The alarm sounded by Canada’s recently confirmed case of bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) has reaffirmed the exigency of establishing improved safeguards and more aggressive surveillance protocols in North America and around the world. Research converging on the probable causative agent—prion proteins—calls for intensive assessment of the headway gained in tracing prions, testing for transmissible neurodegenerative diseases, and developing methods for cornering the epidemic.

This timely book marshals techniques for prion protein assay and diagnosis of transmissible spongiform encephalopathies (TSEs).

Administered by an illustrious panel of 36 international contributors, Prions and Mad Cow Disease

• Manifests evidence of infectious agents believed responsible for TSEs
• Explores prion protein detection via immunoassay, chemiluminescent ELISA, bioassay, and fluorescence
• Relates differential extraction, DELFIA, multispectral techniques, and in vivo diagnostics
• Consults comparable sheep-carried infection scrapie for BSE leads
• Examines chronic wasting disease, a TSE striking deer and elk populations
• Specifies measures for active BSE surveillance and safety monitoring of biological products
• Presents models for estimating probabilities of animal–animal BSE spread

Crystallizing options for sensitive analysis, Prions and Mad Cow Disease is a robust, important resource for infectious disease specialists; food scientists, technologists, and processors; microbiologists, toxicologists, and bacteriologists; and veterinarians.

Contents

1. Taking Aim at the Transmissible Spongiform Encephalopathies Infectious Agents
2. Prions, The Protein Hypothesis, and Scientific Revolutions of Virology
3. A Simulation Model for Evaluating the Potential for Spread of Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy in Animals to People
4. Actions to Prevent Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy from Entering the United States
5. Overview of Transmissible Spongiform Encephalopathy in the United States
6. Bioassays for Prions
7. Cyclic Amplification of Scrapie Prion Protein: Implications for Diagnosis
8. The Enfer Transmissible Spongiform Encephalopathies Assay: Chemiluminescent ELISA of Prion Proteins
9. Sensitive Detection of Prion Proteins by Immunoassay (CEA/Bio-Rad Test)
10. The Diagnosis of Transmissible Spongiform Encephalopathies Using Differential Extraction and DELFIA
11. In Vivo Diagnosis of Prion Diseases
12. Diagnosis of Prion Diseases by Multispectral Techniques
13. Detection of the Prion Protein in Blood Using a Fluorescence Immunoassay
14. Prion Detection and Application to the Safety of Biological Products

Index

click here to see books • videos • cd-roms of related interest