Experimental transmission of chronic wasting disease (CWD) of elk (Cervus elaphus nelsoni) , white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) , and mule deer (Odocoileus hemionus hemionus) to white-tailed deer by intracerebral route
Hamir, A.N.; Richt, J.A.; Miller, J.M.; Kunkle, R.A.; Hall, S.M.; Nicholson, E.M.; O'Rourke, K.I.; Greenlee, J.J.; Williams, E.S.
Veterinary Pathology 45(3): 297-306
2008
ISSN/ISBN: 0300-9858 PMID: 18487485 DOI: 10.1354/vp.45-3-297
Accession: 022615714
To compare clinical and pathologic findings of chronic wasting disease (CWD) in a natural host, 3 groups (n = 5) of white-tailed deer (WTD) fawns were intracerebrally inoculated with a CWD prion of WTD, mule deer, or elk origin. Three other uninoculated fawns served as controls. Approximately 10 months postinoculation (MPI), 1 deer from each of the 3 inoculated groups was necropsied and their tissues were examined for lesions of spongiform encephalopathy (SE) and for the presence of abnormal prion protein (PrP(d)) by immunohistochemistry (IHC) and Western blot (WB). The remaining deer were allowed to live until they developed clinical signs of the disease which began approximately 18 MPI.