Epidemiology of Chronic Wasting Disease: PrP(res) Detection, Shedding, and Environmental Contamination

摘要

Chronic wasting disease (CWD) of deer and elk is unique among the transmissible spongiform encephalopathies. Our longterm goal is to better understand the epidemiology of CWD and thus develop strategies for management and control. The specific goals of these studies are to develop sensitive assays for PrPres as a marker for infectivity, and use these techniques to monitor the dynamics and modes of shedding of PrPres from orally infected mule and white-tailed deer and elk. Finally these techniques will be applied to investigating the nature of environmental contamination that may be associated with CWD transmission. Protease resistant prion protein from brains of CWD affected deer and elk (PrPres) and cellular PrPc were purified and used in a variety of detection assays. PrPres was detected using antibody based techniques which although substantially more sensitive than any current assay still need improvement. Deer and elk have been infected orally to determine CWD shedding in vivo. In addition, in support of investigations of environmental contamination by the CWD agent, we have mapped areas of high, moderate, and low CWD contamination at two CWD endemic facilities and collected samples for assay to determine levels of the prion protein.