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Title: ABUNDANT PRP-CWD IN TONSIL FROM MULE DEER WITH PRECLINICAL CHRONIC WASTING DISEASE

Author
item O'Rourke, Katherine
item ZHUANG, D - WASHINGTON STATE UNIV
item Lyda, Amy
item GOMEZ, G - USDA-ARS
item WILLIAMS, E - UNIVERSITY OF WYOMING
item TUO, W - USDA-ARS
item MILLER, M - COLORADO DIV. OF WILDLIFE

Submitted to: Journal of Veterinary Diagnostic Investigation
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 2/24/2003
Publication Date: 9/20/2003
Citation: O'Rourke, K.I., Zhuang, D., Lyda, A.K., Gomez, G., Williams, E.S., Tuo, W., Miller, M.W. Abundant PrP-CWD in tonsil from mule deer with preclinical chronic wasting disease. Journal of Diagnostic Investigation. 2003. v. 15. 320-323.

Interpretive Summary: Chronic wasting disease (CWD) is a fatal brain disease of deer and elk. The disease was originally limited to a small area of the western United States. The spread of the disease to several parts of the US and to Canada has prompted a call for increased surveillance and large scale control programs. Diagnosis of the disease requires trained pathologists using an extremely reliable but time consuming test. Huge number of hunter-harvest samples are available during the short hunting seasons and a test capable of handling these numbers rapidly will be useful. In this study, we determined the amount of PrP-CWD in tonsil, a reliable early indicator of infection in deer, to evaluate the possibility of adapting test methods originally developed for brain of other species. Mule deer tonsils were found to have high levels of the protein and the high throughput tests may be useful additions to the current testing systems.

Technical Abstract: Chronic wasting disease (CWD) is a fatal neurologic disease of deer. The unexpected spread of the disease from a limited area in the western US to a number of states and Canadian provinces has prompted a call for extensive surveillance efforts. The current diagnostic test is sensitive and specific but labor intensive, relatively expensive for the number needed, and time consuming. Alternative test formats suitable for testing brain from cattle with a distantly related disease may be suitable if the tissues of deer contain adequate amounts of the marker protein. In this study, we provide quantitative data on the amount of PrP-CWD, the protein marker for disease, as an estimate of the value of this approach to rapid, high throughput CWD diagnostics.