Evidence map›Paper›PMID 40764633›Full record

ArticleScientific reports2025

Vertical transmission of chronic wasting disease in free-ranging white-tailed deer populations.

Audrey M Sandoval, Amy V Nalls, Erin E McNulty, Nathaniel D Denkers, Devon J Trujillo, Zoe Olmsted, Ethan Barton, Jennifer R Ballard, Daniel M Grove, Jeremy S Dennison and 5 more

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Scientific reports, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 5 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
5citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

5 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Article
  2. Article
  3. Cellular PrPThe Journal of general virology · 2026
    Article
  4. Article
  5. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

15 authors.

Audrey M SandovalDepartment of Microbiology, Immunology, and Pathology, College of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO, USA.
Amy V NallsDepartment of Microbiology, Immunology, and Pathology, College of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO, USA.
Erin E McNultyDepartment of Microbiology, Immunology, and Pathology, College of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO, USA.
Nathaniel D DenkersDepartment of Microbiology, Immunology, and Pathology, College of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO, USA.
Devon J TrujilloDepartment of Microbiology, Immunology, and Pathology, College of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO, USA.
Zoe OlmstedDepartment of Microbiology, Immunology, and Pathology, College of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO, USA.
Ethan BartonSoutheastern Cooperative Wildlife Disease Study, College of Veterinary Medicine, University of Georgia, Athens, GA, USA.
Jennifer R BallardArkansas Game and Fish Commission, Little Rock, AR, USA.
Daniel M GroveUniversity of Tennessee Extension, Nashville, TN, USA.
Jeremy S DennisonTennessee Wildlife Resources Agency, Jackson, TN, USA.
Natalie StilwellSoutheastern Cooperative Wildlife Disease Study, College of Veterinary Medicine, University of Georgia, Athens, GA, USA.
Christopher A ClevelandSoutheastern Cooperative Wildlife Disease Study, College of Veterinary Medicine, University of Georgia, Athens, GA, USA.
James M CrumWildlife Resources, West Virginia Division of Natural Resources, Elkins, WV, USA.
Mark G RuderSoutheastern Cooperative Wildlife Disease Study, College of Veterinary Medicine, University of Georgia, Athens, GA, USA.
Candace K MathiasonDepartment of Microbiology, Immunology, and Pathology, College of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO, USA. candace.mathiason@colostate.edu.

Funding

Zoonotic potential of CWD and influence of environmental contamination on prion propagationP01AI077774 · NIAID · UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS MED BR GALVESTON · PI Glenn C Telling · 2008 to 2026
$36.1M
Detection and Characterization of Blood-borne PrionsR01AI112956 · NIAID · COLORADO STATE UNIVERSITY · PI MATHIASON, CANDACE K. · 2014 to 2024
$4.6M
Chronic Wasting Disease VaccinesR01AI156037 · NIAID · COLORADO STATE UNIVERSITY · PI MATHIASON, CANDACE K. · 2021 to 2025
$3.5M
Federal Aid in Wildlife Restoration Act 50 Stat. 917National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases RO1AI112956, PO1-AI-077774, RO1AI156037NIAID NIH HHS P01 AI077774NIAID NIH HHS R01 AI112956NIAID NIH HHS R01 AI156037U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service F20AP00172
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Chronic wasting disease (CWD) is a fatal neurodegenerative disease affecting cervids across North America, Northern Europe, and Asia. Disease transmission among cervids has historically been attributed to direct animal-to-animal contact with 'secreta' (saliva, blood, urine, and feces) containing the infectious agent, and indirect contact with the agent shed to the environment in these bodily components. Mounting evidence provides another mechanism of CWD transmission, that from mother-to-offspring, including during pregnancy (vertical transmission). Here we describe the detection of the infectious CWD agent and prion seeding in fetal and reproductive tissues collected from healthy-appearing free-ranging white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) from multiple U.S. states by mouse bioassay and in vitro prion amplification assays. This is the first report of the infectious agent in multiple in utero derived fetal and maternal-fetal reproductive tissues, providing evidence that CWD infections are propagated within gestational fetal tissues of white-tailed deer populations. This work confirms previous experimental and field findings in several cervid species supporting vertical transmission as an additional mechanism of CWD transmission and may help to further explain the facile dissemination of this disease among captive and free-ranging cervid populations.

Indexed as

DeerInfectious Disease Transmission, VerticalWasting Disease, ChronicAnimalsFemaleMicePregnancyPrionsPrionsCervidChronic wasting diseasein utero transmissionOdocoileus virginianusPrion diseaseVertical transmission

Identifiers

PMID40764633
PMCPMC12325800

What OpenQuestion holds

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LicenceCC BY-NC-ND
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Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.