Cervids

Canids such as wolves or dogs who track their prey most likely eavesdrop on intraspecific signals, such as deposits from interdigital glands in cervids and hovids, or urine marks of rodents. 

Evolution of cervid olfactory communication. InResearchSymposia oftheNational Zoological Park Biology and Management of Cervidae, ed. C. M. Wemmer, pp. 331-344. Washington DC Smithsonian Institution Press. 

Bowles, J., Blair, D. and McManus, D.P. (1994) Molecular genetic characterisation of the cervid strain ( northern form ) of Echinococcus granulosus. Parasitology 109, 215-221. 

Lavikainen, A., Lehtinen, M.J., Meri, T., Hirvela-Koski, V. and Meri, S. (2003) Molecular genetic characterization of the Fennoscandian cervid strain, a new genotypic group (G1 0) of Echinococcus granulosus. Parasitology 127, 207-21 5. 

McManus, D.P., Zhang, L.H., Castrodale, L.J., Le, T.H., Pearson, M. and Blair, D. (2002) Short report molecular genetic characterization of an unusually severe case of hydatid disease in Alaska caused by the cervid strain of Echinococcus granulosus. American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene 67, 296-298. 

Cervids are vegetarian. They live on a diet of mineral-rich plants and leaves, rather than grass, as the rapid growth of antler requires the extra nutrients. 

Other species of deer live in various countries throughout the world, from the muntjacs in Asia to the little brockets of South America and the tiny pudus of the Andes. Some have impressive antlers while others have just a pair of simple prongs. The cervids living in warmer countries usually have smaller antlers than their cold climate cousins. 

Despite steady progress in non-bioassay discrimination of prion strains, the mouse bioassays remain superior. This was recently demonstrated when two strains of chronic wasting disease (CWD), a prion disease affecting cervids, with biochemically indistinguishable PrPSc aggregates, were recognized as separate CWD-1 and... 

CWD-2 strains [56], following transmission to specific lines of transgenic mice expressing cervid PrP [57]. 

Keywords Cervid prions Chronic wasting disease Prion containment Wild-life prion disease Zoonotic potential... 

PrPSc has been shown to accumulate in a wide range of tissues in CWD affected cervids in skeletal muscle [27] and blood [28]. CWD prions have been detected in saliva, urine [32], and feces, even of asymptomatic deer [30], and cause disease as seen in transgenic cervidized mice. It has been estimated that the amount of prions excreted in feces through the course of disease is as much as is accumulated in the brain of a terminally ill deer [30]. 

It has been demonstrated that soil may serve as an environment reservoir for prions since hamster-derived PrPSc can adhere to soil minerals [34], Therefore, it is reasonable to argue that soil may be a source of CWD infection. Notably, oral transmissibity of infectious hamster-adapted mink prions (strains hyper and drowsy) is enhanced when bound to soil particles [41], Though cervids do not deliberately ingest soil, they do supplement their mineral intake by licking in regions of high clay content. 

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