Work

Prion Infectivity in Fat of Deer with Chronic Wasting Disease

Year: 2009

Type: article

Abstract: Chronic wasting disease (CWD) is a neurodegenerative prion disease of cervids. Some animal prion diseases, such as bovine spongiform encephalopathy, can infect humans; however, human susceptibility to CWD is unknown. In ruminants, prion infectivity is found in central nervous system and lymphoid tissues, with smaller amounts in intestine and muscle. In mice, prion infectivity was recently detected in fat. Since ruminant fat is consumed by humans and fed to animals, we determined infectivity titers in fat from two CWD-infected deer. Deer fat devoid of muscle contained low levels of CWD infectivity and might be a risk factor for prion infection of other species.

Source: Journal of Virology

DOI: 10.1128/jvi.01127-09

Authors: Brent Race, Kimberly Meade-White, Richard Race, Bruce Chesebro

Institution: Rocky Mountain Laboratories

Language: English

Topic: Prion Diseases and Protein Misfolding

Subfield: Molecular Biology

Field: Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology

Domain: Life Sciences

SDG: Good health and well-being

Open Access status: green

Funders: National Institutes of Health, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, NHLBI Division of Intramural Research