Susceptibility of Beavers to Chronic Wasting Disease
Chronic wasting disease (CWD) is a contagious, fatal, neurodegenerative prion disease of cervids. The expanding geographical range and rising prevalence of CWD are increasing the risk of pathogen transfer and spillover of CWD to non-cervid sympatric species. As beavers have close contact with enviro...
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MDPI AG
2022-04-01
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| Series: | Biology |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2079-7737/11/5/667 |
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| author | Allen Herbst Serene Wohlgemuth Jing Yang Andrew R. Castle Diana Martinez Moreno Alicia Otero Judd M. Aiken David Westaway Debbie McKenzie |
| author_facet | Allen Herbst Serene Wohlgemuth Jing Yang Andrew R. Castle Diana Martinez Moreno Alicia Otero Judd M. Aiken David Westaway Debbie McKenzie |
| author_sort | Allen Herbst |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Chronic wasting disease (CWD) is a contagious, fatal, neurodegenerative prion disease of cervids. The expanding geographical range and rising prevalence of CWD are increasing the risk of pathogen transfer and spillover of CWD to non-cervid sympatric species. As beavers have close contact with environmental and food sources of CWD infectivity, we hypothesized that they may be susceptible to CWD prions. We evaluated the susceptibility of beavers to prion diseases by challenging transgenic mice expressing beaver prion protein (tgBeaver) with five strains of CWD, four isolates of rodent-adapted prions and one strain of Creutzfeldt–Jakob disease. All CWD strains transmitted to the tgBeaver mice, with attack rates highest from moose CWD and the 116AG and H95+ strains of deer CWD. Mouse-, rat-, and especially hamster-adapted prions were also transmitted with complete attack rates and short incubation periods. We conclude that the beaver prion protein is an excellent substrate for sustaining prion replication and that beavers are at risk for CWD pathogen transfer and spillover. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-10T03:19:07Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-140efae6c440452ca5eec2e852df9202 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2079-7737 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-10T03:19:07Z |
| publishDate | 2022-04-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Biology |
| spelling | doaj.art-140efae6c440452ca5eec2e852df92022023-11-23T10:06:44ZengMDPI AGBiology2079-77372022-04-0111566710.3390/biology11050667Susceptibility of Beavers to Chronic Wasting DiseaseAllen Herbst0Serene Wohlgemuth1Jing Yang2Andrew R. Castle3Diana Martinez Moreno4Alicia Otero5Judd M. Aiken6David Westaway7Debbie McKenzie8U.S. Geological Survey National Wildlife Health Center, Madison, WI 53711, USACentre for Prions and Protein Folding Diseases, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB T6G 2R3, CanadaCentre for Prions and Protein Folding Diseases, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB T6G 2R3, CanadaCentre for Prions and Protein Folding Diseases, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB T6G 2R3, CanadaCentre for Prions and Protein Folding Diseases, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB T6G 2R3, CanadaCentro de Encefalopatias y Enfermedades Transmisibles Emergentes, University of Zaragoza, 50009 Zaragoza, SpainCentre for Prions and Protein Folding Diseases, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB T6G 2R3, CanadaCentre for Prions and Protein Folding Diseases, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB T6G 2R3, CanadaCentre for Prions and Protein Folding Diseases, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB T6G 2R3, CanadaChronic wasting disease (CWD) is a contagious, fatal, neurodegenerative prion disease of cervids. The expanding geographical range and rising prevalence of CWD are increasing the risk of pathogen transfer and spillover of CWD to non-cervid sympatric species. As beavers have close contact with environmental and food sources of CWD infectivity, we hypothesized that they may be susceptible to CWD prions. We evaluated the susceptibility of beavers to prion diseases by challenging transgenic mice expressing beaver prion protein (tgBeaver) with five strains of CWD, four isolates of rodent-adapted prions and one strain of Creutzfeldt–Jakob disease. All CWD strains transmitted to the tgBeaver mice, with attack rates highest from moose CWD and the 116AG and H95+ strains of deer CWD. Mouse-, rat-, and especially hamster-adapted prions were also transmitted with complete attack rates and short incubation periods. We conclude that the beaver prion protein is an excellent substrate for sustaining prion replication and that beavers are at risk for CWD pathogen transfer and spillover.https://www.mdpi.com/2079-7737/11/5/667prionschronic wasting diseasebeaverswildlife diseases |
| spellingShingle | Allen Herbst Serene Wohlgemuth Jing Yang Andrew R. Castle Diana Martinez Moreno Alicia Otero Judd M. Aiken David Westaway Debbie McKenzie Susceptibility of Beavers to Chronic Wasting Disease Biology prions chronic wasting disease beavers wildlife diseases |
| title | Susceptibility of Beavers to Chronic Wasting Disease |
| title_full | Susceptibility of Beavers to Chronic Wasting Disease |
| title_fullStr | Susceptibility of Beavers to Chronic Wasting Disease |
| title_full_unstemmed | Susceptibility of Beavers to Chronic Wasting Disease |
| title_short | Susceptibility of Beavers to Chronic Wasting Disease |
| title_sort | susceptibility of beavers to chronic wasting disease |
| topic | prions chronic wasting disease beavers wildlife diseases |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2079-7737/11/5/667 |
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