flawed it has been (see GAO and OIG reports). North America has more documented TSE prion disease, in different documented species (excluding the Zoo BSE animals in the EU), then any other place on the Globe. This does not include the very likelihood that TSE prion disease in the domestic feline and canine have been exposed to high doses of the TSE prion disease vid pet food. To date, it’s still legal to include deer from cwd zone into pet food or deer food. Specified Risk Material i.e. SRM bans still being breach, as recently as just last month.

 

nvCJD or what they now call vCJD, another case documented in Texas last month, with very little information being released to the public on about this case? with still the same line of thought from federal officials, ‘it can’t happen here’, so another vCJD blamed on travel of a foreign animal disease from another country, while ignoring all the BSE TSE Prion risk factors we have here in the USA and Canada, and the time that this victim and others, do spend in the USA, and exposed to these risk factors, apparently do not count in any way with regard to risk factor. a flawed process of risk assessment.

 

sporadic CJD, along with new TSE prion disease in humans, of which the young are dying, of which long duration of illness from onset of symptoms to death have been documented, only to have a new name added to the pot of prion disease i.e. sporadic GSS, sporadic FFI, and or VPSPR. I only ponder how a familial type disease could be sporadic with no genetic link to any family member? when the USA is the only documented Country in the world to have documented two different cases of atypical H-type BSE, with one case being called atypical H-G BSE with the G meaning Genetic, with new science now showing that indeed atypical H-type BSE is very possible transmitted to cattle via oral transmission (Prion2014). sporadic CJD and VPSPR have been rising in Canada, USA, and the UK, with the same old excuse, better surveillance. You can only use that excuse for so many years, for so many decades, until one must conclude that CJD TSE prion cases are rising. a 48% incease in CJD in Canada is not just a blip or a reason of better surveillance, it is a mathematical rise in numbers. More and more we are seeing more humans exposed in various circumstance in the Hospital, Medical, Surgical arenas to the TSE Prion disease, and at the same time in North America, more and more humans are becoming exposed to the TSE prion disease via consumption of the TSE prion via deer and elk, cattle, sheep and goats, and for those that are exposed via or consumption, go on to further expose many others via the iatrogenic modes of transmission of the TSE prion disease i.e. friendly fire. I pondered this mode of transmission via the victims of sporadic FFI, sporadic GSS, could this be a iatrogenic event from someone sub-clinical with sFFI or sGSS ? what if?

 

Two decades have passed since Dr. Ironside first confirmed his first ten nvCJD victims in 1995. Ten years later, 2005, we had Dr. Gambetti and his first ten i.e. VPSPR in younger victims. now we know that indeed VPSPR is transmissible. yet all these TSE prion disease and victims in the USA and Canada are being pawned off as a spontaneous event, yet science has shown, the spontaneous theory has never been proven in any natural case of TSE prion disease, and scientist have warned, that they have now linked some sporadic CJD cases to atypical BSE, to atypical Scrapie, and to CWD, yet we don’t here about this in the public domain. We must make all human and animal TSE prion disease reportable in every age group, in ever state and internationally, we must have a serious re-evaluation and testing of the USA cattle herds, and we must ban interstate movement of all cervids. Any voluntary effort to do any of this will fail. Folks, we have let the industry run science far too long with regards to the TSE prion disease. While the industry and their lobbyist continues to funnel junk science to our decision policy makers, Rome burns. ...end

 

REFERENCES

 

Sunday, June 29, 2014

 

Transmissible Spongiform Encephalopathy TSE Prion Disease North America 2014

 


 

Tuesday, April 01, 2014

 

*** Questions linger in U.S. CJD cases 2005, and still do in 2014 ***

 


 

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

 

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

 


 

Singeltary comment ;

 



 

 

Canada has had a COVER-UP policy of mad cow disease since about the 17th case OR 18th case of mad cow disease. AFTER THAT, all FOIA request were ignored $$$

 

THIS proves there is indeed an epidemic of mad cow disease in North America, and it has been covered up for years and years, if not for decades, and it’s getting worse $$$

 


 

Thursday, February 10, 2011

 

TRANSMISSIBLE SPONGIFORM ENCEPHALOPATHY REPORT UPDATE CANADA FEBRUARY 2011 and how to hide mad cow disease in Canada Current as of: 2011-01-31

 


 

Wednesday, August 11, 2010

 

REPORT ON THE INVESTIGATION OF THE SIXTEENTH CASE OF BOVINE SPONGIFORM ENCEPHALOPATHY (BSE) IN CANADA

 


 

Thursday, August 19, 2010

 

REPORT ON THE INVESTIGATION OF THE SEVENTEENTH CASE OF BOVINE SPONGIFORM ENCEPHALOPATHY (BSE) IN CANADA

 


 

Friday, March 4, 2011

 

Alberta dairy cow found with mad cow disease

 


 

Tuesday, May 21, 2013

 

Canada, USA, Bad feed, mad cows: Why we know three BSE cases had a common origin and why the SSS policy is in full force $$$

 


 

Increased Atypical Scrapie Detections

 

Press reports indicate that increased surveillance is catching what otherwise would have been unreported findings of atypical scrapie in sheep. In 2009, five new cases have been reported in Quebec, Ontario, Alberta, and Saskatchewan. With the exception of Quebec, all cases have been diagnosed as being the atypical form found in older animals. Canada encourages producers to join its voluntary surveillance program in order to gain scrapie-free status. The World Animal Health will not classify Canada as scrapie-free until no new cases are reported for seven years. The Canadian Sheep Federation is calling on the government to fund a wider surveillance program in order to establish the level of prevalence prior to setting an eradication date. Besides long-term testing, industry is calling for a compensation program for farmers who report unusual deaths in their flocks.

 


 

Monday, April 07, 2014

 

Saskatchewan’s first chronic wasting disease case of the year has been confirmed 2014

 


 

Wednesday, December 3, 2014

 

Over 200 Groups Urge Congress to Continue Supporting COOL

 

For Immediate Release

 


 

just made a promise, never forget, and never let them forget...tss

 

Heidenhain Variant Creutzfeldt Jakob Disease Case Report

 

snip...

 

Heidenhain Variant Creutzfeldt Jakob Disease autopsy case report 'MOM'

 

DIVISION OF NEUROPATHOLOGY University of Texas Medical Branch 114 McCullough Bldg. Galveston, Texas 77555-0785

 

FAX COVER SHEET

 

DATE: 4-23-98

 

TO: Mr. Terry Singeltary @ -------

 

FROM: Gerald Campbell

 

FAX: (409) 772-5315 PHONE: (409) 772-2881

 

Number of Pages (including cover sheet):

 

Message:

 

*CONFIDENTIALITY NOTICE*

 

This document accompanying this transmission contains confidential information belonging to the sender that is legally privileged. This information is intended only for the use of the individual or entry names above. If you are not the intended recipient, you are hereby notified that any disclosure, copying distribution, or the taking of any action in reliances on the contents of this telefaxed information is strictly prohibited. If you received this telefax in error, please notify us by telephone immediately to arrange for return of the original documents.

 

--------------------------

 

Patient Account: 90000014-518

 

Med. Rec. No.: (0160)118511Q

 

Patient Name: POULTER, BARBARA Age: 63 YRS DOB: 10/17/34 Sex: F Admitting Race: C

 

Attending Dr.: Date / Time Admitted : 12/14/97 1228 Copies to:

 

UTMB University of Texas Medical Branch Galveston, Texas 77555-0543 (409) 772-1238 Fax (409) 772-5683 Pathology Report

 

FINAL AUTOPSY DIAGNOSIS Autopsy' Office (409)772-2858

 

Autopsy NO.: AU-97-00435

 

AUTOPSY INFORMATION: Occupation: Unknown Birthplace: Unknown

 

Residence: Crystal Beach

 

Date/Time of Death: 12/14/97 13:30

 

Date/Time of Autopsy: 12/15/97 15:00

 

Pathologist/Resident: Pencil/Fernandez

 

Service: Private Restriction: Brain only

 

FINAL AUTOPSY DIAGNOSIS

 

I. Brain: Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, Heidenhain variant.

 

snip...see full text ;

 


 

Tuesday, August 12, 2014

 

MAD COW USDA TSE PRION COVER UP or JUST IGNORANCE, for the record AUGUST 2014

 


 

PLEASE REMEMBER ;

 

The Akron, Ohio-based CJD Foundation said the Center for Disease Control revised that number in October of 2004 to about one in 9,000 CJD cases per year in the population group age 55 and older.

 

HAVE YOU GOT YOUR CJD QUESTIONNAIRE ASKING REAL QUESTIONS PERTAINING TO ROUTE AND SOURCE OF THE TSE AGENT THAT KILLED YOUR LOVED ONE ???

 

if not, why not...

 

Friday, November 30, 2007

 

CJD QUESTIONNAIRE USA CWRU AND CJD FOUNDATION

 


 


 

TSS

 

layperson

 

Terry S. Singeltary Sr., Texas USA 77518 flounder9@verizon.net

Friday, November 21, 2014

Detection of Infectious Prion Protein by Seeded Conversion of Recombinant Prion Protein

DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

 

National Institutes of Health Prospective Grant of Exclusive License:

 

Detection of Infectious Prion Protein by Seeded Conversion of Recombinant Prion Protein

 

AGENCY: National Institutes of Health, HHS.

 

ACTION: Notice.

 

SUMMARY: This is notice, in accordance with 35 U.S.C. 209 and 37 CFR Part 404, that the National Institutes of Health (NIH), Department of Health and Human Services, is contemplating the grant of an exclusive patent license to Amprion, Inc. located in Houston Texas, USA, to practice the inventions embodied in the following Patents and Patent Applications, each entitled ‘‘Detection of Infectious Prion Protein by Seeded Conversion of Recombinant Prion Protein’’:

 

1. US provisional Application 60/ 961,364 filed July 20, 2007 [HHS Ref. No. E–109–2007/0–US–01]

 

2. PCT/US2008/070656, filed July 21, 2008; [HHS Ref. No E–109–2007/1– PCT–01]

 

3. EPC application No 08796382.3 filed July 21, 2008 [HHS Ref. No E–109– 2007/1–EP–03]

 

VerDate Sep<11>2014 16:16 Nov 18, 2014 Jkt 235001 PO 00000 Frm 00051 Fmt 4703 Sfmt 4703 E:\FR\FM\19NON1.SGM 19NON1 mstockstill on DSK4VPTVN1PROD with NOTICES Federal Register /Vol. 79, No. 223 /Wednesday, November 19, 2014 /Notices 68893

 

4. US Application No. 12/177,012, filed July 21, 2008 and issued as US patent 8,216,788 on July 10, 2012 [HHS Ref. No E–109–2007/1–US–02];

 

5. US Application No. 13/489,321, filed June 5, 2012 [E–109–2007/1–US– 04];

 

6. US Application No. 14/263,703, filed April 28, 2014 [E–109–2007/1–US– 011]

 

The patent rights in these inventions have been assigned to the United States of America.

 

The prospective exclusive licensed territory may be worldwide and the field of use may be limited to in vitro diagnostics of prion-associated diseases requiring FDA premarket approval, or the equivalent thereof outside of the United States, and USDA licensed veterinary diagnostics, or the equivalents thereof outside of the United States.

 

DATES: Only written comments and/or application for a license that are received by the NIH Office of Technology Transfer on or before 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time on December 19, 2014 will be considered.

 

ADDRESSES: Requests for a copy of the patents and applications, inquiries, comments and other materials relating to the contemplated license should be directed to: Tedd Fenn, Senior Licensing and Patenting Manager, Office of Technology Transfer, National Institutes of Health, 6011 Executive Boulevard, Suite 325, Rockville, MD 20852–3804; Email: fennea@mail.nih.gov; Telephone: 424–297– 0336; Facsimile: 301–402–0220.

 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The invention relates to methods and compositions for the detection of infectious prions and diagnosis of prion related diseases. Currently, available tests for disease-causing prions are incapable of detecting low concentrations and must be confirmed post-mortem. This technology enables rapid and economical detection of sublethal concentrations of prions by using recombinant protein (rPrP-sen) as a marker. A seeded sample polymerizes rPrP-sen, which is detected as an amplified indicator of prions in the sample. This assay does not require multiple amplification cycles unless a higher degree of sensitivity is required. This technology potentially may be combined with additional prion-detection technologies to further improve the sensitivity of the assay.

 

The prospective exclusive license will be royalty bearing and will comply with the terms and conditions of 35 U.S.C. 209 and 37 CFR Part 404. The prospective exclusive license may be granted unless within thirty (30) days from the date of this published notice, the NIH receives written evidence and argument that establishes that the grant of the license would not be consistent with the requirements of 35 U.S.C. 209 and 37 CFR Part 404.

 

Any additional applications for a license in the field of use, filed in response to this notice, will be treated as objections to the grant of the contemplated exclusive license. Comments and objections submitted to this notice will not be made available for public inspection and, to the extent permitted by law, will not be released under the Freedom of Information Act, 5 U.S.C. 552.

 

Dated: November 10, 2014. Richard U. Rodriguez, Acting Director, Office of Technology Transfer, National Institutes of Health. [FR Doc. 2014–27342 Filed 11–18–14; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 4140–01–P

 


 

Development of a Biochemical Diagnosis for Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease

 

Period of Performance: 09/01/2014 - 08/31/2015

 

$501K Phase 2 STTR

 

Recipient Firm Amprion, Inc. Houston, TX 77019 Principal Investigator Claudio Soto

 

Principal Investigator Russell M Lebovitz

 

Research Topics Affect Age Animals Antibodies authority Autopsy base Biochemical Biological Biological Assay Biological Availability Blinded Blood Blood specimen Blood Tests Blood Transfusion Bovine Spongiform Encephal Brain Businesses Cattle Cerebrospinal Fluid Clinical clinical Diagnosis Code commercialization Communicable Diseases Abstract DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Human prion diseases are infectious and invariably fatal forms of neurodegenerative diseases, including sporadic Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (sCJD), the most common form, and variant CJD (vCJD) which is associated to consumption of cattle meat infected by bovine spongiform encephalopathy. Currently there is not sensitive, objective and non-invasive biochemical diagnosis for these diseases, and even less a procedure to detect people incubating the disease in the pre-symptomatic period. This is a major problem for public health, because prion diseases are known to transmit iatrogenically between human-to-human and because due to the long pre-symptomatic stage of the disease-which may span five decades-the asymptomatic carriers far outnumber the clinically affected individuals. To make the situation even more complicated, the infectious agent responsible for these diseases, termed prion, is composed exclusively of a conformationally altered form of a naturally occurring protein, named PrPSc, which has the unique ability to infect individuals and propagate in the body without the need for genetic material. PrPSc is not only the infectious agent and the likely culprit of neurodegeneration, but also the best surrogate marker for the disease. The challenge is that its quantity is high only in the brain at late stages of the disease However, compelling evidences indicate that PrPSc is present in minute amounts in various peripheral tissues and biological fluids. The main goal of this proposal is to develop a blood- and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF)-based detection assay for PrPSc associated with sCJD and vCJD. Our strategy utilizes two pioneering proprietary technologies developed in our lab: First the protein misfolding cyclic amplification (PMCA) technique which enables to amplify the amount of PrPSc present in the sample to detect as little as a single molecule of PrPSc. PMCA, has a similar power of amplification as PCR and allowed us to detect, for the first time, prions in blood and urine, even at the pre-symptomatic stages of the disease. Second, PrPSc-specific monoclonal antibodies (called PrioC) raised against prion-infected brain homogenates in PrP knock out mice. In this project we will optimize a technology combining PMCA amplification of PrPSc with detection by sandwich ELISA using the PrioC conformational antibodies. The assay will be optimized using animal and human samples for high throughput detection of prions in biological fluids, and will be validated for sensitivity and specificity according to the requiremets of the regulatory authorities with the aim to obtain approval for commercialization. The results generated in this project may lead to the first biochemical test validated for the diagnosis of CJD. With this validated technology, Amprion will establish an International Reference Laboratory for the Detection and Eradication of human prion diseases.

 


 

Contact Information Claudio Soto, PhD claudio.soto@uth.tmc.edu Phone: 713-5007086 Houston, United States

 

Professional Information Professor and Center Director University of Texas Medical School at Houston

 

Financial Disclosure Member reports the following financial or other potential conflicts of interest: [Last updated: May 6, 2009]

 

I am Founder, Vice-President and Chief Scientific Officer of Amprion Inc, a company focusing on development sensitive biochemical diagnosis for neurodegenerative diseases

 


 

UTHealth researchers discover infectious prion protein in urine of patients with variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease

 

Claudio Soto, Ph.D., in one of his labs at The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston (UTHealth) Claudio Soto, Ph.D., in one of his labs at The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston (UTHealth)

 

HOUSTON – (August 7, 2014) – The misfolded and infectious prion protein that is a marker for variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease – linked to the consumption of infected cattle meat – has been detected in the urine of patients with the disease by researchers at The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston (UTHealth) Medical School.

 

The results of the international study, led by Claudio Soto, Ph.D., professor of neurology at the UTHealth Medical School, is published in the Aug. 7 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine.

 

Variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease in humans and bovine spongiform encephalopathy in animals – also known as Mad Cow disease – are fatal neurodegenerative disorders. There are currently no noninvasive tools available to diagnose the disease and there are no treatments.

 

Sporadic Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease occurs worldwide at a rate of around 1 new case per million people per year. The variant form is a new disease occurring in people who either ate the beef of cows with bovine spongiform encephalopathy or, in the case of three patients in the United Kingdom, received blood transfusions from asymptomatic infected donors.

 

The international team of researchers analyzed urine samples from 68 patients with sporadic Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, 14 patients with variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, four patients with genetic prion diseases, 50 patients with other neurodegenerative diseases, 50 patients with nondegenerative neurologic diseases and 52 healthy persons.

 

Soto’s laboratory used a protein misfolding cyclic amplification assay, invented in the lab, which mimics the prion replication process in vitro that occurs in prion disease. The misfolded prion proteins were detected in the urine of 13 of 14 patients with variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease. The single patient whose urine was negative had been receiving an experimental treatment of pentosan polysulfate directly into the brain. No misfolded prion proteins were detected in the urine of any the other study subjects, including the patients who had sporadic Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease.

 

“What could be less invasive than detecting this disease in urine? The fact that we were able to detect just the variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease form in the urine is very important. This could lead to the development of commercial technology for diagnosis as well as to determine the safety of donated blood and urinary products,” said Soto, who is the director of The George and Cynthia Mitchell Center for Research in Alzheimer’s disease and Related Brain Disorders, and founder of Amprion Inc, a biotech company developing the cyclic amplification technology for commercial application.

 

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease affects younger patients, who have a median age of 28 at death, compared to sporadic Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease with a median age of 68. Most patients, after diagnosis of either form, live less than a year before death.

 

As of June 2, 2014, 177 of 229 people in the world with Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease were from the United Kingdom. A 2013 study published in the British Medical Journal has estimated that approximately 30,000 people in the United Kingdom might be carriers of the variant form of the disease.

 

“This study reports, for the first time, the detection of the abnormal prion protein in the urine from patients with variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease using the protein misfolding amplification technique pioneered by Dr. Claudio Soto,” said co-author James W. Ironside, FMedSci, FRSE, professor of clinical neuropathology at the National CJD Research and Surveillance Unit at the University of Edinburgh. “This has great potential to allow the development of a highly sensitive and specific non-invasive test that can be used for the diagnosis of variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, and potentially as a screening tool for variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease infection in asymptomatic individuals, which is a topic of current interest in the United Kingdom.”

 

First author is Fabio Moda, Ph.D., who was a post-doctoral fellow in Soto’s lab at the UTHealth Medical School and is now with the Istituto Neurologico Carlo Besta in Milan.

 

Co-authors include Luis Concha-Marambio and Kyung-Won Park, Ph.D., from the UTHealth Medical School; and Fabrizio Tagliavini, M.D.; Marcella Catania, Ph.D.; Emanuela Maderna and Silvia Suardi from Istituto Neurologico Carlo Besta.

 

Pierluigi Gambetti, M.D., and Silvio Notari, Ph.D. are co-authors from the National Prion Disease Pathology Surveillance Center at Case Western Reserve University. Co-author Richard Knight, M.D., is with the National CJD Research and Surveillance Unit at the University of Edinburgh. Stephanie Haik, M.D., Ph.D., and Jean-Philippe Brandel, M.D., are co-authors from the Assistance Publique-Hopitaux de Paris.

 

The research was supported by grants from the National Institutes of Health (P01AI077774, R42NS079060, R01NS049173 and R01NS078745 to Soto); PrioNet Canada and Merck Serono (to Soto); the Italian Ministry of Health, Associazione Italniana Encfalopatie da Prioni and Minesterio dell’Universita e della Ricerca (to Tagliavini); the Charles S. Britton Fund (to Gambetti) and the U.K Department of Health and Scottish Government (to Ironside and Knight).

 

Deborah Mann Lake

 

Media Hotline: 713-500-3030

 


 

Original Article

 

Prions in the Urine of Patients with Variant Creutzfeldt–Jakob Disease

 

Fabio Moda, Ph.D., Pierluigi Gambetti, M.D., Silvio Notari, Ph.D., Luis Concha-Marambio, B.Sc., Marcella Catania, Ph.D., Kyung-Won Park, Ph.D., Emanuela Maderna, B.Sc., Silvia Suardi, B.Sc., Stéphane Haïk, M.D., Ph.D., Jean-Philippe Brandel, M.D., James Ironside, M.D., Richard Knight, M.D., Fabrizio Tagliavini, M.D., and Claudio Soto, Ph.D.

 

N Engl J Med 2014; 371:530-539August 7, 2014DOI: 10.1056/NEJMoa1404401

 

Background

 

Prions, the infectious agents responsible for transmissible spongiform encephalopathies, consist mainly of the misfolded prion protein (PrPSc). The unique mechanism of transmission and the appearance of a variant form of Creutzfeldt–Jakob disease, which has been linked to consumption of prion-contaminated cattle meat, have raised concerns about public health. Evidence suggests that variant Creutzfeldt–Jakob disease prions circulate in body fluids from people in whom the disease is silently incubating.

 

Methods

 

To investigate whether PrPSc can be detected in the urine of patients with variant Creutzfeldt–Jakob disease, we used the protein misfolding cyclic amplification (PMCA) technique to amplify minute quantities of PrPSc, enabling highly sensitive detection of the protein. We analyzed urine samples from several patients with various transmissible spongiform encephalopathies (variant and sporadic Creutzfeldt–Jakob disease and genetic forms of prion disease), patients with other degenerative or nondegenerative neurologic disorders, and healthy persons.

 

Results

 

PrPSc was detectable only in the urine of patients with variant Creutzfeldt–Jakob disease and had the typical electrophoretic profile associated with this disease. PrPSc was detected in 13 of 14 urine samples obtained from patients with variant Creutzfeldt–Jakob disease and in none of the 224 urine samples obtained from patients with other neurologic diseases and from healthy controls, resulting in an estimated sensitivity of 92.9% (95% confidence interval [CI], 66.1 to 99.8) and a specificity of 100.0% (95% CI, 98.4 to 100.0). The PrPSc concentration in urine calculated by means of quantitative PMCA was estimated at 1×10−16 g per milliliter, or 3×10−21 mol per milliliter, which extrapolates to approximately 40 to 100 oligomeric particles of PrPSc per milliliter of urine.

 

Conclusions

 

Urine samples obtained from patients with variant Creutzfeldt–Jakob disease contained minute quantities of PrPSc. (Funded by the National Institutes of Health and others.)

 

The views expressed in this article are those of the authors and not necessarily those of the U.K. Department of Health.

 

Supported by grants from the National Institutes of Health (P01AI077774, R42NS079060, R01NS049173, and R01NS078745, to Dr. Soto), PrioNet Canada and Merck Serono (to Dr. Soto), the Italian Ministry of Health, Associazione Italiana Encefalopatie da Prioni, and Ministero dell'Università e della Ricerca (RBAP11FRE9, to Dr. Tagliavini), the Charles S. Britton Fund (P01AG14359, to Dr. Gambetti), and the U.K. Department of Health and the Scottish Government (to Drs. Ironside and Knight).

 

Disclosure forms provided by the authors are available with the full text of this article at NEJM.org.

 

We thank Suzanne Lowrie, F.I.B.M.S., for assistance in collecting urine samples, Denisse Gonzalez-Romero, M.Sc., of the University of Texas Medical School at Houston for technical assistance, and Dr. Glenn Telling of Colorado State University for providing colonies of transgenic mice expressing human prion protein.

 

Source Information

 

From the Mitchell Center for Research in Alzheimer's Disease and Related Brain Disorders, University of Texas Medical School at Houston, Houston (F.M., L.C.-M., K.-W.P., C.S.); Foundation Carlo Besta Neurologic Institute, Milan (F.M., M.C., E.M., S.S., F.T.); National Prion Disease Pathology Surveillance Center, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland (P.G., S.N.); Universidad de los Andes, Facultad de Medicina, Santiago, Chile (L.C.-M.); Assistance Publique–Hôpitaux de Paris, Cellule Nationale de Référence des Maladies de Creutzfeldt–Jakob, Groupe Hospitalier Pitié–Salpêtrière, INSERM Unité 1127, Université Pierre et Marie Curie–Paris 6, and Centre Nationale de la Recherche Scientifique, Unité Mixte de Recherche — all in Paris (S.H., J.-P.B.); and the National CJD Research and Surveillance Unit, Western General Hospital, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh (J.I., R.K.).

 

Address reprint requests to Dr. Soto at the University of Texas Medical School at Houston, 6431 Fannin St., Houston, TX77030, or at claudio.soto@uth.tmc.edu.

 


 

Original Article

 

A Test for Creutzfeldt–Jakob Disease Using Nasal Brushings

 

Christina D. Orrú, Ph.D., Matilde Bongianni, Ph.D., Giovanni Tonoli, M.D., Sergio Ferrari, M.D., Andrew G. Hughson, M.S., Bradley R. Groveman, Ph.D., Michele Fiorini, Ph.D., Maurizio Pocchiari, M.D., Salvatore Monaco, M.D., Byron Caughey, Ph.D., and Gianluigi Zanusso, M.D., Ph.D.

 

N Engl J Med 2014; 371:519-529August 7, 2014DOI: 10.1056/NEJMoa1315200

 

Background

 

Definite diagnosis of sporadic Creutzfeldt–Jakob disease in living patients remains a challenge. A test that detects the specific marker for Creutzfeldt–Jakob disease, the prion protein (PrPCJD), by means of real-time quaking-induced conversion (RT-QuIC) testing of cerebrospinal fluid has a sensitivity of 80 to 90% for the diagnosis of sporadic Creutzfeldt–Jakob disease. We have assessed the accuracy of RT-QuIC analysis of nasal brushings from olfactory epithelium in diagnosing sporadic Creutzfeldt–Jakob disease in living patients.

 

Methods

 

We collected olfactory epithelium brushings and cerebrospinal fluid samples from patients with and patients without sporadic Creutzfeldt–Jakob disease and tested them using RT-QuIC, an ultrasensitive, multiwell plate–based fluorescence assay involving PrPCJD-seeded polymerization of recombinant PrP into amyloid fibrils.

 

Results

 

The RT-QuIC assays seeded with nasal brushings were positive in 30 of 31 patients with Creutzfeldt–Jakob disease (15 of 15 with definite sporadic Creutzfeldt–Jakob disease, 13 of 14 with probable sporadic Creutzfeldt–Jakob disease, and 2 of 2 with inherited Creutzfeldt–Jakob disease) but were negative in 43 of 43 patients without Creutzfeldt–Jakob disease, indicating a sensitivity of 97% (95% confidence interval [CI], 82 to 100) and specificity of 100% (95% CI, 90 to 100) for the detection of Creutzfeldt–Jakob disease. By comparison, testing of cerebrospinal fluid samples from the same group of patients had a sensitivity of 77% (95% CI, 57 to 89) and a specificity of 100% (95% CI, 90 to 100). Nasal brushings elicited stronger and faster RT-QuIC responses than cerebrospinal fluid (P<0 .001="" 105="" 107="" approximately="" at="" between-group="" brushings="" cerebrospinal="" comparison="" concentrations="" contained="" div="" fluid.="" for="" greater="" in="" individual="" logs10="" of="" prion="" response="" seeds="" several="" strength="" than="" the="" to="">
 

Conclusions

 

In this preliminary study, RT-QuIC testing of olfactory epithelium samples obtained from nasal brushings was accurate in diagnosing Creutzfeldt–Jakob disease and indicated substantial prion seeding activity lining the nasal vault. (Funded by the Intramural Research Program of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and others.)

 

Supported by the Intramural Research Program of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), by a grant from Fondazione Cariverona (Disabilità cognitiva e comportamentale nelle demenze e nelle psicosi, to Dr. Monaco), by a grant from the Italian Ministry of Health (RF2009-1474758, to Drs. Zanusso and Pocchiari), by a grant from the Creutzfeldt–Jakob Disease Foundation (to Dr. Orrú), by a fellowship from Programma Master and Back–Percorsi di rientro (PRR-MAB-A2011-19199, to Dr. Orrú), and by donations to the NIAID Gift Fund from Mary Hilderman Smith, Zoë Smith Jaye, and Jenny Smith Unruh, in memory of Jeffrey Smith.

 

Disclosure forms provided by the authors are available with the full text of this article at NEJM.org.

 

Drs. Orrú and Bongianni contributed equally to this article.

 

We thank our many colleagues (see Acknowledgments in the Supplementary Appendix) for their support of this project and for assistance with the preparation of earlier versions of the manuscript.

 

Source Information From the Laboratory of Persistent Viral Diseases, Rocky Mountain Laboratories, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), National Institutes of Health, Hamilton, MT (C.D.O., M.B., A.G.H., B.R.G., B.C.); and the Department of Biomedical Sciences, University of Cagliari, Cagliari (C.D.O.), the Department of Neurologic and Movement Sciences, University of Verona, Verona (M.B., S.F., M.F., S.M., G.Z.), Clinica Otorinolaringoiatrica, Policlinico G.B. Rossi, Azienda Ospedaliera Universitaria Integrata, Verona (G.T.), and the Department of Cell Biology and Neurosciences, Istituto Superiore di Sanità, Rome (M.P.) — all in Italy.

 

Address reprint requests to Dr. Caughey at Rocky Mountain Laboratories, NIAID, 903 S. 4th St., Hamilton, MT 59840, or at bcaughey@nih.gov; or to Dr. Zanusso at Policlinico G.B. Rossi, Piazzale L.A. Scuro, 10, 37134 Verona, Italy, or at gianluigi.zanusso@univr.it.

 


 


 

Wednesday, July 23, 2014

 

After the storm? UK blood safety and the risk of variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease

 


 

Monday, June 02, 2014

 

Confirmed Human BSE aka mad cow Variant CJD vCJD or nvCJD Case in Texas

 


 

Jeff Schwan, sporadic cjd, clustering, and BSE aka mad cow type disease, is there a link ? *video*

 


 

Monday, November 3, 2014

 

USA CJD TSE PRION UNIT, TEXAS, SURVEILLANCE UPDATE NOVEMBER 2014

 

National Prion Disease Pathology Surveillance Center Cases Examined1 (October 7, 2014)

 

***6 Includes 11 cases in which the diagnosis is pending, and 19 inconclusive cases;

 

***7 Includes 12 (11 from 2014) cases with type determination pending in which the diagnosis of vCJD has been excluded.

 

***The sporadic cases include 2660 cases of sporadic Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (sCJD),

 

***50 cases of Variably Protease-Sensitive Prionopathy (VPSPr)

 

***and 21 cases of sporadic Fatal Insomnia (sFI).

 


 

Monday, November 3, 2014

 

The prion protein protease sensitivity, stability and seeding activity in variably protease sensitive prionopathy brain tissue suggests molecular overlaps with sporadic Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease

 


 

Tuesday, November 04, 2014

 

The pathological and molecular but not clinical phenotypes are maintained after second passage of experimental atypical bovine spongiform encephalopathy in cattle

 


 

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

 


 

Tuesday, August 12, 2014

 

MAD COW USDA TSE PRION COVER UP or JUST IGNORANCE, for the record AUGUST 2014

 


 

Thursday, October 02, 2014

 

[Docket No. APHIS-2013-0064] Concurrence With OIE Risk Designations for Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy

 


 

Saturday, August 14, 2010

 

BSE Case Associated with Prion Protein Gene Mutation (g-h-BSEalabama) and VPSPr PRIONPATHY

 


 

2009 UPDATE ON ALABAMA AND TEXAS MAD COWS 2005 and 2006

 


 

Six-year follow-up of a point-source exposure to CWD contaminated venison in an Upstate New York community: risk behaviours and health outcomes 2005–2011

 


 

Thursday, July 31, 2014 

 

EFSA Scrapie reduction unlikely without effective breeding programme

 


 

Sunday, July 06, 2014

 

Dietary Risk Factors for Sporadic Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease: A Confirmatory Case-Control Study

 

Conclusions—The a priori hypotheses were supported.

 

*Consumption of various meat products may be one method of transmission of the infectious agent for sCJD.

 


 

Tuesday, November 04, 2014

Towards an Age-Dependent Transmission Model of Acquired and Sporadic Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease
http://creutzfeldt-jakob-disease.blogspot.com/2014/11/towards-age-dependent-transmission.html


Wednesday, September 10, 2014

Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD) biannual update (August 2014), with updated guidance on decontamination of gastrointestinal endoscopy equipment

Research and analysis
http://creutzfeldt-jakob-disease.blogspot.com/2014/09/creutzfeldt-jakob-disease-cjd-biannual.html

Transmissible Spongiform Encephalopathy TSE Prion Disease North America 2014

 

Transmissible Spongiform Encephalopathy TSE Prion Disease have now been discovered in a wide verity of species across North America. typical C-BSE, atypical L-type BASE BSE, atypical H-type BSE, atypical H-G BSE, of the bovine, typical and atypical Scrapie strains, in sheep and goats, with atypical Nor-98 Scrapie spreading coast to coast in about 5 years. Chronic Wasting Disease CWD in cervid is slowly spreading without any stopping it in Canada and the USA and now has mutated into many different strains. Transmissible Mink Encephalopathy TME outbreaks. These Transmissible Spongiform Encephalopathy TSE Prion Disease have been silently mutating and spreading in different species in North America for decades.

 

The USDA, FDA, et al have assured us of a robust Triple BSE TSE prion Firewall, of which we now know without a doubt, that it was nothing but ink on paper. Since the 1997 mad cow feed ban in the USA, literally tons and tons of banned mad cow feed has been put out into commerce, never to return, as late as December of 2013, serious, serious breaches in the FDA mad cow feed ban have been documented. The 2004 enhanced BSE surveillance program was so flawed, that one of the top TSE prion Scientist for the CDC, Dr. Paul Brown stated ; Brown, who is preparing a scientific paper based on the latest two mad cow cases to estimate the maximum number of infected cows that occurred in the United States, said he has "absolutely no confidence in USDA tests before one year ago" because of the agency's reluctance to retest the Texas cow that initially tested positive.

 

see ;

 


 

The BSE surveillance and testing have also been proven to be flawed, and the GAO and OIG have both raised serious question as to just how flawed it has been (see GAO and OIG reports). North America has more documented TSE prion disease, in different documented species (excluding the Zoo BSE animals in the EU), then any other place on the Globe. This does not include the very likelihood that TSE prion disease in the domestic feline and canine have been exposed to high doses of the TSE prion disease vid pet food. To date, it’s still legal to include deer from cwd zone into pet food or deer food. Specified Risk Material i.e. SRM bans still being breach, as recently as just last month.

 

nvCJD or what they now call vCJD, another case documented in Texas last month, with very little information being released to the public on about this case? with still the same line of thought from federal officials, ‘it can’t happen here’, so another vCJD blamed on travel of a foreign animal disease from another country, while ignoring all the BSE TSE Prion risk factors we have here in the USA and Canada, and the time that this victim and others, do spend in the USA, and exposed to these risk factors, apparently do not count in any way with regard to risk factor. a flawed process of risk assessment.

 

sporadic CJD, along with new TSE prion disease in humans, of which the young are dying, of which long duration of illness from onset of symptoms to death have been documented, only to have a new name added to the pot of prion disease i.e. sporadic GSS, sporadic FFI, and or VPSPR. I only ponder how a familial type disease could be sporadic with no genetic link to any family member? when the USA is the only documented Country in the world to have documented two different cases of atypical H-type BSE, with one case being called atypical H-G BSE with the G meaning Genetic, with new science now showing that indeed atypical H-type BSE is very possible transmitted to cattle via oral transmission (Prion2014). sporadic CJD and VPSPR have been rising in Canada, USA, and the UK, with the same old excuse, better surveillance. You can only use that excuse for so many years, for so many decades, until one must conclude that CJD TSE prion cases are rising. a 48% incease in CJD in Canada is not just a blip or a reason of better surveillance, it is a mathematical rise in numbers. More and more we are seeing more humans exposed in various circumstance in the Hospital, Medical, Surgical arenas to the TSE Prion disease, and at the same time in North America, more and more humans are becoming exposed to the TSE prion disease via consumption of the TSE prion via deer and elk, cattle, sheep and goats, and for those that are exposed via or consumption, go on to further expose many others via the iatrogenic modes of transmission of the TSE prion disease i.e. friendly fire. I pondered this mode of transmission via the victims of sporadic FFI, sporadic GSS, could this be a iatrogenic event from someone sub-clinical with sFFI or sGSS ? what if?

 

Two decades have passed since Dr. Ironside first confirmed his first ten nvCJD victims in 1995. Ten years later, 2005, we had Dr. Gambetti and his first ten i.e. VPSPR in younger victims. now we know that indeed VPSPR is transmissible. yet all these TSE prion disease and victims in the USA and Canada are being pawned off as a spontaneous event, yet science has shown, the spontaneous theory has never been proven in any natural case of TSE prion disease, and scientist have warned, that they have now linked some sporadic CJD cases to atypical BSE, to atypical Scrapie, and to CWD, yet we don’t here about this in the public domain. We must make all human and animal TSE prion disease reportable in every age group, in ever state and internationally, we must have a serious re-evaluation and testing of the USA cattle herds, and we must ban interstate movement of all cervids. Any voluntary effort to do any of this will fail. Folks, we have let the industry run science far too long with regards to the TSE prion disease. While the industry and their lobbyist continues to funnel junk science to our decision policy makers, Rome burns. ...end

 

REFERENCES

 

Sunday, June 29, 2014

 

Transmissible Spongiform Encephalopathy TSE Prion Disease North America 2014

 


 

THE SILENCE IS STILL DEAFENING !

 

CONFIRMED HUMAN BSE AKA MAD COW DISEASE vCJD TEXAS USA

 

Monday, June 02, 2014

 

Confirmed Variant CJD Case in Texas

 


 

 

TSS

Wednesday, November 19, 2014

State researchers make inroads on prion study

State researchers make inroads on prion study

 

Briana Wipf, bwipf@greatfallstribune.com 10:06 p.m. MST November 17, 2014

 

Sonia Vallabh and Eric Minkel have dedicated their careers to prion research after Vallabh tested positive for a genetic mutation that will cause her to develop fatal familial insomnia. (Photo: Aditi Mehta photo )

 

An illness that strikes family members in the 50s, affecting their behavior and keeping them from sleeping. A shaking sickness that strikes only a tribe of New Guinea. A disease that strikes sheep and goats, causing them to scrape their bodies against anything they can get near, in an attempt to scratch an itch that exists only in their brains.
 

Mysterious illnesses baffled doctors and scientists for years, until the early 1980s when their cause was finally discovered. The discovery — that these and other diseases are caused not by genetic mutations or outside pathogens like viruses or bacteria, but by naturally occurring but damaged proteins within the body — turned the scientific community on its head.

 

They are called prions — misfolded proteins that are infectious and cause fatal neurodegenerative diseases in animals and humans.

 

And while they are unusual and glamorous, in a biological way, research into prion disease is happening everywhere, including Montana, and livestock and wildlife experts are keeping close eyes on populations to keep them healthy.

 

Nose to the ground

 

Rocky Mountain Laboratories in Hamilton is a biomedical research facility equipped for scientists to study some of the most dangerous, infectious diseases on the planet.

 

In August, the New England Journal of Medicine published a paper that represents a significant step forward in prion disease research. One of the authors of the paper, which details a new test for Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, is Byron Caughey of RML.

 

Caughey has been working for 30 years on prion disease, and he admits his fascination with the tiny, nearly indestructible rogue proteins is party practical, partly because of simple fascination.

 

"We need to figure out how to cope with them," Caughey said. "That's the bottom line, really, besides the scientific fascination with working with a strange new class of infectious agents that is neither a virus nor a bacterium nor a protozoan. So (there is) fundamental interest in prions as well as the practical concerns of helping people and animals that get these diseases."

 

Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, or CJD, is one of the more common prion diseases. "Common" in this case is relative: CJD occurs in about one per one million people, meaning about 300 Americans are diagnosed with CJD each year.

 

The disease causes loss of muscular coordination, personality changes, depression and insomnia, among other symptoms.

 

The traditional test for CJD lacked sensitivity and practicality, so the team Caughey worked with developed a test that detects the biomarker of CJD using nasal brushings. The test is more accurate and less invasive than other methods.

 

It's a victory for Caughey and the rest of his team because being able to identify the disease quickly may help with treatment, even if it doesn't exist yet.

 

"One of the problems when people show up in the clinic with early neurological signs is to get a definitive diagnosis, so these tests might really help in that regard, and if therapies are available, to get them started as soon as possible," Caughey said.

 

Caughey has worked on another prion disease, chronic wasting disease, that affects deer, elk and moose.

 

While CWD has been detected in states and provinces surrounding Montana, to date the only CWD-positive animals detected in the state were part of a game farm near Philipsburg in 1999. Those animals were destroyed, according to the Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks website.

 

But FWP conducts a surveillance program that involves testing the carcasses of sick or symptomatic animals. Beginning this year, live animals will be collared and tested using a rectal biopsy in northern Montana, explained Dr. Jennifer Ramsey, a wildlife veterinarian with FWP. This is the first time live animals can be tested.

 

Of the animals that can get CWD, a highly infectious and fatal illness, Ramsey said that it's thought it will turn up in deer first.

 

"I guess I'm a little bit surprised (it's never been detected in Montana)," Ramsey said. "I think most people who work with wildlife think it's probably going to show up eventually. We're kind of surrounded by it now."

 

The new surveillance program, which will provide data about how deer move and interact among herds, may provide information about the spread of CWD among infected and noninfected herds.

 

Ramsey said the public can help by reporting sick animals to FWP. Animals that are thin, salivating, hanging their heads and drooping their ears should be reported.

 

Two other prion diseases that affect animals, scrapie in sheep and goats and bovine spongiform encephalopathy in cattle, are monitored by the United States Department of Agriculture. BSE, commonly known as mad cow disease, is rarely seen in the United States, with the last reported case in 2012. Scrapie crops up in flocks occasionally, with the last reported case in Montana in April 2011.

 

Scrapie cases have decreased thanks to aggressive surveillance, testing and certification of scrapie-free herds, according to the USDA-Animal and Plant Health Inspection Services.

 

'It was essentially heresy'

 

McLaughlin Research Institute has become a biomedical outpost of the Montana prairie. Inside its blue and orange exterior, MRI scientists have built reputations studying neurodegenerative brain diseases like Alzheimer's, Parkinson's and multiple sclerosis.

 

Institute director George Carlson focuses his research on Alzheimer's disease, the brain-ravaging, progressive illness that eventually robs its sufferers of their memory and ability to communicate.

 

Finding a way to test for and effectively treat Alzheimer's, costly both in terms of monetary value and emotional toll on patients and families, is at the top of the priority list for many.

 

Carlson believes Alzheimer's is a prion disease.

 

Carlson's career of prion research began in 1983, a year after the publication of a monumental paper by Dr. Stanley Prusiner and his team. Prusiner's paper argued that diseases like kuru and scrapie were caused not by a slow virus, but by protein that occurred naturally within all people's bodies.

 

"It was essentially heresy," Carlson said of Prusiner's theory.

 

Carlson was invited to join Prusiner's research group, but he wasn't completely sold on the prion idea at first. But he said he found it "very interesting."

 

As a graduate student, Carlson had done work on immune response. He had come across papers about kuru, for example, that was attributed to a slow virus but showed no symptoms of being caused by one. There is no fever, for example, which would indicate an immune response. Carlson knew something wasn't quite right with the slow virus theory, so when he was invited to work on Prusiner's prion theory, he joined on.

 

But in those early days, many in the scientific community were skeptical of or completely rejected Prusiner's theory. Up until then, infectious diseases were thought to be caused by outside agents — a virus, bacterium or fungus, for example. The idea that the infectious agent was coming from within the body flew in the face of accepted scientific gospel.

 

"You go to meetings and people would accuse us of fraud," Carlson recalled.

 

Three decades later, Carlson is still fascinated by the prion, but he's turned his attention to neurodegenerative diseases, particularly Alzheimer's disease.

 

Like Carlson, Dr. Deborah Cabin applies what science has learned about the prion to her research on Parkinson's disease and a protein called alpha-synuclein, which misfolds in patients who have that disease.

 

Likewise, the proteins amyloid-beta-peptide and tau misfold in Alzheimer's disease, causing the plaques and tangles in the brain that are the disease's hallmark.

 

Everyone has alpha-beta-peptide, which makes it such a challenge for scientists to understand where the trouble comes in.

 

Alpha-synuclein, Cabin's protein, also is naturally occurring. In Parkinson's patients, it seems to occur in higher numbers. So, it would make sense to remove the alpha-synuclein or prevent the body from producing it, to cure or prevent the Parkinson's disease, right?

 

But Cabin has tried that, and it isn't so simple. Mice that lack alpha-synuclein end up living shorter lives than control mice, indicating the protein may play a role in the aging process. But that's only a hypothesis at this point, and another wrench in the prion mystery.

 

But Cabin, like many researchers, is motivated by the unknown, by the questions she still needs to answer.

 

"If we knew the outcome of a test, there's no reason to do it," she said.

 

A test she once ran on mutagenic mice, one that took years and thousands of mice to complete, did not give her satisfactory results because, she says, she did not choose the right assays for the test.

 

"I still want to find out. This is the sort of thing I lie in bed at night and think about," she said.

 

With their rarity, it may be easy to lose sight of the fact that prion diseases affect real people.

 

One hereditary prion disease, fatal familial insomnia, unexpectedly became part of the lives of Sonia Vallabh and Eric Minikel in 2011.

 

Vallabh's mother was born with a spontaneous genetic mutation that guaranteed she would get FFI. After her mother's death, Vallabh was tested and discovered that she, too, will contract FFI someday, perhaps when she is in her 50s.

 

Three years later, the married couple has devoted their lives to raising money and finding a cure for prion disease. They have also left their original careers — Vallabh was trained as a lawyer and Minikel had a city planning and software engineering background — to pursue PhDs in biological and biomedical studies at Harvard University.

 

Vallabh and Minikel are also working with McLaughlin Research Institute in Great Falls. MRI director Dr. George Carlson is doing experiments with a new drug candidate on a colony of mice with FFI.

 

"Obviously, treating the mice is a first step, and that doesn't mean you can treat the people, but in prion disease, we couldn't even treat the mice for decades," Minikel said.

 

The two have started a nonprofit called the Prion Alliance (www.prionalliance.org) to raise awareness of prion diseases and money for research. Minikel also maintains a blog, www.cureffi.org.

 

Even with the specter of contracting FFI, an illness that causes personality changes and prevents patients from sleeping, Vallabh remains upbeat.

 

"I'm so grateful we decided to get the (genetic) test results," said Vallabh, 30. "Once we knew, we knew, and it could start becoming another thing that we knew about our life."

 

Looking ahead

 

As research has progressed, the term "prion" is almost taking on a new meaning, a class of proteins, Cabin said.

 

"Mechanistically, they're similar but with misfolding of different proteins," Carlson said.

 

Caughey believes the nasal brushings test he and his research partners devised may be adaptable for early tests for not only Alzheimer's and Parkinson's but also Huntington's disease and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or Lou Gehrig's disease.

 

"(These diseases) all involve accumulation of abnormal clusters of different proteins and it's possible, we hope it's possible, that we could get earlier, more definitive diagnoses of these diseases as well as by developing related types of amplification tests," he said.

 

With research into this class of diseases ongoing, scientists continue to make advances and learn more about how prions work and cause disease. And while the pace may at times seem painstakingly slow, breakthroughs may be around the corner.

 

"Sometimes it's like plodding, but then with this diagnostics test, for instance, we've made very rapid and exciting (progress)," Caughey said. "Who knows, maybe tomorrow we'll make a big discovery in the direction of therapeutics."

 



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

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

http://www.plosone.org/article/fetchObject.action?uri=info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0111492&representation=PDF
 
 

Monday, November 3, 2014

 

USA CJD TSE PRION UNIT, TEXAS, SURVEILLANCE UPDATE NOVEMBER 2014

 

National Prion Disease Pathology Surveillance Center Cases Examined1 (October 7, 2014)

 

***6 Includes 11 cases in which the diagnosis is pending, and 19 inconclusive cases;

 

***7 Includes 12 (11 from 2014) cases with type determination pending in which the diagnosis of vCJD has been excluded.

 

***The sporadic cases include 2660 cases of sporadic Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (sCJD),

 

***50 cases of Variably Protease-Sensitive Prionopathy (VPSPr)

 

***and 21 cases of sporadic Fatal Insomnia (sFI).

 


 

Friday, January 10, 2014

 

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

 


 

Tuesday, November 04, 2014

 

The pathological and molecular but not clinical phenotypes are maintained after second passage of experimental atypical bovine spongiform encephalopathy in cattle

 


 

Tuesday, November 04, 2014

 

Six-year follow-up of a point-source exposure to CWD contaminated venison in an Upstate New York community: risk behaviours and health outcomes 2005–2011

 


 

 

MOM DOD 12/14/97 confirm ‘hvCJD’ just made a promise to mom, NEVER FORGET! and never let them forget. ...

 

 

Terry S. Singeltary Sr.