Comment by nkurz | Hacker News Reader

Comment by nkurz | Hacker News Reader

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In related prion news, does anyone have insight into the recent studies suggesting that Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD, increasingly prevalent in North American deer and elk) may be transmissible from infected animals to humans via cooked muscle meat?

In 2017, there was a Canadian study that seemed to show that feeding macaque monkeys raw muscle meat from infected deer was capable of transmitting the disease. I don't think the study has been published yet, but it's described in detail in this Norwegian report (https://vkm.no/download/18.25950e0715e84a118a6ec492/15069251...) and forms the basis of an advisory by the Canadian government (https://www.thetyee.ca/Documents/2017/06/24/Risk-Advisory-Op...) suggesting that consumption of all potentially infected meat be avoided.

Then in 2018, a separate seemingly very similar American study was published (http://sci-hub.tw/10.1128/JVI.00550-18) , saying that no evidence was found for transmission to macaques, even after direct cerebral exposure. The NIH issued a press release (https://www.nih.gov/news-events/news-releases/nih-study-find...) with the headline "NIH study finds no chronic wasting disease transmissibility in macaques".

Suffice it to say, there seem to be contradictory messages here. Is there some overview that would help to clear things up?

I don't have studies but I did email the National Prion Disease Pathology Surveillance Center asking "is there a breakdown of cases of the individual Animal Prion Diseases by location and possibly by year (i.e. cases of human prion disease acquired by eating contaminated meat)?" and here was their response:

> To date, in the US, there have been no known cases of variant CJD, or human prion disease acquired by eating contaminated beef. Here at the NPDPSC, we have diagnosed 4 cases, but they were all acquired out side the US; 1 case in 2044 acquired in UK, 2 cases in 2006 acquired in Saudi Arabia, and 1 case in 2014 acquired in the middle east.

> In several western US states, Canada, and now South Korea and Norway, there is concern that chronic wasting disease (CWD), the prion disease of elk and deer, may be transmissible to people who hunt, butcher, or eat the affected animals. Although transmission of CWD from animals to humans is unlikely, recent data indicate that the barriers between species may be weakened when CWD has been transmitted from animal to animal several times (as may happen in the wild). The NPDPSC, along with the CDC, Department of Health, and the Game and Wildlife Administration, is carefully monitoring any possible case of acquired CWD in humans.

Asked for extra clarification, "So although there is a concern with CWD crossing that barrier, there still haven't been any recorded cases?"

> That is correct.

This is such a great comment. Thank you for doing that legwork, and for sharing it.

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