SCRAPIE USDA APHIS June 2015 Monthly Report

From: Terry S. Singeltary Sr.
 Sent: Wednesday, July 29, 2015 9:45 PM
To: BSE-L@LISTS.AEGEE.ORG
Cc: Diane.L.Sutton@aphis.usda.gov ; cjdvoice@yahoogroups.com ; bloodcjd@yahoogroups.com
Subject: SCRAPIE USDA APHIS June 2015 Monthly Report



INTRODUCTION - Positive Cases and Infected/Source Flocks

Positive Scrapie Cases*

Thirty two positive cases, 30 sheep and 2 goats, have been reported in FY 2015. The last positive case was reported in March 2015. Twenty six of the positive sheep were from the same source flock. Location of the cases is shown in Table 1 and Figure 1, and distribution by face-color (sheep) and type (goats) is shown in Table 2.

The 2 positive goat cases found in FY 2015 increases the number of confirmed cases in goats since FY 2002 to 41 (Figure 2).

Infected and Source Flocks

As of June 30, 2015, there were 4 flocks with an open source status (Figure 3). One infected and 3 source flocks have been designated in FY 2015 (Figure 4); 4 flocks completed a flock clean-up plan and were released (Figure 5). New infected and source statuses from FY 1997 to FY 2015 are depicted in Chart 2.

* Samples collected between October 1, 2014 and June 30, 2015 and confirmed by July 15, 2015.C

INTRODUCTION - Surveillance (Part 1)

Regulatory Scrapie Slaughter Surveillance (RSSS)

RSSS started April 1, 2003. It is a targeted slaughter surveillance program which is designed to identify infected flocks. Samples have been collected from 472,841 animals since April 1, 2003. There have been 477 NVSL confirmed positive animals* (469 classical cases and 8 Nor98-like cases) since the beginning of RSSS. As of June 30, 2015, 29,103 samples have been collected in FY 2015, 23,812 from sheep and 5,291 from goats.

As of June 30, 2015, 2 black-faced sheep** and 1 goat, have tested positive for scrapie in FY 2015; this is the first positive goat case found through RSSS. The last RSSS positive was reported in January 2015. The weighted percentage of samples from sheep that have tested positive for each face color from FY 2003 through FY 2015 is depicted in Chart 3***; percent positive goats are shown in Chart 3a. In November 2013, administrative units within APHIS Veterinary Services reorganized from 2 Regions to 6 Districts (Figure 6). The distribution of sheep and goat populations by District is depicted in Chart 4a. The number of animals collected for FY 2015 by District where collected is shown in Chart 4b. A monthly comparison of RSSS collections by fiscal year is displayed in Chart 5. Chart 6 is a retrospective 6-month rolling average of the percent positive, black-faced sheep sampled at RSSS collection sites.

* RSSS positives are reported based on collection date and may have been confirmed after June 30, 2015.

** One RSSS black-faced sheep was an American Black Belly (hair sheep).

*** White, black and mottled face color sheep are weighted based on population. White faced sheep have the highest weight, so when the rare white face positive sheep is found it causes this statistic to markedly increase. Goats and other face colored sheep are not included in this calculation.

http://www.aphis.usda.gov/animal_health/animal_diseases/scrapie/downloads/monthly_scrapie_report.pdf

I must say the monthly scrapie reports seemed more in depth and improved a bit, and that is good. however, I still am missing my map for atypical Nor-98 Scrapie cases in the USA, and the locations of each case. I had thought, and was told (I think it was Janice Miller, or maybe Dr. Detwiler, I could be wrong), a map for the atypical scrapie was being worked on. I hope that finally this atypical Nor-98 Scrapie map will be indorsed and implemented in each monthly report. ...

kind regards, terry


PRION 2015 ORAL AND POSTER CONGRESSIONAL ABSTRACTS

THANK YOU PRION 2015 TAYLOR & FRANCIS, Professor Chernoff, and Professor Aguzzi et al, for making these PRION 2015 Congressional Poster and Oral Abstracts available freely to the public. ...Terry S. Singeltary Sr.

O.05: Transmission of prions to primates after extended silent incubation periods: Implications for BSE and scrapie risk assessment in human populations

Emmanuel Comoy, Jacqueline Mikol, Val erie Durand, Sophie Luccantoni, Evelyne Correia, Nathalie Lescoutra, Capucine Dehen, and Jean-Philippe Deslys Atomic Energy Commission; Fontenay-aux-Roses, France

Prion diseases (PD) are the unique neurodegenerative proteinopathies reputed to be transmissible under field conditions since decades. The transmission of Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE) to humans evidenced that an animal PD might be zoonotic under appropriate conditions. Contrarily, in the absence of obvious (epidemiological or experimental) elements supporting a transmission or genetic predispositions, PD, like the other proteinopathies, are reputed to occur spontaneously (atpical animal prion strains, sporadic CJD summing 80% of human prion cases). Non-human primate models provided the first evidences supporting the transmissibiity of human prion strains and the zoonotic potential of BSE. Among them, cynomolgus macaques brought major information for BSE risk assessment for human health (Chen, 2014), according to their phylogenetic proximity to humans and extended lifetime. We used this model to assess the zoonotic potential of other animal PD from bovine, ovine and cervid origins even after very long silent incubation periods. We recently observed the direct transmission of a natural classical scrapie isolate to macaque after a 10-year silent incubation period, with features similar to some reported for human cases of sporadic CJD, albeit requiring fourfold longe incubation than BSE. Scrapie, as recently evoked in humanized mice (Cassard, 2014), is the third potentially zoonotic PD (with BSE and L-type BSE), ***thus questioning the origin of human sporadic cases. We will present an updated panorama of our different transmission studies and discuss the implications of such extended incubation periods on risk assessment of animal PD for human health.

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***thus questioning the origin of human sporadic cases...TSS

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https://prion2015.files.wordpress.com/2015/05/programguide1.pdf

Saturday, May 30, 2015

PRION 2015 ORAL AND POSTER CONGRESSIONAL ABSTRACTS

https://prion2015.files.wordpress.com/2015/05/prion2015abstracts.pdf

http://transmissiblespongiformencephalopathy.blogspot.com/2015/05/prion-2015-oral-and-poster.html

PRION 2015 CONFERENCE FT. COLLINS CWD RISK FACTORS TO HUMANS

*** LATE-BREAKING ABSTRACTS PRION 2015 CONFERENCE ***

O18

Zoonotic Potential of CWD Prions

Liuting Qing1, Ignazio Cali1,2, Jue Yuan1, Shenghai Huang3, Diane Kofskey1, Pierluigi Gambetti1, Wenquan Zou1, Qingzhong Kong1 1Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, Ohio, USA, 2Second University of Naples, Naples, Italy, 3Encore Health Resources, Houston, Texas, USA

Chronic wasting disease (CWD) is a widespread and expanding prion disease in free-ranging and captive cervid species in North America. The zoonotic potential of CWD prions is a serious public health concern. Current literature generated with in vitro methods and in vivo animal models (transgenic mice, macaques and squirrel monkeys) reports conflicting results. The susceptibility of human CNS and peripheral organs to CWD prions remains largely unresolved. In our earlier bioassay experiments using several humanized transgenic mouse lines, we detected protease-resistant PrPSc in the spleen of two out of 140 mice that were intracerebrally inoculated with natural CWD isolates, but PrPSc was not detected in the brain of the same mice. Secondary passages with such PrPSc-positive CWD-inoculated humanized mouse spleen tissues led to efficient prion transmission with clear clinical and pathological signs in both humanized and cervidized transgenic mice. Furthermore, a recent bioassay with natural CWD isolates in a new humanized transgenic mouse line led to clinical prion infection in 2 out of 20 mice. These results indicate that the CWD prion has the potential to infect human CNS and peripheral lymphoid tissues and that there might be asymptomatic human carriers of CWD infection.

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***These results indicate that the CWD prion has the potential to infect human CNS and peripheral lymphoid tissues and that there might be asymptomatic human carriers of CWD infection.***

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P.105: RT-QuIC models trans-species prion transmission

Kristen Davenport, Davin Henderson, Candace Mathiason, and Edward Hoover Prion Research Center; Colorado State University; Fort Collins, CO USA

The propensity for trans-species prion transmission is related to the structural characteristics of the enciphering and heterologous PrP, but the exact mechanism remains mostly mysterious. Studies of the effects of primary or tertiary prion protein structures on trans-species prion transmission have relied primarily upon animal bioassays, making the influence of prion protein structure vs. host co-factors (e.g. cellular constituents, trafficking, and innate immune interactions) difficult to dissect. As an alternative strategy, we used real-time quakinginduced conversion (RT-QuIC) to investigate trans-species prion conversion.

To assess trans-species conversion in the RT-QuIC system, we compared chronic wasting disease (CWD) and bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) prions, as well as feline CWD (fCWD) and feline spongiform encephalopathy (FSE). Each prion was seeded into each host recombinant PrP (full-length rPrP of white-tailed deer, bovine or feline). We demonstrated that fCWD is a more efficient seed for feline rPrP than for white-tailed deer rPrP, which suggests adaptation to the new host.

Conversely, FSE maintained sufficient BSE characteristics to more efficiently convert bovine rPrP than feline rPrP. Additionally, human rPrP was competent for conversion by CWD and fCWD. ***This insinuates that, at the level of protein:protein interactions, the barrier preventing transmission of CWD to humans is less robust than previously estimated.

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***This insinuates that, at the level of protein:protein interactions, the barrier preventing transmission of CWD to humans is less robust than previously estimated.***

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https://prion2015.files.wordpress.com/2015/05/programguide1.pdf

I strenuously once again urge the FDA and its industry constituents, to make it MANDATORY that all ruminant feed be banned to all ruminants, and this should include all cervids as soon as possible for the following reasons...

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In the USA, under the Food and Drug Administrations BSE Feed Regulation (21 CFR 589.2000) most material (exceptions include milk, tallow, and gelatin) from deer and elk is prohibited for use in feed for ruminant animals. With regards to feed for non-ruminant animals, under FDA law, CWD positive deer may not be used for any animal feed or feed ingredients. For elk and deer considered at high risk for CWD, the FDA recommends that these animals do not enter the animal feed system.

***However, this recommendation is guidance and not a requirement by law.

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31 Jan 2015 at 20:14 GMT

*** Ruminant feed ban for cervids in the United States? ***

Singeltary et al

31 Jan 2015 at 20:14 GMT

http://www.plosone.org/annotation/listThread.action?root=85351

Wednesday, July 29, 2015

Further characterisation of transmissible spongiform encephalopathy phenotypes after inoculation of cattle with two temporally separated sources of sheep scrapie from Great Britain

http://transmissiblespongiformencephalopathy.blogspot.com/2015/07/further-characterisation-of.html

Wednesday, July 29, 2015

Progressive accumulation of the abnormal conformer of the prion protein and spongiform encephalopathy in the obex of nonsymptomatic and symptomatic Rocky Mountain elk (Cervus elaphus nelsoni) with chronic wasting disease

http://chronic-wasting-disease.blogspot.com/2015/07/progressive-accumulation-of-abnormal.html

Wednesday, July 29, 2015

Porcine Prion Protein Amyloid or mad pig disease PSE

http://madporcinedisease.blogspot.com/2015/07/porcine-prion-protein-amyloid-or-mad.html

Wednesday, July 29, 2015

Acquired transmissibility of sheep-passaged L-type bovine spongiform encephalopathy prion to wild-type mice

http://transmissiblespongiformencephalopathy.blogspot.com/2015/07/acquired-transmissibility-of-sheep.html

IBNC Tauopathy or TSE Prion disease, it appears, no one is sure

Posted by flounder on 03 Jul 2015 at 16:53 GMT

http://www.plosone.org/annotation/listThread.action?root=86610

Wednesday, July 15, 2015

*** Additional BSE TSE prion testing detects pathologic lesion in unusual brain location and PrPsc by PMCA only, how many cases have we missed?

http://transmissiblespongiformencephalopathy.blogspot.com/2015/07/additional-bse-tse-prion-testing.html

Tuesday, July 21, 2015

Texas CWD Medina County Herd Investigation Update July 16, 2015

 http://chronic-wasting-disease.blogspot.com/2015/07/texas-cwd-medina-county-herd.html

Tuesday, July 21, 2015

Texas CWD Medina County Herd Investigation Update July 16, 2015

• 66 Texas sites, 2 Mexico sites

 http://chronic-wasting-disease.blogspot.com/2015/07/texas-cwd-medina-county-herd.html

Wednesday, July 22, 2015

Texas Certified Chronic Wasting Disease CWD Sample Collector, like the Wolf Guarding the Henhouse

 http://chronic-wasting-disease.blogspot.com/2015/07/texas-certified-chronic-wasting-disease.html

Thursday, July 23, 2015

*** Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD) 101 Drs. Walter Cook & Donald S. Davis

 http://chronic-wasting-disease.blogspot.com/2015/07/chronic-wasting-disease-cwd-101-drs.html

Sunday, July 26, 2015

*** TEXAS IN MELT DOWN MODE OVER CAPTIVE CWD AND THEY ARE PUTTING LIPSTICK ON THAT PIG AND TAKING HER TO THE DANCE LIKE MAD COW DISEASE ***

 http://chronic-wasting-disease.blogspot.com/2015/07/texas-in-melt-down-mode-over-captive.html

*** Singeltary reply ;

ruminant feed ban for cervids in the United States ?

31 Jan 2015 at 20:14 GMT

http://www.plosone.org/annotation/listThread.action?root=85351

http://chronic-wasting-disease.blogspot.com/

http://bovineprp.blogspot.com/

http://bseusa.blogspot.com/

http://madcowusda.blogspot.com/

http://bse-atypical.blogspot.com/

http://scrapie-usa.blogspot.com/

http://nor-98.blogspot.com/

http://felinespongiformencephalopathyfse.blogspot.com/

http://caninespongiformencephalopathy.blogspot.com/

http://creutzfeldt-jakob-disease.blogspot.com/

http://transmissiblespongiformencephalopathy.blogspot.com/

Terry S. Singeltary Sr.