HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS		QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced] Author: Keyword(s): Year:  Vol:  Page:

This Article Full Text Full Text (PDF) Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Hamir, A. N. Articles by Williams, E. S. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Hamir, A. N. Articles by Williams, E. S.

Age-related lesions in laboratory-confined raccoons (Procyon lotor) inoculated with the agent of chronic wasting disease of mule deer

Correspondence: ¹Corresponding Author: Amir N. Hamir, National Animal Disease Center, ARS, USDA, 2300 Dayton Avenue, P.O. Box 70, Ames, IA 50010, e-mail: ahamir{at}ars.usda.gov

This communication documents age-associated pathologic changes and final observations on experimental transmission of chronic wasting disease (CWD) by the intracerebral route to raccoons (Procyon lotor). Four kits were inoculated intracerebrally with a brain suspension from mule deer with CWD. Two uninoculated kits served as controls. One CWD-inoculated raccoon was humanely killed at 38 months after inoculation, and 1 control animal died at 68 months after inoculation. Both animals had lesions that were unrelated to transmissible spongiform encephalopathy. Six years after inoculation, none of the 3 remaining CWD-inoculated raccoons had shown clinical signs of neurologic disorder, and the experiment was terminated. Spongiform encephalopathy was not observed by light microscopy, and the presence of abnormal prion protein (PrP^d) was not detected by either immunohistochemistry or Western blot techniques. Age-related lesions observed in these raccoons included islet-cell pancreatic amyloidosis (5/6), cystic endometrial hyperplasia (3/4), cerebrovascular mineralization (5/6), neuroaxonal degeneration (3/6), transitional-cell adenoma of the urinary bladder (1/6), and myocardial inclusions (4/6). The latter 2 pathologic conditions were not previously reported in raccoons.

Key Words: Age-related pathologic changes • chronic wasting disease (CWD) • Procyon lotor • raccoons

This article has been cited by other articles:

				A. N. Hamir, R. Picton, L. L. Blythe, and J. R. Heidel Diagnostic Exercise: Astrocytoma with Involvement of Medulla Oblongata, Spinal Cord, and Spinal Nerves in a Raccoon (Procyon lotor) Veterinary Pathology, November 1, 2008; 45(6): 949 - 951. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]