title: Preclinical diagnosis of chronic wasting disease in captive mule deer (Odocoileus hemionus) and white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) using tonsillar biopsy.
abstract: The usefulness of tonsillar biopsy on live deer for preclinical diagnosis of the transmissible spongiform encephalopathy chronic wasting disease (CWD) was evaluated. Disease was tracked in a CWD-endemic herd using serial tonsillar biopsies collected at 6 to 9 month intervals from 34 captive mule deer (Odocoileus hemionus) and five white-tailed deer (O. virginianus). Tonsillar biopsies were examined for accumulation of PrP(CWD), the protein marker for infection, using immunohistochemical (IHC) staining. 26/34 (76%) mule deer and 4/5 (80%) white-tailed deer had PrP(CWD) accumulation in tonsillar biopsies; CWD was subsequently confirmed by post-mortem examination in all 30 of these tonsillar-positive deer. Six mule deer with IHC-negative tonsillar biopsies had positive brain and tonsillar IHC staining upon death 12 to 40 months following the last biopsy. PrP(CWD) accumulation in tonsillar biopsy was observed 2 to 20 months before CWD-related death and up to 14 months before onset of clinical signs of CWD. Tonsillar biopsies from 3-month-old mule deer (n=6) were IHC negative, but PrP(CWD) accumulation was detected in tonsillar biopsies from 7/10 mule deer by 19 months of age. Tonsillar biopsy evaluated with IHC staining is a useful technique for the preclinical diagnosis of CWD in live mule deer and white-tailed deer when intensive management approaches are possible.
authors.affiliation: Colorado Division of Wildlife, Wildlife Research Center, 317 W. Prospect Road, Fort Collins, CO 80526, USA1.
authors.forename: Margaret A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Wild
authors.affiliation: Colorado State Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO 80523, USA2.
authors.forename: Terry R
authors.initials: TR
authors.lastname: Spraker
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology, College of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO 80523, USA3.
authors.forename: Christina J
authors.initials: CJ
authors.lastname: Sigurdson
authors.affiliation: Animal Disease Research Unit, Agricultural Research Service, US Department of Agriculture, 337 Bustad Hall, Washington State University, Pullman, WA 99164, USA4.
authors.forename: Katherine I
authors.initials: KI
authors.lastname: O'Rourke
authors.affiliation: Colorado Division of Wildlife, Wildlife Research Center, 317 W. Prospect Road, Fort Collins, CO 80526, USA1.
authors.forename: Michael W
authors.initials: MW
authors.lastname: Miller
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002908:Chronic Disease; D003670:Deer; D005260:Female; D007124:Immunoenzyme Techniques; D008297:Male; D014066:Palatine Tonsil / Q000473:pathology; D017096:Prion Diseases / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000209:etiology / Q000473:pathology / Q000662:veterinary*; D011328:Prions / Q000032:analysis* / Q000276:immunology; D013194:Staining and Labeling / Q000379:methods; D019282:Wasting Syndrome / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000209:etiology / Q000473:pathology / Q000662:veterinary*
chemical_list: D011328:Prions