A team led by University of Minnesota Prion Research and Outreach scientists has recovered samples from a remote Beltrami County site used by a nearby deer farm to discard white-tailed deer carcasses. Testing for the presence of chronic wasting disease-causing prions found one positive bone marrow sample.
The team collected bones, hides, soil and plant samples across the site on May 2, discovering portions of ten or more deer.
The nearby deer farm herd was depopulated last week, and samples from those deer have been collected by the USDA for CWD testing. MNPRO obtained additional research samples from the depopulated animals. Further testing of the carcass samples in-hand and future collection and testing of additional samples from the carcass site is dependent on additional funding.
The rapid testing was completed using RT-QuIC technology to identify CWD prions in carcasses and the environment. Faster, accurate testing used on a wide variety of sample types is critical to improving efforts to limit the spread of CWD, a transmissible neurological disease always fatal to white-tailed deer.
“This is a rapidly evolving situation. We are glad that we were able to assist our collaborators at the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources, the Minnesota Board of Animal Health and the U.S. Department of Agriculture with RT-QuIC testing of the carcasses,” said Peter Larsen, Ph.D., who led the research team and co-directs the Minnesota Center for Prion Research and Outreach at the University.
“Our MNPRO team is ready to assist with securing the dump-site to try and prevent CWD from spreading to the surrounding wild herds,” he added. The team recently developed a new assay that generates a color change of red for a positive CWD result and blue for negative. The new test is cheaper than those using traditional equipment and uses field-deployable equipment for preliminary results in 24 hours.