Detection of Chronic Wasting Disease Prions in Prairie Soils from Endemic Regions.
Environ Sci Technol
; 58(25): 10932-10940, 2024 Jun 25.
Article
in En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-38865602
ABSTRACT
Chronic wasting disease (CWD) is a contagious prion disease that affects cervids in North America, Northern Europe, and South Korea. CWD is spread through direct and indirect horizontal transmission, with both clinical and preclinical animals shedding CWD prions in saliva, urine, and feces. CWD particles can persist in the environment for years, and soils may pose a risk for transmission to susceptible animals. Our study presents a sensitive method for detecting prions in the environmental samples of prairie soils. Soils were collected from CWD-endemic regions with high (Saskatchewan, Canada) and low (North Dakota, USA) CWD prevalence. Heat extraction with SDS-buffer, a serial protein misfolding cyclic amplification assay coupled with a real-time quaking-induced conversion assay was used to detect the presence of CWD prions in soils. In the prairie area of South Saskatchewan where the CWD prevalence rate in male mule deer is greater than 70%, 75% of the soil samples tested were positive, while in the low-prevalence prairie region of North Dakota (11% prevalence in male mule deer), none of the soils contained prion seeding activity. Soil-bound CWD prion detection has the potential to improve our understanding of the environmental spread of CWD, benefiting both surveillance and mitigation approaches.
Key words
Full text:
1
Database:
MEDLINE
Main subject:
Soil
/
Prions
/
Deer
/
Wasting Disease, Chronic
Limits:
Animals
Country/Region as subject:
America do norte
Language:
En
Journal:
Environ Sci Technol
/
Environ. sci. technol
/
Environmental science & technology
Year:
2024
Type:
Article
Affiliation country:
Canada