PENNSYLVANIA Third Case of CWD Discovered in a Captive Deer

[flounder]

THURSDAY, JUNE 01, 2017

PENNSYLVANIA Third Case of CWD Discovered in a Captive Deer Farm in Four Months

chronic-wasting-disease.blogspot.com/2017/06/pennsylvania-third-case-of-cwd.html

with sad regards, terry

[Deleted]

This deer was found dead on the same game farm as the first one (which they sold to another game farm.

[Deleted]

Interesting article at this link.  I will quote some of it below.  If you want to read it all, go to the link.
www.deeranddeerhunting.com/article-index/study-shows-deer-genetically-resistant-chronic-wasting-disease

Study Shows Some Deer Genetically Resistant to Chronic Wasting Disease
By: Darren Warner | August 23, 2016
-----------Opening paragraphs eliminated---------
It’s important to remember what natural selection is, because it just may hold the key to dealing with chronic wasting disease (CWD). Unless you’ve been living in outer space you know that CWD has been killing deer, elk and moose for decades. Wild whitetails in Wisconsin have been hit particularly hard by the disease, with biologists first identifying it in the wild in 2002. The Wisconsin DNR tried unsuccessfully to eradicate CWD by hiring sharpshooters to eradicate all whitetails in the CWD core area. Hunters knew their efforts were in vain.

“The topography is heavily wooded and hilly, giving deer ample places to hide,” said Anthony Grabski, a biochemist, hunter and landowner in the original core Wisconsin CWD area. “Deer are also very evasive creatures, so it’s impossible to kill all of them.”

Thankfully, long gone are the days of Wisconsin trying to wipe out CWD by wiping out deer herds. Today the Badger State’s management of CWD is limited to monitoring its prevalence and spread. This passive management gives a nod to natural selection, and a recent study supports the approach.

University of Wisconsin-Madison researcher Stacie Robinson and her colleagues looked at tissue samples of harvested deer collected for six years in the core CWD area to identify a set of genes (genotype) that appear to make some whitetails genetically resistant to CWD. Statistical modeling showed that deer with a particular genotype were four times less likely to contract CWD, and if they did become infected, they lived 49 longer (8.2 months) than deer without the genotype.

Robinson and her colleagues estimate that about 41 percent of all deer in the original CWD core area have CWD-resistant genes, which they will pass on to offspring. If natural selection follows its normal progression, deer that are CWD-resistant should become dominant in a few hundred years. That’s good news to hunters like Grabski.

“This evolutionary change could take place in an area with low infection rates in as little as 250 years,” Grabski added. “In an area of high infection, the process will be accelerated, and most deer could be CWD-resistant in as little as 50 years.”

The implications for CWD management are enormous. Those who still advocate harvesting large numbers of deer to try to eradicate CWD and/or for CWD testing will undoubtedly take out CWD-resistant deer from the wild, slowing the process of natural selection. In the end, it’s probably best to leave CWD management to Mother Nature.

[redarrow]

I would like to see the practice of raising deer as livestock ended.

[3212]

Jun 1, 2017 13:03:02 GMT -5 @muttleysgone said:

This deer was found dead on the same game farm as the first one (which they sold to another game farm.

I hit "like" on this post by mistake.

[Deleted]

You are forgiven.

[fleroo]

Terry (flounder)...

A. 98.... yer old.
B. I've noticed almost all of your posts are cervid/cwd/disease related ? What gives ? Researcher in the field ?

[Deleted]

Read one of his blog posts and you will know, fleroo.
chronic-wasting-disease.blogspot.com/2017/06/pennsylvania-third-case-of-cwd.html

[fleroo]

10-4 mutt.

..... but what is his mission ? Stricter governmental testing of cervid/bovine etc... ? I read the "why" of him making this his passion, I didn't read anything on what his hopes are for an end result though ?

[3212]

Well,maybe my great,great grandchildren will have a huntable deer population.So sad.On the other hand,maybe Dutch's low deer population will slow the spread.

[flounder]

Jun 2, 2017 6:51:35 GMT -5 fleroo said:

Terry (flounder)...

A. 98.... yer old.
B. I've noticed almost all of your posts are cervid/cwd/disease related ? What gives ? Researcher in the field ?

i lost my mother to the Heidenhain Variant of Creutzfeldt Jakob Disease i.e. hvCJD back around Christmas of 1997 while the feds were trying to assure me it was all a spontaneous event. well, i did not believe the BSe in 1997, and it's really BSe now. pretty much _everything_ i stated back in 1997, sadly have come to pass, all true. scrapie, cwd, bse, all zoonotic, and imo, they have known this all along. you only have to see this damn disease in a loved on once. officials have been missing the bigger picture imo, i.e. friendly fire, pass if forward, iatrogenic. just made a promise to mom, never forget, and never let them forget, before we all do...

kind regards, terry

Chronic Wasting Disease: CFIA Research Summary

Embargoed until May 23, 2017

(OCR of a scanned original)

Research Findings

Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD) is a progressive, fatal disease of the nervous system of cervids including deer, elk, moose, and reindeer that is caused by abnormal proteins called prions. It is known as a transmissible spongiform encephalopathy (TSE). Other TSEs include scrapie in sheep, bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) in cattle, and Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD) in humans.

A limited number of experimental studies have demonstrated that non-human primates, specifically squirrel monkeys, are susceptible to CWD prions. An ongoing research study has now shown that CWD can also be transmitted to macaques, which are genetically closer to humans.

The study led by Dr. Stefanie Czub, a scientist at the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA), and funded by the Alberta Prion Research institute has demonstrated that by orally administering material under experimental conditions from cervids (deer and elk) naturally infected with CWD, the disease can be transmitted to macaques.

in this project, which began in 2009, 18 macaques were exposed to CWD in a variety of ways: by injecting into the brain, through contact with skin, oral administration, and intravenously (into the bloodstream through veins). So far, results are available from 5 animals. At this point, two animals that were exposed to CWD by direct introduction into the brain, one that was administered infected brain material by oral administration and two that were given infected muscle by oral administration have become infected with CWD. The study is ongoing and testing continues in the remaining animals. The early results will be presented at PRlON 2017, the annual international conference on prion diseases, in Edinburgh, Scotland, May 23 to 26, 2017.

Potential impacts of the new finding

Since 2003 Canada has a policy that recommends that animals and materials known to be infected with prions be removed from the food chain and from health products. Although no direct evidence of CWD prion transmission to humans has ever been recorded, the policy advocates a precautionary approach to managing CWD and potential human exposure to prions. These initial findings do not change Health Canada’s Health Products and Food Branch (HPFB) position on food and health products. A precautionary approach is still recommended to manage the potential risks of exposure to prions through food and health products. Measures are in place at federal, provincial and territorial levels to reduce human exposure to products potentially contaminated by CWD by preventing known infected animals from entering the marketplace.

While Federal and P/T government’s animal disease control policies continue to divert known CWD-infected animals away from entering the food and feed supply, research and development of sensitive detection methods including live-animal sampling techniques remain crucial for ensuring an accurate diagnosis. In addition, consistent federal, provincial and territorial communications of appropriate precautionary measures for hunters and indigenous communities are required.

Next Steps

The CFlA will continue to collaborate with national and international partners to develop and validate new diagnostic techniques. The CFlA will also continue to offer confirmatory testing services and reference laboratory expertise to provincial and territorial partners on demand.

Currently, CFlA laboratories are leading or collaborating on several research projects to understand the potential for CWD to infect humans. These projects use non‐human primates, genetically modified mice, and cell-free amplification approaches. Given the present findings, CFiA encourages continued research into TSEs.

The results of this study reinforce the need to redesign the federal program to foster greater adoption of risk mitigation measures for farmed cervids. Federal and provincial government collaboration will continue as new program options are assessed.

The results of Dr. Czub’s research into CWD will be of interest to scientists, governments, industry and people who consume cervid products. After the presentation at PRION 2017, the research will follow the normal steps of completion, peer review and publication. The Government of Canada will monitor the response to this research and determine whether further review of the science is required. Other studies underway by other researchers may also become public as a result of the presentation of Dr. Czub’s research.

The Public Health Agency of Canada, Health Canada, CFlA and other Federal partners are working together to assess what policies or programs need further review as well as preparing other communications about the research and health policy and advice to Canadian. 2017/04/28

===end...UNOFFICIAL...NO URL LINK...TSS===

0:30 First evidence of intracranial and peroral transmission of Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD) into Cynomolgus macaques: a work in progress

Dr Stefanie Czub University of Calgary Faculty of Veterinary Medicine/Canadian Food Inspection Agency Canada

prion2017.org/programme/

WEDNESDAY, MAY 03, 2017

*** First evidence of intracranial and peroral transmission of Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD) into Cynomolgus macaques

chronic-wasting-disease.blogspot.com/2017/05/first-evidence-of-intracranial-and.html

Wednesday, May 24, 2017

PRION2017 CONFERENCE VIDEO UPDATE 23 – 26 May 2017 Edinburgh UPDATE 1

prionprp.blogspot.com/2017/05/prion2017-conference-video-update-23-26.html

TUESDAY, APRIL 04, 2017

Please Support Funding for CDC and NPDPSC's Prion Disease Programs

creutzfeldt-jakob-disease.blogspot.com/2017/04/please-support-funding-for-cdc-and.html

tss

[flounder]

Jun 1, 2017 15:04:19 GMT -5 @muttleysgone said:

Interesting article at this link.  I will quote some of it below.  If you want to read it all, go to the link.
www.deeranddeerhunting.com/article-index/study-shows-deer-genetically-resistant-chronic-wasting-disease

Study Shows Some Deer Genetically Resistant to Chronic Wasting Disease
By: Darren Warner | August 23, 2016
-----------Opening paragraphs eliminated---------
It’s important to remember what natural selection is, because it just may hold the key to dealing with chronic wasting disease (CWD). Unless you’ve been living in outer space you know that CWD has been killing deer, elk and moose for decades. Wild whitetails in Wisconsin have been hit particularly hard by the disease, with biologists first identifying it in the wild in 2002. The Wisconsin DNR tried unsuccessfully to eradicate CWD by hiring sharpshooters to eradicate all whitetails in the CWD core area. Hunters knew their efforts were in vain.

“The topography is heavily wooded and hilly, giving deer ample places to hide,” said Anthony Grabski, a biochemist, hunter and landowner in the original core Wisconsin CWD area. “Deer are also very evasive creatures, so it’s impossible to kill all of them.”

Thankfully, long gone are the days of Wisconsin trying to wipe out CWD by wiping out deer herds. Today the Badger State’s management of CWD is limited to monitoring its prevalence and spread. This passive management gives a nod to natural selection, and a recent study supports the approach.

University of Wisconsin-Madison researcher Stacie Robinson and her colleagues looked at tissue samples of harvested deer collected for six years in the core CWD area to identify a set of genes (genotype) that appear to make some whitetails genetically resistant to CWD. Statistical modeling showed that deer with a particular genotype were four times less likely to contract CWD, and if they did become infected, they lived 49 longer (8.2 months) than deer without the genotype.

Robinson and her colleagues estimate that about 41 percent of all deer in the original CWD core area have CWD-resistant genes, which they will pass on to offspring. If natural selection follows its normal progression, deer that are CWD-resistant should become dominant in a few hundred years. That’s good news to hunters like Grabski.

“This evolutionary change could take place in an area with low infection rates in as little as 250 years,” Grabski added. “In an area of high infection, the process will be accelerated, and most deer could be CWD-resistant in as little as 50 years.”

The implications for CWD management are enormous. Those who still advocate harvesting large numbers of deer to try to eradicate CWD and/or for CWD testing will undoubtedly take out CWD-resistant deer from the wild, slowing the process of natural selection. In the end, it’s probably best to leave CWD management to Mother Nature.

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

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

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

1 Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Midwestern University, United States; 2Department of Diagnostic Medicine and Pathobiology, Kansas State University; 3Prion Research Center; Colorado State University; 4U.S. Geological Survey, Pennsylvania Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit; 5Agricultural Research Service, United States Department of Agriculture; 6Canadian Food Inspection Agency, National and OlE Reference Laboratory for Scrapie and CWO

In mammalian species, the susceptibility to prion diseases is affected, in part, by the sequence of the host's prion protein (PrP). In sheep, a gradation from scrapie susceptible to resistant has been established both in vivo and in vitro based on the amino acids present at PrP positions 136, 154, and 171, which has led to global breeding programs to reduce the prevalence of scrapie in domestic sheep. In cervids, resistance is commonly characterized as a delayed progression of chronic wasting disease (CWD); at present, no cervid PrP allele conferring absolute resistance to prion infection has been identified. To model the susceptibility of various naturally-occurring and hypothetical cervid PrP alleles in vitro, we compared the amplification rates and efficiency of various CWD isolates in recombinant PrPC using real time quaking-induced conversion. We hypothesized that amplification metrics of these isolates in cervid PrP substrates would correlate to in vivo susceptibility - allowing susceptibility prediction for alleles found at 10 frequency in nature, and that there would be an additive effect of multiple resistant codons in hypothetical alleles. Our studies demonstrate that in vitro amplification metrics predict in vivo susceptibility, and that alleles with multiple codons, each influencing resistance independently, do not necessarily contribute additively to resistance. Importantly, we found that the white-tailed deer 226K substrate exhibited the slowest amplification rate among those evaluated, suggesting that further investigation of this allele and its resistance in vivo are warranted to determine if absolute resistance to CWD is possible.

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

PRION 2016 CONFERENCE TOKYO

prion2016.org/dl/newsletter_03.pdf

[flounder]

TUESDAY, JUNE 06, 2017

CHRONIC WASTING DISEASE CWD TSE PRION ZOONOSIS ZOONOTIC INSIDIOUS AND DIRE CONSEQUENCES AHEAD

chronic-wasting-disease.blogspot.com/2017/06/chronic-wasting-disease-cwd-tse-prion.html