Colorado Surveillance Program for Chronic Wasting Disease
Transmission to Humans
Lessons From 2 Highly
Suspicious but Negative Cases
C. Alan Anderson, MD;
Patrick Bosque, MD; Christopher M.
Filley, MD; David B. Arciniegas, MD;
B. K. Kleinschmidt-DeMasters, MD; W. John
Pape, BS; Kenneth L. Tyler, MD
Arch Neurol. 2007;64:439-441.
Objective To describe 2 patients with rapidly progressive
dementia and risk factors for exposure to chronic
wasting disease (CWD) in whom extensive testing
negated the possible transmission of CWD.
Design/Methods We describe the evaluation of 2 young
adults with initial exposure histories and
clinical presentations that suggested the
possibility of CWD transmission to humans.
Patients A 52-year-old woman with possible laboratory
exposure to CWD and a 25-year-old man who had consumed
meat from a CWD endemic area.
Interventions Clinical evaluation, neuropathological
examination, and genetic testing.
Results Neuropathological and genetic assessment in the
2 patients proved the diagnoses of early-onset
Alzheimer disease and a rare genetic prion
disease.
Conclusion No convincing cases of CWD transmission to
humans have been detected in our surveillance program.
Author Affiliations: Departments of Neurology (Drs Anderson,
Bosque, Filley, Arciniegas, Kleinschmidt-DeMasters, and
Tyler), Psychiatry (Drs Anderson, Filley, and Arciniegas),
Pathology (Dr Kleinschmidt-DeMasters), Medicine (Dr Tyler),
Microbiology (Dr Tyler), and Immunology (Dr Tyler);
University of Colorado School of Medicine, Denver; Denver
Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Denver (Drs Anderson,
Filley, Arciniegas, and Tyler); Denver Health Medical
Center, Denver (Dr Bosque); and Colorado Department of
Public Health and Environment, Denver (Mr Pape).
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