| Autor: |
Kuznetsova A; Department of Renewable Resources, University of Alberta, Edmonton T6G 2G7, Canada.; Centre for Prions and Protein Folding Diseases, University of Alberta, Edmonton T6G 2M8, Canada., Ness A; Centre for Prions and Protein Folding Diseases, University of Alberta, Edmonton T6G 2M8, Canada., Moffatt E; Canadian Wildlife Health Cooperative Western Northern, University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon S7N 5B4, Canada., Bollinger T; Canadian Wildlife Health Cooperative Western Northern, University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon S7N 5B4, Canada., McKenzie D; Centre for Prions and Protein Folding Diseases, University of Alberta, Edmonton T6G 2M8, Canada., Stasiak I; Ministry of Environment, Government of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon S7N 3R3, Canada., Bahnson CS; North Dakota Game and Fish Department, Bismarck, North Dakota 58501-5095, United States., Aiken JM; Centre for Prions and Protein Folding Diseases, University of Alberta, Edmonton T6G 2M8, Canada. |
| Abstrakt: |
Chronic wasting disease (CWD) is a contagious prion disease that affects cervids in North America, Northern Europe, and South Korea. CWD is spread through direct and indirect horizontal transmission, with both clinical and preclinical animals shedding CWD prions in saliva, urine, and feces. CWD particles can persist in the environment for years, and soils may pose a risk for transmission to susceptible animals. Our study presents a sensitive method for detecting prions in the environmental samples of prairie soils. Soils were collected from CWD-endemic regions with high (Saskatchewan, Canada) and low (North Dakota, USA) CWD prevalence. Heat extraction with SDS-buffer, a serial protein misfolding cyclic amplification assay coupled with a real-time quaking-induced conversion assay was used to detect the presence of CWD prions in soils. In the prairie area of South Saskatchewan where the CWD prevalence rate in male mule deer is greater than 70%, 75% of the soil samples tested were positive, while in the low-prevalence prairie region of North Dakota (11% prevalence in male mule deer), none of the soils contained prion seeding activity. Soil-bound CWD prion detection has the potential to improve our understanding of the environmental spread of CWD, benefiting both surveillance and mitigation approaches. |
