Antler cannibalism in reindeer

Abstract Prion diseases constitute a class of invariably fatal and degenerative encephalopathies. Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD) is a contagious prion disease among cervids, which is spreading and causing marked population declines in USA and Canada. The first outbreak of CWD in Europe was discovered...

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Autores principales:	Atle Mysterud, Bjørnar Ytrehus, Michael A. Tranulis, Geir Rune Rauset, Christer M. Rolandsen, Olav Strand
Formato:	article
Lenguaje:	EN
Publicado:	Nature Portfolio 2020
Materias:	Medicine R Science Q
Acceso en línea:	https://doaj.org/article/b3eb8776f0c04b4886af03c975362c2c
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spelling	oai:doaj.org-article:b3eb8776f0c04b4886af03c975362c2c2021-12-02T13:58:15ZAntler cannibalism in reindeer10.1038/s41598-020-79050-22045-2322https://doaj.org/article/b3eb8776f0c04b4886af03c975362c2c2020-12-01T00:00:00Zhttps://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-020-79050-2https://doaj.org/toc/2045-2322Abstract Prion diseases constitute a class of invariably fatal and degenerative encephalopathies. Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD) is a contagious prion disease among cervids, which is spreading and causing marked population declines in USA and Canada. The first outbreak of CWD in Europe was discovered in a reindeer population in Norway in 2016. In the worst-case scenario with continental-wide spreading of CWD in Eurasia, an annual harvest of around 4 million cervids is at stake only in Europe, with huge economic and cultural significance. An in situ origin of CWD was suspected, and it appear urgent to identify the likely cause to prevent future emergences. Here, we document the novel phenomenon of extensive antler cannibalism prior to shedding among reindeer in the CWD-infected population. The extent of antler cannibalism increased over the last decades when CWD emerged, and included ingestion of vascularized antlers. Ingestion of tissues from conspecifics is a risk factor for the emergence of prion diseases, where the presence of extensive antler cannibalism opens the intriguing possibility of a ‘Kuru-analogue’ origin of CWD among the reindeer in Europe. Based on general insight on pathology of prion diseases and strain selection processes, we propose an hypothesis for how contagious CWD may emerge from sporadic CWD under the unique epidemiological conditions we document here. More research is required to document the presence of prions in reindeer antlers, and whether antler cannibalism actually led to a strain selection process and the emergence of a contagious form of CWD from a sporadic form of CWD.Atle MysterudBjørnar YtrehusMichael A. TranulisGeir Rune RausetChrister M. RolandsenOlav StrandNature PortfolioarticleMedicineRScienceQENScientific Reports, Vol 10, Iss 1, Pp 1-7 (2020)
institution	DOAJ
collection	DOAJ
language	EN
topic	Medicine R Science Q
spellingShingle	Medicine R Science Q Atle Mysterud Bjørnar Ytrehus Michael A. Tranulis Geir Rune Rauset Christer M. Rolandsen Olav Strand Antler cannibalism in reindeer
description	Abstract Prion diseases constitute a class of invariably fatal and degenerative encephalopathies. Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD) is a contagious prion disease among cervids, which is spreading and causing marked population declines in USA and Canada. The first outbreak of CWD in Europe was discovered in a reindeer population in Norway in 2016. In the worst-case scenario with continental-wide spreading of CWD in Eurasia, an annual harvest of around 4 million cervids is at stake only in Europe, with huge economic and cultural significance. An in situ origin of CWD was suspected, and it appear urgent to identify the likely cause to prevent future emergences. Here, we document the novel phenomenon of extensive antler cannibalism prior to shedding among reindeer in the CWD-infected population. The extent of antler cannibalism increased over the last decades when CWD emerged, and included ingestion of vascularized antlers. Ingestion of tissues from conspecifics is a risk factor for the emergence of prion diseases, where the presence of extensive antler cannibalism opens the intriguing possibility of a ‘Kuru-analogue’ origin of CWD among the reindeer in Europe. Based on general insight on pathology of prion diseases and strain selection processes, we propose an hypothesis for how contagious CWD may emerge from sporadic CWD under the unique epidemiological conditions we document here. More research is required to document the presence of prions in reindeer antlers, and whether antler cannibalism actually led to a strain selection process and the emergence of a contagious form of CWD from a sporadic form of CWD.
format	article
author	Atle Mysterud Bjørnar Ytrehus Michael A. Tranulis Geir Rune Rauset Christer M. Rolandsen Olav Strand
author_facet	Atle Mysterud Bjørnar Ytrehus Michael A. Tranulis Geir Rune Rauset Christer M. Rolandsen Olav Strand
author_sort	Atle Mysterud
title	Antler cannibalism in reindeer
title_short	Antler cannibalism in reindeer
title_full	Antler cannibalism in reindeer
title_fullStr	Antler cannibalism in reindeer
title_full_unstemmed	Antler cannibalism in reindeer
title_sort	antler cannibalism in reindeer
publisher	Nature Portfolio
publishDate	2020
url	https://doaj.org/article/b3eb8776f0c04b4886af03c975362c2c
work_keys_str_mv	AT atlemysterud antlercannibalisminreindeer AT bjørnarytrehus antlercannibalisminreindeer AT michaelatranulis antlercannibalisminreindeer AT geirrunerauset antlercannibalisminreindeer AT christermrolandsen antlercannibalisminreindeer AT olavstrand antlercannibalisminreindeer
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Antler cannibalism in reindeer

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