title: CWD prions remain infectious after passage through the digestive system of coyotes (Canis latrans).
abstract: Chronic wasting disease (CWD) is a geographically expanding prion disease of wild and captive cervids in North America. Disease can be transmitted directly, animal to animal, or indirectly via the environment. CWD contamination can occur residually in the environment via soil, water, and forage following deposition of bodily fluids such as urine, saliva, and feces, or by the decomposition of carcasses. Recent work has indicated that plants may even take up prions into the stems and leaves. When a carcass or gut pile is present in the environment, a large number of avian and mammalian species visit and consume the carrion. Additionally, predators like coyotes, likely select for disease-compromised cervids. Natural cross-species CWD transmission has not been documented, however, passage of infectious prion material has been observed in the feces of crows. In this study we evaluated the ability of CWD-infected brain material to pass through the gastrointestinal tract of coyotes (Canis latrans) following oral ingestion, and be infectious in a cervidized transgenic mouse model. Results from this study indicate that coyotes can pass infectious prions via their feces for at least 3 days post ingestion, demonstrating that mammalian scavengers could contribute to the translocation and contamination of CWD in the environment.
authors.affiliation: a National Wildlife Research Center; United States Department of Agriculture ; Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service; Wildlife Services ; Fort Collins , CO USA.
authors.forename: Tracy A
authors.initials: TA
authors.lastname: Nichols
authors.affiliation: a National Wildlife Research Center; United States Department of Agriculture ; Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service; Wildlife Services ; Fort Collins , CO USA.
authors.forename: Justin W
authors.initials: JW
authors.lastname: Fischer
authors.affiliation: b Colorado State University Diagnostic Laboratory; College of Veterinary Medicine; Colorado State University ; Fort Collins , CO USA.|c Department of Microbiology, Immunology and Pathology ; College of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences; Colorado State University Prion Research Center ; Fort Collins , CO USA.
authors.forename: Terry R
authors.initials: TR
authors.lastname: Spraker
authors.affiliation: d National Prion Disease Pathology Surveillance Center; Institute of Pathology; Case Western Reserve University ; Cleveland , OH USA.
authors.forename: Qingzhong
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Kong
authors.affiliation: a National Wildlife Research Center; United States Department of Agriculture ; Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service; Wildlife Services ; Fort Collins , CO USA.
authors.forename: Kurt C
authors.initials: KC
authors.lastname: VerCauteren
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001921:Brain / Q000378:metabolism; D046029:Coyotes; D041981:Gastrointestinal Tract / Q000378:metabolism*; D011328:Prions / Q000378:metabolism*; D034081:Wasting Disease, Chronic / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D011328:Prions
keywords: chronic wasting disease; coyotes; environmental contamination; feces; prions; scavengers; transmission