http://www.nwhc.usgs.gov/disease_information/chronic_wasting_disease/ The latest news about Chronic Wasting Disease and Prions. en-us 720 Copyright National Wildlife Health Center Thu, 15 May 2008 23:07:17 -0500 karen_cunningham@usgs.gov tbeighley@usgs.gov http://www.madison.com/tct/books/reviews/282896 Members of the state Natural Resources Board approved a framework for chronic wasting disease (CWD) management during the 2008 deer hunting season today, while stressing that they ultimately want a comprehensive new statewide plan for controlling the fatal nervous system disease. Thu, 24 Apr 2008 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.nwhc.usgs.gov/disease_information/chronic_wasting_disease/index.jsp#14 http://www.sciencedirect.com/science?_ob=ArticleURL&_udi=B6T0F-4S0JN50-6&_user=696292&_rdoc=1&_fmt=&_orig=search&_sort=d&view=c&_acct=C000038819&_version=1&_urlVersion=0&_userid=696292&md5=efff91571ea20398c95cd88c601288c9 Significant outbreaks of prion disease linked to oral exposure of the prion agent have occurred in animal and human populations. These disorders are associated with a conformational change of a normal protein, PrPC (C for cellular), to a toxic and infectious form, PrPSc (Sc for scrapie). None of the prionoses currently have an effective treatment. Some forms of prion disease are thought to be spread by oral ingestion of PrPSc, such as chronic wasting disease and variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease. Attempts to obtain an active immunization in wild-type animals have been hampered by auto-tolerance to PrP and potential toxicity. Previously, we demonstrated that it is possible to overcome tolerance and obtain a specific anti-PrP antibody response by oral inoculation of the PrP protein expressed in an attenuated Salmonella vector. This past study showed that 30% of vaccinated animals were free of disease more than 350 days post-challenge. In the current study we have both optimized the vaccination protocol and divided the vaccinated mice into low and high immune responder groups prior to oral challenge with PrPSc scrapie strain 139A. These methodological refinements led to a significantly improved therapeutic response. 100% of mice with a high mucosal anti-PrP titer immunoglobulin (Ig) A and a high systemic IgG titer, prior to challenge, remained without symptoms of PrP infection at 400 days (log-rank test P0.0001 versus sham controls). The brains from these surviving clinically asymptomatic mice were free of PrPSc infection by Western blot and histological examination. These promising findings suggest that effective mucosal vaccination is a feasible and useful method for overcoming tolerance to PrP and preventing prion infection via an oral rout Tue, 22 Apr 2008 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.nwhc.usgs.gov/disease_information/chronic_wasting_disease/index.jsp#8 http://www.madison.com/tct/sports/280861 Report outlining that hunting alone cannot control CWD in WI and that effective CWD management will require dramatic and sustained efforts. Wed, 09 Apr 2008 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.nwhc.usgs.gov/disease_information/chronic_wasting_disease/index.jsp#7 http://www.cwd-info.org/index.php/fuseaction/news.detail/ID/48279d5f375447e4fa013239847b650e West Virginia continues efforts to define prevalence and distribution of CWD. Fri, 04 Apr 2008 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.nwhc.usgs.gov/disease_information/chronic_wasting_disease/index.jsp#6 http://escope.prionics.com/index.php?id=242&no_cache=1&article=344 A case of Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease in Britain changes predictions of future infection rates. Tue, 01 Apr 2008 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.nwhc.usgs.gov/disease_information/chronic_wasting_disease/index.jsp#5 http://www.cwd-info.org/pdf/UD90.pdf Regional and State updates on CWD occurances and news. Fri, 07 Mar 2008 00:00:00 -0600 http://www.nwhc.usgs.gov/disease_information/chronic_wasting_disease/index.jsp#4 http://www.vetpathology.org/cgi/content/abstract/44/4/487 Fourteen, 3-month-old calves were intracerebrally inoculated with the agent of chronic wasting disease (CWD) from white-tailed deer (CWDwtd) to compare the clinical signs and neuropathologic findings with those of certain other transmissible spongiform encephalopathies (TSE, prion diseases) that have been shown to be experimentally transmissible to cattle (sheep scrapie, CWD of mule deer CWDmd, bovine spongiform encephalopathy BSE, and transmissible mink encephalopathy). Sat, 01 Mar 2008 00:00:00 -0600 http://www.nwhc.usgs.gov/disease_information/chronic_wasting_disease/index.jsp#3