Chronic Wasting Disease Monitoring in Italy 2017–2019: Neuropathological Findings in Cervids

Abstract

Chronic wasting disease (CWD) is a prion disease that affects cervids; it is classified under transmissible spongiform encephalopathies (TSEs). CWD is particularly contagious, making its eradication in endemic areas very difficult and creating serious problems for cervid conservation and breeding. It has recently become an emerging public health risk to be managed by health authorities. Starting in 2017, active CWD surveillance in Italy has intensified with the monitoring of wild and farmed cervids. The present study summarizes findings from a histopathological survey of the brains from wild ruminants collected via CWD monitoring between 2017 and 2019. A total of 113 brains from 62 red deer (Cervus elaphus) and 51 roe deer (Capreolus capreolus) were submitted for analysis at the National Reference Center for Animal Encephalopathies (CEA) to determine major patterns of neuropathological lesions and correlated pathogens. Brain lesions were detected in 20 animals, 10 brain samples were unsuitable for examination, and 83 presented no lesions. Neuropathological examination revealed non-suppurative encephalitis or meningoencephalitis in most cases (15/20). This brain study revealed evidence for the absence of CWD in Italy and provided a reference spectrum of neuropathological lesions for differential diagnosis in cervids.

The establishment of a collaborative surveillance program with indigenous hunters to characterize primate health in Southern Guyana

“…Further, while hunter‐based disease monitoring programs have shown to be successful for detecting infectious disease spread and in assessing population health in North America and Europe (Bodenstein et al, 2015; Evans et al, 2014; Tomaselli et al, 2019; Tripodi et al, 2022), such programs remain rare in the tropical world (but see, [Mayor et al, 2017], for an example of a program in Amazonia which relied on necropsies performed by Indigenous hunters to document reproductive changes in hunted animals).…”

Updated global epidemiology atlas of human prion diseases

“…The epidemiology of sCJD is poorly understood outside of Europe, North America, Australia, and several countries in Asia. Meanwhile, the recent emergence of various animal PrDs, such as chronic wasting disease (CWD) outside North America ( 10 – 12 ) and prion disease in dromedary camels in Algeria ( 13 ), indicates potential threats to public health. In this study, we reviewed the general surveillance data of human PrDs in more than 30 countries from 1993 to 2020 and analyzed the correlation between the diseases and onset ages.…”