Improved test detects CWD early

Improved DNA testing that can detect chronic wasting disease in cervids early suggests that saliva may be more infectious than urine and feces. The new testing described in a study in the journal Emerging Infectious Diseases can find CWD in deer samples before clinical signs appear. Chronic wasting disease is a lethal neurological disease in cervids like deer, elk (Cervus canadensis) and moose (Alces alces). The prions that cause the disease can be excreted by the animals and live in the environment for years. Using improved testing, the researchers studied saliva, urine and feces from 12 white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) after they were given small amounts of CWD-positive brain tissue or saliva by mouth. The team detected consistent prion shedding in six deer that expressed the same genotype. Prion shedding also seemed to occur more consistently through saliva than urine or feces. “This finding reinforces previous studies reporting that saliva is more infectious than urine or feces after experimental CWD prion inoculation,” the researchers wrote. The team hopes these findings can help with early disease detection in cervids.

Read more at the University of Minnesota and check out the study in Emerging Infectious Diseases.