Chronic wasting disease and potential transmission to humans

Chronic wasting disease (CWD) of deer and elk is endemic in a tri-corner area of Colorado, Wyoming, and Nebraska, and new foci of CWD have been detected in other parts of the United States. Although detection in some areas may be related to increased surveillance, introduction of CWD due to transloc...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Emerging infectious diseases 2004-06, Vol.10 (6), p.977-984
Main Authors: Belay, Ermias D, Maddox, Ryan A, Williams, Elizabeth S, Miller, Michael W, Gambetti, Pierluigi, Schonberger, Lawrence B
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Animals
Chronic wasting disease
Deer
Disease Outbreaks - veterinary
Disease Reservoirs - veterinary
Humans
interspecies transmission
Prion diseases
prions
Prions - pharmacology
transmissible spongiform encephalopathy
United States
United States - epidemiology
Wasting Disease, Chronic - epidemiology
Wasting Disease, Chronic - transmission
Zoonoses - epidemiology
Zoonoses - transmission
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Summary:Chronic wasting disease (CWD) of deer and elk is endemic in a tri-corner area of Colorado, Wyoming, and Nebraska, and new foci of CWD have been detected in other parts of the United States. Although detection in some areas may be related to increased surveillance, introduction of CWD due to translocation or natural migration of animals may account for some new foci of infection. Increasing spread of CWD has raised concerns about the potential for increasing human exposure to the CWD agent. The foodborne transmission of bovine spongiform encephalopathy to humans indicates that the species barrier may not completely protect humans from animal prion diseases. Conversion of human prion protein by CWD-associated prions has been demonstrated in an in vitro cell-free experiment, but limited investigations have not identified strong evidence for CWD transmission to humans. More epidemiologic and laboratory studies are needed to monitor the possibility of such transmissions
ISSN:1080-6040
1080-6059
DOI:10.3201/eid1006.031082