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Pathogens
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Advances in Chronic Wasting Disease
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Advances in Chronic Wasting Disease

A special issue of Pathogens (ISSN 2076-0817).

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (30 November 2024) | Viewed by 15643

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Eric Cassmann

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Virus and Prion Research Unit, National Animal Disease Center, USDA, Ames, IA 50010, USA
Interests: CWD; pathogenesis; susceptibility; transmission; diagnostics; cervid; livestock; human
Dr. Nicholas Haley

E-Mail Website
Co-Guest Editor
Department of Microbiology and Immunology, College of Graduate Studies, Midwestern University, Glendale, AZ 85308, USA
Interests: prion; cervids; BSE; wildlife and prion diseases; Alzheimer's disease; neurodegenerative disease

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Chronic wasting disease (CWD) is a fatal neurodegenerative disease of cervids associated with misfolding of the normal cellular prion protein. The disease is harmful to both free-ranging and farmed cervids and has negative financial impacts for producers; federal state and provincial agricultural departments; federal, state, and provincial natural resources agencies; and tribal nations.

This Special Issue is focused on four aspects of Chronic Wasting Disease: pathogenesis and susceptibility, transmission pathways, diagnostics, and human dimensions. You are invited to submit original articles and review articles related to the above topics. This Special Issue will provide dissemination of new knowledge that is important for Chronic Wasting Disease management and control strategies.

Dr. Eric Cassmann
Dr. Nicholas Haley
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Pathogens is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2200 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • CWD
  • pathogenesis
  • susceptibility
  • transmission
  • diagnostics
  • cervid
  • livestock
  • human

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Published Papers (7 papers)

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Research

Jump to: Review

19 pages, 4433 KiB  
Article
Relatedness of White-Tailed Deer from Culling Efforts Within Chronic Wasting Disease Management Zones in Minnesota
by Alberto Fameli, Christopher Jennelle, Jessie Edson, Erik Hildebrand, Michelle Carstensen and W. David Walter
Pathogens 2025, 14(1), 67; https://doi.org/10.3390/pathogens14010067 - 13 Jan 2025
Viewed by 913
Abstract
In white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus), closely related females form social groups, avoiding other social groups. Consequently, females infected with chronic wasting disease (CWD) are more likely to infect social group members. Culling has been used to reduce CWD transmission in high-risk [...] Read more.
In white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus), closely related females form social groups, avoiding other social groups. Consequently, females infected with chronic wasting disease (CWD) are more likely to infect social group members. Culling has been used to reduce CWD transmission in high-risk areas; however, its effectiveness in removing related individuals has not been assessed. We analyzed 11 microsatellites and a mitochondrial DNA fragment to assess: (1) the genetic structure in white-tailed deer in Minnesota, USA and (2) the effectiveness of localized culling to remove related deer. For (1), we genotyped deer culled in 2019 and 2021 in three CWD management zones, and deer collected in between zones. For (2), we only included culled deer, defining “culled groups” as deer obtained in the same township-range-section and year. We compared mean relatedness among deer from the same culled group (intra-group relatedness) and among deer from different culled groups (inter-group relatedness). We did not find evidence of genetic structure, suggesting that an outbreak in any of the management zones could naturally spread to the others. Culling removed deer that were on average more related than expected by chance (intra-group relatedness > inter-group relatedness), and most highly-related deer were culled in the same bait site. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in Chronic Wasting Disease)
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12 pages, 2284 KiB  
Article
Evaluating the Diagnostic Efficacy of Using Pooled Samples for Chronic Wasting Disease Testing and Surveillance
by Monica Hepker, Jianqiang Zhang, Vellareddy Anantharam, Anumantha G. Kanthasamy, Jue Yuan, Wenquan Zou and Rachel M. Ruden
Pathogens 2024, 13(12), 1133; https://doi.org/10.3390/pathogens13121133 - 21 Dec 2024
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1769
Abstract
Disease monitoring informs the opportunities for intervention by natural resource agencies tasked with managing chronic wasting disease (CWD) in wild cervids. However, allocating funds toward testing can reduce those available for education, outreach, and disease reduction. Implementation of more efficient testing strategies can [...] Read more.
Disease monitoring informs the opportunities for intervention by natural resource agencies tasked with managing chronic wasting disease (CWD) in wild cervids. However, allocating funds toward testing can reduce those available for education, outreach, and disease reduction. Implementation of more efficient testing strategies can help meet both an expanding need by resource managers and a burgeoning demand from the hunting public in North America. Here, we evaluated the efficacy of pooled testing using the enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), the current screening test used by veterinary diagnostic laboratories in the United States, and real-time quaking-induced conversion (RT-QuIC), an amplification assay that is being evaluated by the U.S. Department of Agriculture but is not yet approved or commercially available. The samples used in this study consisted of medial retropharyngeal lymph nodes (RPLNs) routinely collected by the Iowa Department of Natural Resources during the 2019–2020 surveillance season. The test pools contained tissue from one positive deer diluted in tissue from an increasing number of undetected deer, with each individual contributing an equal tissue volume. ELISA remained positive with pooling thresholds of 1:1, 1:2, 1:4, and 1:9 at a standard volume of tissue homogenate, whereas RT-QuIC remained positive with pooling thresholds of 1:1, 1:2, 1:4, 1:9, 1:19, and 1:49 at a 0.02% tissue dilution. Our results suggest that pooled testing can reduce diagnostic costs multi-fold, and RT-QuIC can be a viable screening test compatible with current field collection standards. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in Chronic Wasting Disease)
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14 pages, 246 KiB  
Article
Quantifying the Molecular Properties of the Elk Chronic Wasting Disease Agent with Mass Spectrometry
by Christopher J. Silva, Melissa L. Erickson-Beltran, Eric D. Cassmann and Justin J. Greenlee
Pathogens 2024, 13(11), 1008; https://doi.org/10.3390/pathogens13111008 - 16 Nov 2024
Viewed by 1105
Abstract
Chronic wasting disease (CWD) is a prion disease afflicting wild and farmed elk. CWD prions (PrPSc) are infectious protein conformations that replicate by inducing a natively expressed prion protein (PrPC) to refold into the prion conformation. Mass spectrometry was [...] Read more.
Chronic wasting disease (CWD) is a prion disease afflicting wild and farmed elk. CWD prions (PrPSc) are infectious protein conformations that replicate by inducing a natively expressed prion protein (PrPC) to refold into the prion conformation. Mass spectrometry was used to study the prions resulting from a previously described experimental inoculation of MM132, ML132, and LL132 elk with a common CWD inoculum. Chymotryptic digestion times and instrument parameters were optimized to yield a set of six peptides, TNMK, MLGSAMSRPL, LLGSAMSRPL, ENMYR, MMER, and VVEQMCITQYQR. These peptides were used to quantify the amount, the M132 and L132 polymorphic composition, and the extent of methionine oxidation of elk PrPSc. The amount (ng/g brain tissue) of PrPSc present in each sample was determined to be: MM132 (5.4 × 102 ± 7 × 101), ML132 (3.3 × 102 ± 6 × 101 and 3.6 × 102 ± 3 × 101) and LL132 (0.7 × 102 ± 1 × 101, 0.2 × 102 ± 0.2 × 101, and 0.2 × 102 ± 0.5 × 101). The proportion of L132 polymorphism in ML132 (heterozygous) PrPSc from CWD-infected elk was determined to be 43% ± 2% or 36% ± 3%. Methionine oxidation was detected and quantified for the M132 and L132 polymorphisms in the samples. In this way, mass spectrometry can be used to characterize prion strains at a molecular level. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in Chronic Wasting Disease)
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12 pages, 2236 KiB  
Article
Evaluating the Interaction of Emerging Diseases on White-Tailed Deer Populations Using an Agent-Based Modeling Approach
by Miranda Strasburg and Sonja Christensen
Pathogens 2024, 13(7), 545; https://doi.org/10.3390/pathogens13070545 - 28 Jun 2024
Viewed by 1488
Abstract
Disease co-occurrence in wildlife populations is common yet understudied. In the case of disease-caused mortality, the mortality attributed to one disease has the potential to buffer populations against subsequent alternative disease outbreaks by reducing populations and thus contacts needed to sustain disease transmission. [...] Read more.
Disease co-occurrence in wildlife populations is common yet understudied. In the case of disease-caused mortality, the mortality attributed to one disease has the potential to buffer populations against subsequent alternative disease outbreaks by reducing populations and thus contacts needed to sustain disease transmission. However, substantial disease-driven population declines may also prevent populations from recovering, leading to localized extinctions. Hemorrhagic disease (HD), a vector-transmitted, viral disease in white-tailed deer (WTD), similar to chronic wasting disease (CWD), a prion disease, has increased in frequency and distribution in the United States. However, unlike CWD, which progresses slowly, HD can cause mortality only days after infection. Hemorrhagic disease outbreaks can result in substantial localized mortality events in WTD near vector habitats such as wetlands and may reduce local deer densities and consequent CWD transmission. The objective of our study was to evaluate the potential for HD outbreaks to buffer CWD risk where the diseases co-occur. Using an agent-based modeling approach, we found that frequent, intense HD outbreaks have the potential to mitigate CWD risk, especially if those outbreaks occur shortly after CWD introduction. However, HD outbreaks that do not result in substantial WTD mortality are unlikely to impact CWD or WTD population dynamics. Severe HD outbreaks may reduce CWD cases and could present an opportunity for managers to boost CWD control initiatives in a post-HD outbreak year. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in Chronic Wasting Disease)
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12 pages, 763 KiB  
Article
Prion Seeding Activity in Plant Tissues Detected by RT-QuIC
by Kate Burgener, Stuart Siegfried Lichtenberg, Daniel P. Walsh, Heather N. Inzalaco, Aaron Lomax and Joel A. Pedersen
Pathogens 2024, 13(6), 452; https://doi.org/10.3390/pathogens13060452 - 26 May 2024
Viewed by 2117
Abstract
Prion diseases such as scrapie, bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), and chronic wasting disease (CWD) affect domesticated and wild herbivorous mammals. Animals afflicted with CWD, the transmissible spongiform encephalopathy of cervids (deer, elk, and moose), shed prions into the environment, where they may persist [...] Read more.
Prion diseases such as scrapie, bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), and chronic wasting disease (CWD) affect domesticated and wild herbivorous mammals. Animals afflicted with CWD, the transmissible spongiform encephalopathy of cervids (deer, elk, and moose), shed prions into the environment, where they may persist and remain infectious for years. These environmental prions may remain in soil, be transported in surface waters, or assimilated into plants. Environmental sampling is an emerging area of TSE research and can provide more information about prion fate and transport once shed by infected animals. In this study, we have developed the first published method for the extraction and detection of prions in plant tissue using the real-time quaking-induced conversion (RT-QuIC) assay. Incubation with a zwitterionic surfactant followed by precipitation with sodium phosphotungstate concentrates the prions within samples and allows for sensitive detection of prion seeding activity. Using this protocol, we demonstrate that prions can be detected within plant tissues and on plant surfaces using the RT-QuIC assay. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in Chronic Wasting Disease)
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Review

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18 pages, 1292 KiB  
Review
Overview of North American Isolates of Chronic Wasting Disease Used for Strain Research
by W. David Walter, Allen Herbst, Chia-Hua Lue, Jason C. Bartz and M. Camille Hopkins
Pathogens 2025, 14(3), 250; https://doi.org/10.3390/pathogens14030250 - 4 Mar 2025
Viewed by 714
Abstract
Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD) is a prion disease that affects Cervidae species, and is the only known prion disease transmitted among wildlife species. The key pathological feature is the conversion of the normal prion protein (PrPC) misfolding into abnormal forms (PrP [...] Read more.
Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD) is a prion disease that affects Cervidae species, and is the only known prion disease transmitted among wildlife species. The key pathological feature is the conversion of the normal prion protein (PrPC) misfolding into abnormal forms (PrPSc), triggering the onset of CWD infections. The misfolding can generate distinct PrPSc conformations (strains) giving rise to diverse disease phenotypes encompassing pathology, incubation period, and clinical signs. These phenotypes operationally define distinct prion strains, a pivotal element in monitoring CWD spread and zoonotic potential—a complex endeavor compounded by defining and tracking CWD strains. This review pursues a tripartite objective: 1. to address the intricate challenges inherent in ongoing CWD strain classification; 2. to provide an overview of the known CWD-infected isolates, the strains they represent and their passage history; and 3. to describe the spatial diversity of CWD strains in North America, enriching our understanding of CWD strain dynamics. By delving into these dimensions, this review sheds light on the intricate interplay among polymorphisms, biochemical properties, and clinical expressions of CWD. This endeavor aims to elevate the trajectory of CWD research, advancing our insight into prion disease. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in Chronic Wasting Disease)
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16 pages, 1642 KiB  
Review
Chronic Wasting Disease: State of the Science
by Jason C. Bartz, Rebeca Benavente, Byron Caughey, Sonja Christensen, Allen Herbst, Edward A. Hoover, Candace K. Mathiason, Debbie McKenzie, Rodrigo Morales, Marc D. Schwabenlander, Daniel P. Walsh and the NC1209: North American Interdisciplinary Chronic Wasting Disease Research Consortium Members
Pathogens 2024, 13(2), 138; https://doi.org/10.3390/pathogens13020138 - 2 Feb 2024
Cited by 8 | Viewed by 6542
Abstract
Chronic wasting disease (CWD) is a prion disease affecting cervid species, both free-ranging and captive populations. As the geographic range continues to expand and disease prevalence continues to increase, CWD will have an impact on cervid populations, local economies, and ecosystem health. Mitigation [...] Read more.
Chronic wasting disease (CWD) is a prion disease affecting cervid species, both free-ranging and captive populations. As the geographic range continues to expand and disease prevalence continues to increase, CWD will have an impact on cervid populations, local economies, and ecosystem health. Mitigation of this “wicked” disease will require input from many different stakeholders including hunters, landowners, research biologists, wildlife managers, and others, working together. The NC1209 (North American interdisciplinary chronic wasting disease research consortium) is composed of scientists from different disciplines involved with investigating and managing CWD. Leveraging this broad breadth of expertise, the Consortium has created a state-of-the-science review of five key aspects of CWD, including current diagnostic capabilities for detecting prions, requirements for validating these diagnostics, the role of environmental transmission in CWD dynamics, and potential zoonotic risks associated with CWD. The goal of this review is to increase stakeholders’, managers’, and decision-makers’ understanding of this disease informed by current scientific knowledge. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in Chronic Wasting Disease)
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