RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 Chronic Wasting Disease of Elk: Transmissibility to Humans Examined by Transgenic Mouse Models
JF The Journal of Neuroscience
JO J. Neurosci.
FD Society for Neuroscience
SP 7944
OP 7949
DO 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.2467-05.2005
VO 25
IS 35
A1 Kong, Qingzhong
A1 Huang, Shenghai
A1 Zou, Wenquan
A1 Vanegas, Difernando
A1 Wang, Meiling
A1 Wu, Di
A1 Yuan, Jue
A1 Zheng, Mengjie
A1 Bai, Hua
A1 Deng, Huayun
A1 Chen, Ken
A1 Jenny, Allen L.
A1 O'Rourke, Katherine
A1 Belay, Ermias D.
A1 Schonberger, Lawrence B.
A1 Petersen, Robert B.
A1 Sy, Man-Sun
A1 Chen, Shu G.
A1 Gambetti, Pierluigi
YR 2005
UL http://www.jneurosci.org/content/25/35/7944.abstract
AB Chronic wasting disease (CWD), a prion disease affecting free-ranging and captive cervids (deer and elk), is widespread in the United States and parts of Canada. The large cervid population, the popularity of venison consumption, and the apparent spread of the CWD epidemic are likely resulting in increased human exposure to CWD in the United States. Whether CWD is transmissible to humans, as has been shown for bovine spongiform encephalopathy (the prion disease of cattle), is unknown. We generated transgenic mice expressing the elk or human prion protein (PrP) in a PrP-null background. After intracerebral inoculation with elk CWD prion, two lines of “humanized” transgenic mice that are susceptible to human prions failed to develop the hallmarks of prion diseases after >657 and >756 d, respectively, whereas the “cervidized” transgenic mice became infected after 118–142 d. These data indicate that there is a substantial species barrier for transmission of elk CWD to humans.