From:
"Sukie Crandall"
Date: 2007-06-14 19:41:12 UTC
Subject: [ferrethealth] Re: a new ferret abstract: looked spongiform but no prion markers
To: ferrethealth@yahoogroups.com
--- In ferrethealth@yahoogroups.com, "Joan" <jevanci1@...> wrote:
>
> --Holy Crapoly,
> You mean not a formof "Mad Cow" --- Whew!!!
Yes, though, of course, that raises the question of what in the world caused the vacuules.
Ferrets get mink spongiform encephalopathy and if I recall right both have been
documented as having a prion disease form in response to eating beef with bovine
snongiform encephalopathy.
Prion diseases are weird. Some animals can't get the diseases by eating certain other
animals with them, but if there is an intermediate food chain animal then transmission can
happen (as in C can't get it by eating A, but if B eats A and gets it then C can get it by
eating B).
Neural tissue is the common food route for obvious reasons.
Also, from one past study I've read, some food animals don't get prion diseases but
possibly can transmit them if the right parts of them are eaten. Chickens do not get prion
diseases (unless something new has been found since I last read on that topic) but some
chickens are fed beef products are part of their feed for when high protein feed is given
and prions can survive (if that is what one wants to call it) in crops for a decent bit of time.
Off hand, I forget how long. I'd have to look it up to see if later studies even supported
the results of that first study.
Ironically, a new study abstract has been released:
BEGIN QUOTE
J Virol. 2007 Jun 6; [Epub ahead of print] Links
EFFICIENT IN VITRO AMPLIFICATION OF CHRONIC WASTING DISEASE PrPRES.
Kurt TD, Perrott MR, Wilusz CJ, Wilusz J, Supattapone S, Telling GC, Zabel MD, Hoover EA.
Department of Microbiology, Immunology, and Pathology, College of Veterinary Medicine
and Biomedical Sciences, Colorado State University; Department of Biochemistry,
Dartmouth Medical School, Department of Molecular Biology and Genetics, University of
Kentucky.
Chronic wasting disease (CWD) of cervids is associated with conversion of the normal
cervid prion protein, PrP(C), to a protease-resistant conformer, PrP(CWD). Here we report
use of both non-denaturing amplification and protein-misfolding cyclic amplification
(PMCA) to amplify PrP(CWD) in vitro. Normal brain from deer, transgenic mice [Tg(cerPrP)
1536] expressing cervid PrP(C), and ferrets supported amplification. PMCA using Tg
(cerPrP)1536 normal brain as PrP(C) substrate produced amplification of >6.5 x 10(9)-fold
after six rounds. Highly efficient in vitro amplification of PrP(CWD) is a significant step
toward detection of PrP(CWD) in body fluids or excreta of CWD-susceptible species.
PMID: 17553879 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]
END QUOTES
There are 6 ferret related prion disease articles listed in PubMed
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/entrez
>
> - In ferrethealth@yahoogroups.com, "Sukie Crandall" <sukie@> wrote:
> >
> > Can Vet J. 2007 Apr;48(4):389-91.Links
> > Neuronal vacuolation in an adult ferret.
>... Since the brain was negative for
> protease-resistant protein prion
> > (PrP'"), it was concluded that this was not a case of transmissible
> spongiform encephalopathy.
> > PMID: 17494365 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]
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