Nasal Bots Carry Relevant Titers of CWD Prions in Naturally Infected White-Tailed Deer

Authors

Paulina Soto
Francisca Bravo-Risi
Carlos Kramm
Nazaret Gamez
Rebeca Benavente
Denise L Bonilla
J Hunter Reed
Mitch Lockwood
Terry R Spraker
Tracy Nichols
Rodrigo Morales

Publication Date

1-1-2024

Journal

EMBO Reports

Abstract

Chronic wasting disease (CWD) is a prion disease affecting farmed and free-ranging cervids. CWD is rapidly expanding across North America and its mechanisms of transmission are not completely understood. Considering that cervids are commonly afflicted by nasal bot flies, we tested the potential of these parasites to transmit CWD. Parasites collected from naturally infected white-tailed deer were evaluated for their prion content using the protein misfolding cyclic amplification (PMCA) technology and bioassays. Here, we describe PMCA seeding activity in nasal bot larvae collected from naturally infected, nonclinical deer. These parasites efficiently infect CWD-susceptible mice in ways suggestive of high infectivity titers. To further mimic environmental transmission, bot larvae homogenates were mixed with soils, and plants were grown on them. We show that both soils and plants exposed to CWD-infected bot homogenates displayed seeding activity by PMCA. This is the first report describing prion infectivity in a naturally occurring deer parasite. Our data also demonstrate that CWD prions contained in nasal bots interact with environmental components and may be relevant for disease transmission.

Keywords

Chronic Wasting Disease, Nasal Bots, Disease Vectors, White-tailed Deer, Prions, Evolution & Ecology, Microbiology, Virology & Host Pathogen Interaction

Comments

Supplementary Materials

Data Availability Statement

PMID: 38191872