Polymorphisms in the Prion Protein Gene, Associated with Chronic Wasting Disease, in the Korean Water Deer (Hydropotes inermis argyropus)

Prion diseases are fatal neurodegenerative diseases that affect humans and non-human mammals. Different alleles of the prion protein gene (PRNP) of humans and sheep are associated with varying susceptibilities to transmissible spongiform encephalopathies. Chronic wasting disease (CWD) is a prion disease of cervids, and polymorphisms at specific codons in the PRNP gene are associated with this disease. To assess the susceptibility of free-ranging deer to CWD, polymorphisms in PRNP were examined in the Korean water deer (Hydropotes inermis argyropus), focusing on codons that are potentially associated with CWD susceptibility (95, 96, 116, 132, 225, and 226). CWD surveillance was conducted by an antigen ELISA of tissue samples from 545 Korean water deer collected in eight provinces of the Republic of Korea. No prion protein associated with CWD was detected in any of the samples. These results suggest that PRNP of the Korean water deer shows low variation and the species has not been infected with CWD.