Virology, Nebraska Center for
Date of this Version
November 2005
Abstract
Chronic wasting disease (CWD) is an emerging prion disease of deer and elk. The risk of CWD transmission to humans following exposure to CWD-infected tissues is unknown. To assess the susceptibility of nonhuman primates to CWD, two squirrel monkeys were inoculated with brain tissue from a CWD-infected mule deer. The CWD-inoculated squirrel monkeys developed a progressive neurodegenerative disease and were euthanized at 31 and 34 months postinfection. Brain tissue from the CWD-infected squirrel monkeys contained the abnormal isoform of the prion protein, PrP-res, and displayed spongiform degeneration. This is the first reported transmission of CWD to primates.
Comments
Published in JOURNAL OF VIROLOGY, Nov. 2005, p. 13794–13796 Vol. 79, No. 21. 0022-538X doi:10.1128/JVI.79.21.13794–13796.2005 Copyright © 2005, American Society for Microbiology. Used by permission.