Emerging Infectious Diseases (May 2025)

Administration of L-Type Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy to Macaques to Evaluate Zoonotic Potential

  • Morikazu Imamura,
  • Ken’ichi Hagiwara,
  • Minoru Tobiume,
  • Minako Ohno,
  • Hiromi Iguchi,
  • Hanae Takatsuki,
  • Tsuyoshi Mori,
  • Ryuichiro Atarashi,
  • Hiroaki Shibata,
  • Fumiko Ono

DOI
https://doi.org/10.3201/eid3105.241257
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 31, no. 5
pp. 986 – 990

Abstract

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We administered L-type bovine spongiform encephalopathy prions to macaques to determine their potential for transmission to humans. After 75 months, no clinical symptoms appeared, and prions were undetectable in any tissue by Western blot or immunohistochemistry. Protein misfolding cyclic amplification, however, revealed prions in the nerve and lymphoid tissues.

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