Vaccine stops deer disease from spreading through environment
Researchers have demonstrated for the first time that a vaccine can block prion shedding in chronic wasting disease, a fatal infection ravaging wild and farmed deer herds across North America. The finding offers a practical path to contain the disease by reducing environmental contamination, potentially protecting both wildlife populations and the livestock industry worth billions annually.
Originaltitel: Prion shedding is reduced by chronic wasting disease vaccination
<p>Chronic wasting disease (CWD) is a strictly fatal and highly contagious prion disease of wild and farmed cervids currently expanding in North America. Prion diseases are caused by conversion of the cellular prion protein to its pathological isoform PrPSc. Vaccination is considered a promising strategy to contain CWD, even though prion diseases do not show classical immune responses. For CWD containment, it is important that vaccines reduce shedding of prions in excreta, a major contributor to transmission. Here, we tested the effect of vaccines on prion shedding in feces and urine by vaccinating and prion infecting knock-in mice that recapitulate CWD pathogenesis as found in cervids. Vaccination reduced or even prevented CWD shedding in feces and urine collected between 30-90% of incubation time to disease. This is the first report showing that prion shedding can be blocked in a prion disease. For CWD specifically it may reduce the environmental prion burden and break the disease transmission cycle.</p>