Prion Disease in Dromedary Camels, Algeria.
Emerg Infect Dis
; 24(6): 1029-1036, 2018 06.
Article
en En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-29652245
ABSTRACT
Prions cause fatal and transmissible neurodegenerative diseases, including Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease in humans, scrapie in small ruminants, and bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE). After the BSE epidemic, and the associated human infections, began in 1996 in the United Kingdom, general concerns have been raised about animal prions. We detected a prion disease in dromedary camels (Camelus dromedarius) in Algeria. Symptoms suggesting prion disease occurred in 3.1% of dromedaries brought for slaughter to the Ouargla abattoir in 2015-2016. We confirmed diagnosis by detecting pathognomonic neurodegeneration and disease-specific prion protein (PrPSc) in brain tissues from 3 symptomatic animals. Prion detection in lymphoid tissues is suggestive of the infectious nature of the disease. PrPSc biochemical characterization showed differences with BSE and scrapie. Our identification of this prion disease in a geographically widespread livestock species requires urgent enforcement of surveillance and assessment of the potential risks to human and animal health.
Palabras clave
Texto completo:
1
Bases de datos:
MEDLINE
Asunto principal:
Camelus
/
Enfermedades por Prión
/
Enfermedades de los Animales
Límite:
Animals
País/Región como asunto:
Africa
Idioma:
En
Revista:
Emerg Infect Dis
Asunto de la revista:
DOENCAS TRANSMISSIVEIS
Año:
2018
Tipo del documento:
Article