[martin_fierro]

[Smokin' Joe]

"While injecting clay-bound prions into experimental animals has shown that they remain infectious, more environmentally relevant exposure routes need to be examined," says Pedersen. Experiments examining oral infectivity are under way. The researchers also plan to determine how long prions remain infectious in soils.

This is the crux of the matter. If clay bound prions can be effectively removed from the food chain by adsorption onto clay minerals, then certain soil types will make preferred pastureage for domestic animals should the CWD be shown to be capable of interspecies infection.

It might be possible, through the use of soil amendments to help keep those prions bound by pH controls, although having to boil them and use detergent to separate them sounds like the prions are in a fairly stable arrangement.

I hope they also study what mechanisms, if any release the prions in the digestive tract of the animal, whether it be enzyme action, stomach acids, or a combination (or other factors).

Scrapie has been rumored to remain in the soil for a long time and be capable of infecting sheep later.

[neverdem]

http://www.plos.org

I've noticed this website just recently. Does anyone have any feedback with respect to their political orientation?

Has any one read about F. O. Bastian and his Spiroplasma hypothesis for TSEs at PubMed? Enter Bastian FO, and spiroplasma into PubMed

[Smokin' Joe]

Spiroplasma web page-Ohio State

Spiroplasmas, not Prions, are Likely Cause of TSEs

CJD Diagnostic and Research Center

Deer Farmer.com (several articles in sidebar)

Articles on Chronic Wasting Disease in Wisconsin Deer

[redgolum]

Similar to scrapie (sp?) in sheep.

What is odd to me is that this hasn't been talked about before.