Advances in Chronic Wasting Disease

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

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 30 November 2024 | Viewed by 8175

Special Issue Editors


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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

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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

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Keywords

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

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Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

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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 981
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
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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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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 4 | Viewed by 4899
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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