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MU Project Studies Increasing Prevalence of Chronic Wasting Disease

Findings help increase awareness for deer hunters, surveillance efforts in Midwest.


Researchers at the University of Missouri have found chronic wasting disease – a fatal illness found in deer that affects their neurological system and causes chronic weight loss – has spread fivefold among Kansas state counties, raising concerns about the spread of the disease and the importance of educating hunters about it.

“In 2009, there were only six Kansas counties with confirmed positive cases of chronic wasting disease, and by 2020, there were 32 Kansas counties with confirmed positive cases,” said Zoe Koestel, a doctoral student at MU. “There has definitely been an increase in the prevalence of this disease, so our surveillance research will help better track the spread of the disease and possibly identify clusters or patterns, which can inform management efforts.”

RamRaghavan
Ram Raghavan is a professor in the MU College of Veterinary Medicine and MU School of Health Professions.

Koestel works with Ram Raghavan, a professor in the MU College of Veterinary Medicine and School of Health Professions, and the Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks, to test samples of hunted deer at MU’s Veterinary Medical Diagnostic Laboratory. After analyzing more than 1,900 samples from last year’s deer hunting season, they identified chronic wasting disease in seven eastern Kansas counties where the disease was previously undetected.

The project involves collaborating with taxidermists, wildlife biologists, game wardens and individual hunters, who collect and send the lymph nodes of their hunted deer to the MU College of Veterinary Medicine, where the samples are tested for chronic wasting disease.

“If a test comes back positive, I will call the hunter to let them know the CDC advises against eating the meat of diseased animals,” Koestel said.

Chronic wasting disease has been spreading throughout the United States for decades, despite efforts to contain it. Since it was first discovered in Colorado in 1967, the disease has now been identified in deer in 26 states, and the Midwest has seen a particularly sharp increase of its prevalence recently.

Currently, there are no reports of humans becoming infected with chronic wasting disease by eating the meat of a deer with the disease. However, similar to bovine spongiform encephalopathy, or mad cow disease, chronic wasting disease is caused by misfolded proteins called prions, which cannot be eliminated by traditional means such as cooking or heating.

There is evidence that mad cow disease can be transmitted to humans by ingestion of diseased beef. According to the CDC, four deaths from variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, a human prion disease, have been identified in the United States, which has helped raise awareness regarding the consumption of meat from diseased animals.

“This project not only helps us track the spread of the disease, it also helps raise awareness for hunters because we want them and their families to stay as safe as possible,” Koestel said. “Hunters are the world’s original conservationists, and they often ask how they can help our efforts. The more samples we receive from hunters, the better we can track the spread of chronic wasting disease.”

The testing results may provide key insights on not just where the disease is currently located, but where it might be detected in the future.

“At the ‘One Health’ laboratory in MU’s Department of Veterinary Pathobiology, we investigate how wildlife and other diseases change trends in geographical areas over time, so these results provide helpful information to public health officials so more tailored management efforts may be considered,” Koestel said.

As hunting license purchases and excise taxes on firearms, ammunition and archery equipment, collected through the Pittman-Robertson Wildlife Restoration Act, make up a large component of funding for state wildlife agencies, Koestel is also interested to see how the increased prevalence of chronic wasting disease, as well as the ability to test harvested animals for the disease, will impact hunter perceptions moving forward.

“Hopefully this research leads to more awareness about the disease so hunters are inclined to have their harvested deer tested for it,” Koestel said.

Programs such as Share the Harvest, which allows hunters to donate surplus venison to low-income families in Missouri, will only accept and package meat that tests negative from the 29 Missouri counties within the state’s Chronic Wasting Disease Management Zone.

“It feels good to contribute to sampling efforts that will add knowledge about this disease so it can be managed among deer and also potentially prevent it from jumping to other species, particularly humans,” Koestel said. “This is a great example of the ‘One Health’ concept, as the health of humans, animals and the environment are all intertwined and affect one another.”

Editor’s note: Funding for the chronic wasting disease surveillance project is provided by the United States Department of the Interior’s Fish and Wildlife Service, and administered by the Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks. The content does not necessarily represent the official views of the funding agencies.

Story courtesy of Show Me Mizzou
Story contact: Brian Consiglio, 573-882-9144, consigliob@missouri.edu

Filed Under: News

Cats Less Stressed After Adoption by Families with Children with Autism, MU Study Finds

While researchers have found that adding a shelter cat to the family can help lower stress and anxiety for children with autism, a new study at the University of Missouri shows that joining a family does wonders for the felines, too.

“It’s not only important to examine how families of children with autism may benefit from these wonderful companion animals, but also if the relationship is stressful or burdensome for the shelter cats being adopted into a new, perhaps unpredictable environment,” said Gretchen Carlisle, a research scientist at the MU Research Center for Human-Animal Interaction (ReCHAI) in the MU College of Veterinary Medicine. “In our study, we found the cats acclimated well to their new families and became significantly less stressed over time.”

The findings, published Monday in Frontiers in Veterinary Science, highlight the mutual benefits of human-animal interaction and build off previous MU research that found pets may help reduce stress and anxiety for both children with autism and their parents.

Carlisle and her team monitored shelter cats for 18 weeks after being adopted by Missouri families with at least one child with autism. The cats were first screened using the Feline Temperament Profile to identify shelter cats with a calm and laid-back temperament. After families selected a cat that had passed the screening, researchers made home visits to check on the cats 2-3 days after adoption and then every six weeks for 18 weeks, to see how they acclimated to their newly adopted families.

Gretchen Carlisle is a research scientist with the Research Center for Human-Animal Interaction in the MU College of Veterinary Medicine.
Gretchen Carlisle is a research scientist with the Research Center for Human-Animal Interaction in the MU College of Veterinary Medicine.

“Cortisol is a stress measure we tracked through collecting samples of the cats’ feces, and we noticed a significant decrease in cortisol over time,” Carlisle said. “Cats also tend to lose weight due to not eating if they are stressed, but we found the cats actually gained a bit of weight initially after adoption and then maintained their weight as time went on, so both findings indicated the cats acclimated well.”

Carlisle explained that children with autism may have sensitivity or sensory issues and occasional problem behaviors accompanied by loud, sudden outbursts. Because of those concerns, shelter cats that have been screened for a calm, easy-going temperament may increase the likelihood of a better long-term match for both the children and the cat.

“It’s crucial to look after the welfare of the cats from a humanitarian standpoint, and this research also helps animal shelter staff overcome the financial and management hurdles that can result when cats are returned to shelters if there is not a good fit with the adopted family,” Carlisle said. “Obviously, the shelters want to place all of their cats in homes, but some families may require a more specific fit, and using research-based, objective measurements for screening temperament may help increase the likelihood of successful, long-term matches. Our hope is that other scientists will build on the work of our exploratory study so shelter cats and families of children with autism might benefit.”

“Exploratory study of fecal cortisol, weight and behavior as measures of stress and welfare in shelter cats during assimilation into families of children with autism spectrum disorder” was published Monday in Frontiers in Veterinary Science. Funding for the study was provided by the Human Animal Bond Research Institute (HABRI) and the EveryCat Health Foundation. Co-authors on the study include Rebecca Johnson, Colleen Koch, Leslie A. Lyons, Ze Wang, Jessica Bibbo and Nancy Cheak-Zamora.

Story courtesy of Show Me Mizzou
Story contact: Brian Consiglio, 573-882-9144, consigliob@missouri.edu

Filed Under: News

3D Printing Lets Amish Draft Horse Breathe Again

A typical work day for a Belgian draft horse on an Amish farm is to plow the fields until lunchtime, eat a bucket of oats, then head back out to plow until dinner.

Filed Under: News

‘Dark Matter’ in Cat Genomes May Shed Light on Human Disease

MU researchers find cat genome resembles human genome more closely than nearly all other mammals.


While dogs may be man’s best friend, cats are more genetically similar to humans than nearly any other mammal, according to a researcher and her team at the University of Missouri. The findings, published today in Trends in Genetics, come after decades of genome DNA sequencing by Leslie Lyons, a Gilbreath-McLorn endowed professor of comparative medicine in the MU College of Veterinary Medicine.

“Comparative genetics can play a key role in precision medicine and translational medicine, particularly for inherited diseases that affect both cats and humans, such as polycystic kidney disease and hypertrophic cardiomyopathy,” Lyons said. “As researchers, anything we can learn about identifying the causes of genetic diseases in cats or how to treat them can be useful for treating humans with the same disease.”

As DNA sequencing technology has improved over time, Lyons and her team have created a cat genome assembly that is nearly 100% complete, and Lyons found the layout of the cat genome to be very similar to the human genome, even more similar than that of mice or dogs.

Lyons explains that out of the 3 billion base pairs of DNA that make up the genome of mammals, only 2% of the DNA is coded into proteins that help our bodies perform natural functions. ‘Dark matter’ DNA, or the 98% of DNA with no obvious functions, may play a regulatory role in turning certain genes on or off, but that role is not quite fully understood by researchers.

“We want to find the regulatory elements in the dark matter where there might be specific DNA that turn our genes on or off, and since cats have a genome very similar to humans, the dark matter is arranged in a similar way as well,” Lyons said. “By better understanding the cat genome, we can try to target and find those regulatory sequences and then potentially develop therapies that would turn those sequences on or off. If we can shut down a whole gene, maybe we can shut down an entire cancer or disease that the genetic mutation was causing in the first place.”

Lyons’ research improves animal welfare by discovering genetic mutations that cause disease. In a previous study, she located in a domestic cat a specific mutation in the gene responsible for causing Chediak-Higashi syndrome, a rare condition in both cats and humans that weakens the immune system and leaves the body more vulnerable to infections. Her research is also helpful in preventing inherited diseases from being passed down to future generations.

“For most rare conditions, we are getting pretty good at discovering genes where there is one single mutation that causes something good or bad, but most common diseases among the general public, such as asthma, diabetes, obesity, high blood pressure and allergies, are often more complex,” Lyons said. “Since these are all common conditions that affect cats as well as humans, more research on comparing the cat and human genomes can help us one day possibly figure out which different genes and mechanisms are interplaying to create these complex diseases.”

Lyons added that the COVID-19 pandemic highlights the importance of translational medicine. In addition to the coronavirus causing COVID-19 in humans, it also causes feline infectious peritonitis in cats, which can be fatal.

“A few years ago, we learned the drug remdesivir was effective in curing cats of feline infectious peritonitis,” Lyons said. “So, when the pandemic began, we knew we could consider it to treat humans with COVID-19 because the receptors for the virus are similar between cats and humans.”

More research is needed as there are still questions to investigate, Lyons said.

Leslie Lyons is a Gilbreath-McLorn endowed professor of comparative medicine in the MU College of Veterinary Medicine.

“There is still a lot we don’t know yet, including why do some cats get very sick but not others?” Lyons said. “Why do some humans die from COVID-19 yet others show no symptoms? Getting a better understanding of the cat’s biology and genetic makeup will help us better understand the biology of humans, too.”

Precision medicine will be a key component of the NextGen Precision Health Initiative by helping to accelerate breakthroughs for both patients in Missouri and beyond. Lyons is passionate about the role feline genetics will play in precision medicine by laying the groundwork for tailored, specific treatments according to a patient’s individual genetic makeup, regardless if the patient has two legs or four.

“Our overall goals are to make cats healthier by alleviating genetic problems and use that information to inform human medicine based off what we learn,” Lyons said. “Our work can also help reduce inheritable conditions in cats from getting passed down to their offspring.”

“Cats – telomere to telomere and nose to tail” was published today in Trends in Genetics. Co-authors include William Murphy of Texas A&M and Wes Warren of MU.

Story courtesy of MU News Bureau
Contact: Brian Consiglio, 573-882-9144, consigliob@missouri.edu

 

Filed Under: News

Research With Heart

MU researcher is looking for how to best prescribe exercise to treat heart failure patients.

Filed Under: News

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Upcoming dates & events

Aug
15
Mon
all-day USDA ANIMAL HEALTH FORMULA FUND ...
USDA ANIMAL HEALTH FORMULA FUND ...
Aug 15 all-day
The CVM Committee on Research will review proposals related to livestock, poultry, horses or commercial fish production. Projects must address issues related to animal health. Grants are limited to $10,000. Funds may be used for[...]
all-day VET orientation for incoming VM1...
VET orientation for incoming VM1...
Aug 15 – Aug 17 all-day
It’s almost time for the new school year to begin, which means welcoming brand-new veterinary students. Once again, we will hold a three-day VET orientation from Monday, Aug. 15, through Wednesday, Aug. 17. The goals[...]
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23
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2:00 pm SAVMA Blood Drive @ Adams Conference Room
SAVMA Blood Drive @ Adams Conference Room
Aug 23 @ 2:00 pm – 6:00 pm
If you would like to donate, please schedule an appointment here. Walk-ins are also accepted the day of. To streamline the process, we also encourage you to fill out the rapid pass. This allows you to[...]
Sep
16
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all-day CVM Alumni Weekend @ College of Veterinary Medicine
CVM Alumni Weekend @ College of Veterinary Medicine
Sep 16 – Sep 17 all-day
All alumni and guests are welcome and encouraged to attend all alumni weekend activities!   Registration
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20
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3:30 pm Seminar – David M. Claborn, DPH @ Adams Conference Room
Seminar – David M. Claborn, DPH @ Adams Conference Room
Sep 20 @ 3:30 pm – 5:00 pm
Center for Vector-borne and Emerging Infectious Diseases presents: David M. Claborn, DPH “The importance of baseline surveys in the study of vector populations: A statewide survey of Missouri vectors.”   Dr. Claborn is both professor[...]
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16
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1:00 pm White Coat Ceremony @ Missouri Theatre
White Coat Ceremony @ Missouri Theatre
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HONORING THE CLASS OF 2024
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11
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all-day Great Plains Infectious Disease ...
Great Plains Infectious Disease ...
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You can find abstract information, FREE registration, and more at: https://research.missouri.edu/laboratory-for-infectious-disease-research/gpid-2022 Look for full details including session topics, the agenda, and accommodation information shortly. As in prior years, we will have a Friday afternoon session[...]
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