Abstract
Chronic wasting disease (CWD) is a fatal prion disease affecting cervids (deer, elk, moose). Current methods to monitor individual disease state include highly invasive antemortem rectal biopsy or postmortem brain biopsy. Efficient, sensitive, and selective antemortem and postmortem testing of populations would increase knowledge of the dynamics of CWD epizootics as well as provide a means to track CWD progression into previously unaffected areas. Here, we analyzed the presence of CWD prions in skin samples from two easily accessed locations (ear and belly) from 30 deceased white-tailed deer (Odocoileus viginianus). The skin samples were enzymatically digested and analyzed by real-time quaking-induced conversion (RT-QuIC). The diagnostic sensitivity of the ear and belly skin samples were both 95%, and the diagnostic specificity of the ear and belly skin were both 100%. Additionally, the location of the skin biopsy on the ear does not affect specificity or sensitivity. These results demonstrate the efficacy of CWD diagnosis with skin biopsies using RT-QuIC. This method could be useful for large scale antemortem population testing.