Prion remains infectious after passage through digestive system of American crows (Corvus brachyrhynchos)

PLoS One. 2012;7(10):e45774. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0045774. Epub 2012 Oct 17.

Abstract

Avian scavengers, such as American crows (Corvus brachyrhynchos), have potential to translocate infectious agents (prions) of transmissible spongiform encephalopathy (TSE) diseases including chronic wasting disease, scrapie, and bovine spongiform encephalopathy. We inoculated mice with fecal extracts obtained from 20 American crows that were force-fed material infected with RML-strain scrapie prions. These mice all evinced severe neurological dysfunction 196-231 d postinoculation (x =198; 95% CI: 210-216) and tested positive for prion disease. Our results suggest a large proportion of crows that consume prion-positive tissue are capable of passing infectious prions in their feces (ˆp=1.0; 95% CI: 0.8-1.0). Therefore, this common, migratory North American scavenger could play a role in the geographic spread of TSE diseases.

Publication types

  • Research Support, U.S. Gov't, Non-P.H.S.

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Crows / metabolism*
  • Digestive System / metabolism*
  • Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay
  • Mice
  • Mice, Inbred C57BL
  • Prions / pathogenicity*
  • Scrapie / transmission
  • Survival Analysis

Substances

  • Prions

Grants and funding

Funding was provided by U.S. Department of Agriculture, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, Veterinary Services (VS). A representative of VS served on a panel that provided input to the 5-year plan for the Chronic Wasting Disease Project of the National Wildlife Research Center, within which this project was conducted. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.