Journal
EMERGING INFECTIOUS DISEASES
Volume 14, Issue 9, Pages 1406-1412Publisher
CENTERS DISEASE CONTROL
DOI: 10.3201/eid1409.080259
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Funding
- Department of Defense [1703-1-0756]
- National Institutes of Health [N01-NS-0-2327]
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The route of transmission of most naturally acquired transmissible spongiform encephalopathy (TSE) infections remains speculative. To investigate urine as a potential source of TSE exposure, we used a sensitive method for detection and quantitation of TSE infectivity. Pooled urine collected from 22 hamsters showing clinical signs of 263K scrapie contained 3.8 +/- 0.9 infectious doses/mL of infectivity. Titration of homogenates of kidneys and urinary bladders from the same animals gave concentrations 20,000-fold greater. Histologic and immunohistochemical examination of these same tissues showed no indications of inflammatory or other pathologic changes except for occasional deposits of disease-associated prion protein in kidneys. Although the source of TSE infectivity in urine remains unresolved, these results establish that TSE infectivity is excreted in urine and may thereby play a role in the horizontal transmission of natural TSEs. The results also indicate potential risk for TSE transmission from human urine-derived hormones and other medicines.
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