Veterinary Infectious Diseases | Open Access Articles

Chronic Wasting Disease Prions In Elk Antler Velvet, Rachel C. Angers, Tanya S. Seward, Dana Napier, Michael Green, Edward Hoover, Terry Spraker, Katherine O'Rourke, Aru Balachandran, Glenn C. Telling

Zoonotics and Wildlife Disease: Publications

Chronic wasting disease (CWD) is a contagious, fatal prion disease of deer and elk that continues to emerge in new locations. To explore the means by which prions are transmitted with high efficiency among cervids, we examined prion infectivity in the apical skin layer covering the growing antler (antler velvet) by using CWD-susceptible transgenic mice and protein misfolding cyclic amplification. Our finding of prions in antler velvet of CWD-affected elk suggests that this tissue may play a role in disease transmission among cervids. Humans who consume antler velvet as a nutritional supplement are at risk for exposure to prions. The …

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Prevalence Of Intestinal Parasite Infection In Symptomatic And Asymptomatic Dogs In Southwestern West Virginia: The Potential Impact On Human Health, Tashina Marie Savilla

Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

Most dog owners are unaware of asymptomatic infection and of the possibility of contracting zoonotic parasites from their dogs. We hypothesized that parasite infection is: associated with one or more symptoms; independent of gender and age; and independent of anthelmintic usage. Stool samples were collected from 231 dogs in Kanawha County, West Virginia, and were examined by simple fecal flotation. Parasitic prevalence was found to be 23% for Ancylostoma caninum, 8% for Trichuris vulpis, 7% for Toxocara canis, 4% for Isospora species, and 32.5% overall. There was no significant relationship between infection and gender, nor between infection and symptom for …

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Risk Factors For Human Infection With Puumala Virus, Southwestern Germany, Anne Caroline Schwarz, Ulrich Ranft, Isolde Piechotowski, James E. Childs, Stefan O. Brockmann

Zoonotics and Wildlife Disease: Publications

Puumala virus, which causes nephropathia epidemica (NE), is the most prevalent hantavirus in Germany; bank voles serve as the main reservoir. During 2001–2007, most NE cases reported from Germany occurred in the southwestern state of Baden-Württemberg. We investigated the influence of bank vole habitats (beech forest, seed plants), vole food supply (beechnut mast), climate factors (winter and spring temperatures), and human population density on spatial and temporal occurrence of NE cases in Baden- Württemberg. Using Poisson-regression analyses, we found that all these factors influenced disease incidence. Furthermore, an independent trend of increasing incidence predicted that incidence will nearly double each …

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Avian Host-Selection By Culex Pipiens In Experimental Trials, Jennifer E. Simpson, Corrine M. Folsom-O’Keefe, James E. Childs, Leah E. Simons, Theodore G. Andreadis, Maria A. Diuk-Wasser

Zoonotics and Wildlife Disease: Publications

Evidence from field studies suggests that Culex pipiens, the primary mosquito vector of West Nile virus (WNV) in the northeastern and north central United States, feeds preferentially on American robins (Turdus migratorius). To determine the contribution of innate preferences to observed preference patterns in the field, we conducted host preference trials with a known number of adult female C. pipiens in outdoor cages comparing the relative attractiveness of American robins with two common sympatric bird species, European starling, Sternus vulgaris and house sparrow, Passer domesticus. Host seeking C. pipiens were three times more likely to enter robin-baited …

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Antemortem Detection Of PrpCwd In Preclinical, Ranch-Raised Rocky Mountain Elk (Cervus Elaphus Nelsoni) By Biopsy Of The Rectal Mucosa, Terry R. Spraker, Kurt C. Vercauteren, Thomas Gidlewski, David A. Schneider, Randy Munger, Aru Balachandran, Katherine I. O'Rourke

Zoonotics and Wildlife Disease: Publications

Antemortem biopsy of the rectal mucosa was evaluated as a method for the preclinical diagnosis of chronic wasting disease (CWD) in a herd of ranch-raised Rocky Mountain elk (Cervus elaphus nelsoni) quarantined because of exposure to CWD. Biopsy samples were obtained from 41 elk during the winter of 2005–2006 and from 26 elk from that herd still alive and available for testing during the winter of 2006–2007. Samples were examined for PrP^CWD, the protein marker for CWD infection, by immunohistochemistry. PrP^CWD was detected in follicles of the rectoanal mucosa-associated lymphoid tissue in biopsy samples from …

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Susceptibilities Of Nonhuman Primates To Chronic Wasting Disease, Brent Race, Kimberly D. Meade-White, Michael W. Miller, Kent D. Barbian, Richard Rubenstein, Giuseppe Lafauci, Larisa Cervenakova, Cynthia Favara, Donald Gardner, Dan Long, Michael Parnell, James Striebel, Suzette A. Priola, Anne Ward, Elizabeth S. Williams, Richard Race, Bruce Chesebro

Zoonotics and Wildlife Disease: Publications

Chronic wasting disease (CWD) is a transmissible spongiform encephalopathy, or prion disease, that affects deer, elk, and moose. Human susceptibility to CWD remains unproven despite likely exposure to CWD-infected cervids. We used 2 nonhuman primate species, cynomolgus macaques and squirrel monkeys, as human models for CWD susceptibility. CWD was inoculated into these 2 species by intracerebral and oral routes. After intracerebral inoculation of squirrel monkeys, 7 of 8 CWD isolates induced a clinical wasting syndrome within 33–53 months. The monkeys’ brains showed spongiform encephalopathy and proteaseresistant prion protein (PrPres) diagnostic of prion disease. After oral exposure, 2 squirrel monkeys had …

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Discovery Of Swine As A Host For The Reston Ebolavirus, Roger W. Barrette, Samia A. Metwally, Jessica M. Rowland, Lizhe Xu, Sherif R. Zaki, Stuart T. Nichol, Pierre E. Rollin, Jonathan S. Towner, Wun-Ju Shieh, Brigid Batten, Tara K. Sealy, Consuelo Carrillo, Karen E. Moran, Alexa J. Bracht, Gregory A. Mayr, Magdalena Sirios-Cruz, Davinio P. Catbagan, Elizabeth A. Lautner, Thomas G. Ksiazek, William R. White, Michael T. Mcintosh

Zoonotics and Wildlife Disease: Publications

Since the discovery of the Marburg and Ebola species of filovirus, seemingly random, sporadic fatal outbreaks of disease in humans and nonhuman primates have given impetus to identification of host tropisms and potential reservoirs. Domestic swine in the Philippines, experiencing unusually severe outbreaks of porcine reproductive and respiratory disease syndrome, have now been discovered to host Reston ebolavirus (REBOV). Although REBOV is the only member of Filoviridae that has not been associated with disease in humans, its emergence in the human food chain is of concern. REBOV isolates were found to be more divergent from each other than from the …

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Ovine Progressive Pneumonia Provirus Levels Are Unaffected By The Prion 171r Allele In An Idaho Sheep Flock, Robert D. Harrington, Lynn M. Herrmann-Hoesing, Stephen N. White, Katherine I. O'Rourke, Donald P. Knowles

Zoonotics and Wildlife Disease: Publications

Selective breeding of sheep for arginine (R) at prion gene (PRNP) codon 171 confers resistance to classical scrapie. However, other effects of 171R selection are uncertain. Ovine progressive pneumonia/Maedi-Visna virus (OPPV) may infect up to 66% of a flock thus any affect of 171R selection on OPPV susceptibility or disease progression could have major impact on the sheep industry. Hypotheses that the PRNP 171R allele is 1) associated with the presence of OPPV provirus and 2) associated with higher provirus levels were tested in an Idaho ewe flock. OPPV provirus was found in 226 of 358 …

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Validation Of Use Of Rectoanal Mucosa-Associated Lymphoid Tissue For Immunohistochemical Diagnosis Of Chronic Wasting Disease In White-Tailed Deer (Odocoileus Virginianus), Delwyn Keane, Daniel Barr, Rebecca Osborn, Julie Langenberg, Katherine I. O'Rourke, David Schneider, Phillip Bochsler

Zoonotics and Wildlife Disease: Publications

The examination of rectoanal mucosa-associated lymphoid tissue (RAMALT) biopsy specimens for the diagnosis of transmissible spongiform encephalopathies has been described in sheep, elk, and small numbers of mule and white-tailed deer. Previous sample numbers have been too small to validate examination of this type of tissue as a viable antemortem diagnostic test. In this study, we examined RAMALT collected postmortem from 76 white-tailed deer removed from a farm in Wisconsin known to be affected by chronic wasting disease (CWD) and from 210 free-ranging white-tailed deer harvested from an area in Wisconsin where the overall prevalence of CWD among the deer …

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Blood Chimerism Confounds Genetic Relative Susceptibility Testing For Classical Scrapie In Sheep, David A. Schneider, Ahmed Tibary, Terje Taudsepp, Pranab J. Das, Katherine I. O'Rourke

Zoonotics and Wildlife Disease: Publications

Classical scrapie disease is a transmissible spongiform encephalopathy of sheep that is enzootic in the United States. Susceptibility of sheep to classical scrapie is linked to single nucleotide polymorphisms in the prion protein gene (PRNP), forming the basis for genetic testing strategies used by national efforts to eradicate scrapie. Such efforts are occasionally hampered by inconclusive results stemming from the detection of ‘‘complex’’ genotypes. Naturally occurring cases of ovine chimerism are thought to account for some of these instances. In the current report, 4 naturally occurring ovine chimeras are documented through cytogenetic and molecular analyses. All 4 of these sheep …

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Nor98 Scrapie Identified In The United States, Christie M. Loiacono, Bruce V. Thomsen, S. Mark Hall, Matti Kiupel, Diane Sutton, Katherine I. O'Rourke, Bradd Barr, Lucy Anthenill, Delwyn Keane

Zoonotics and Wildlife Disease: Publications

A distinct strain of scrapie identified in sheep of Norway in 1998 has since been identified in numerous countries throughout Europe. The disease is known as Nor98 or Nor98-like scrapie, among other names. Distinctions between classic scrapie and Nor98 scrapie are made based on histopathology and immunodiagnostic results. There are also differences in the epidemiology, typical signalment, and likelihood of clinical signs being observed. In addition, sheep that have genotypes associated with resistance to classic scrapie are not spared from Nor98 disease. The various differences between classic and Nor98 scrapie have been consistently reported in the vast majority of cases …

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Full-Text Articles in Veterinary Infectious Diseases

Chronic Wasting Disease Prions In Elk Antler Velvet, Rachel C. Angers, Tanya S. Seward, Dana Napier, Michael Green, Edward Hoover, Terry Spraker, Katherine O'Rourke, Aru Balachandran, Glenn C. Telling

Zoonotics and Wildlife Disease: Publications

Prevalence Of Intestinal Parasite Infection In Symptomatic And Asymptomatic Dogs In Southwestern West Virginia: The Potential Impact On Human Health, Tashina Marie Savilla

Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

Risk Factors For Human Infection With Puumala Virus, Southwestern Germany, Anne Caroline Schwarz, Ulrich Ranft, Isolde Piechotowski, James E. Childs, Stefan O. Brockmann

Zoonotics and Wildlife Disease: Publications

Avian Host-Selection By Culex Pipiens In Experimental Trials, Jennifer E. Simpson, Corrine M. Folsom-O’Keefe, James E. Childs, Leah E. Simons, Theodore G. Andreadis, Maria A. Diuk-Wasser

Zoonotics and Wildlife Disease: Publications

Antemortem Detection Of PrpCwd In Preclinical, Ranch-Raised Rocky Mountain Elk (Cervus Elaphus Nelsoni) By Biopsy Of The Rectal Mucosa, Terry R. Spraker, Kurt C. Vercauteren, Thomas Gidlewski, David A. Schneider, Randy Munger, Aru Balachandran, Katherine I. O'Rourke

Zoonotics and Wildlife Disease: Publications

Zoonotics and Wildlife Disease: Publications

Zoonotics and Wildlife Disease: Publications

Ovine Progressive Pneumonia Provirus Levels Are Unaffected By The Prion 171r Allele In An Idaho Sheep Flock, Robert D. Harrington, Lynn M. Herrmann-Hoesing, Stephen N. White, Katherine I. O'Rourke, Donald P. Knowles

Zoonotics and Wildlife Disease: Publications

Validation Of Use Of Rectoanal Mucosa-Associated Lymphoid Tissue For Immunohistochemical Diagnosis Of Chronic Wasting Disease In White-Tailed Deer (Odocoileus Virginianus), Delwyn Keane, Daniel Barr, Rebecca Osborn, Julie Langenberg, Katherine I. O'Rourke, David Schneider, Phillip Bochsler

Zoonotics and Wildlife Disease: Publications

Blood Chimerism Confounds Genetic Relative Susceptibility Testing For Classical Scrapie In Sheep, David A. Schneider, Ahmed Tibary, Terje Taudsepp, Pranab J. Das, Katherine I. O'Rourke

Zoonotics and Wildlife Disease: Publications

Nor98 Scrapie Identified In The United States, Christie M. Loiacono, Bruce V. Thomsen, S. Mark Hall, Matti Kiupel, Diane Sutton, Katherine I. O'Rourke, Bradd Barr, Lucy Anthenill, Delwyn Keane

Zoonotics and Wildlife Disease: Publications