Dear #medical #scientist #biology #nerds , and, of course, the casually curious:

The bot and I had a chat about #prions . They're pesky critters

BotConv: Punk-ass Prions
https://1dzwp.wordpress.com/2026/02/15/botconv-punk-ass-prions/

Battle over Canada's mystery brain disease #prions
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c623r47d67lo
https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46572769

Pops up recurrently, e,g. Mystery brain disease in New Brunswick, Canada
https://mastodon.social/@persagen/113957621360442683

Most probably (Occam's razor): prions

* pathologic, transmissible, misfolded proteins | incurable; fatal
* naturally occurring e.g. wildlife >> domestic cattle ...
* surveillance programs: hunters; Ufology "cattle mutilations"
* economic / social consequences: meat boycotts / panic, unrest

Oh, hand. I have a weird theory about #prions too. 😁

What if, instead of the presence of prions, prion diseases are primarily caused by the absence or failure of some thing that ought to be capable of dealing with prions? 😁

Caveats: deal with, at low levels, too many prions will still overwhelm this what ever it is.

Testable claims: whatever it is will be found in predators and scavengers far more strongly than in non-carnivorous species.

@argv_minus_one

oooh i just watched an absolutely horrifying video on #prions my gods! we live alongside eldritch terror proteins they shed and stay active in the environment for years until super concentrated bleach or incineration removes them, dear gods this is going to make my #zombie story sooo damn good! #health #science #writing

RE: https://biologists.social/@biorxiv_neursci/115515910801836436

#prions

Biological warfare using prion bombs would cause massive chaos.
#biologicalwarfare #prions #prionbombs #ecocide #ecologicalwarfare #warfare #weapons #wmd #environmentaldestruction

Were mass extinctions caused by the accumulation of prions in the environment?
#massextinction #prion #prions #extinction #animals #infectiousdiseases #misfoldedproteins #incurablediseases #ecology

As of April, data on distribution of chronic wasting disease (CWD) in cervids in the U.S. and Canada #prions #CWD #deer https://www.usgs.gov/centers/nwhc/science/expanding-distribution-chronic-wasting-disease

La santé au travail toujours maltraitée à #INRAE : après le licenciement de la médecin coordinatrice et le contentieux sur le conseil médical national l'an dernier, ce début 2025 c'est la nouvelle procédure d'accident voulue par la DG qui est hors les clous...

Et n'oublions pas, depuis 2020 la gestion chaotique du douloureux dossier des #prions , où des préventions attendues ne se sont toujours pas concrétisées.

https://www.sud-recherche.org/SPIPprod/spip.php?article4747

#VeilleESR

#chronicWastingDisease #CWD

’Don’t call it zombie deer disease’: scientists warn of ‘global crisis’ as infections spread across the US

A contagious, fatal illness in deer, elk and moose has taken hold in the US and is now reaching other countries. While it has not infected humans yet, the risk is growing

.. CWD is not caused by bacteria or a virus, but by “#prions”: abnormal, transmissible pathogenic agents that are difficult to destroy. ..

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2025/mar/20/chronic-wasting-disease-spread-zombie-deer-global-us-aoe

#pandemic #nextpandemic

Mystery brain disease in New Brunswick, Canada
https://www.ctvnews.ca/atlantic/new-brunswick/article/good-first-step-nb-mystery-brain-disease-patients-welcome-new-investigation
https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=42958218

Most likely prions/chronic wasting disease
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chronic_wasting_disease
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prion

Nat. occurring in wildlife/incurable/fatal
Cattle "mutilations" (ufology) likely related: environ. surveillance (public health).
Conspiracist Bigelow had a gov't contract in this regard.

Given nature of disease/panic/economic consequences (e.g. cattle/beef) it appears gov. suppress this information.

#prions

https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.ado7082

#Prions

Just mentioned BSE and this turns up.
U. Minnesota article states:
"Researchers have identified chronic wasting disease (CWD) prions in raw, cooked, and cured meat from an infected elk in Texas"
https://mastodon.social/@Infoseepage/113875180141530213
#prions #CWD #CJD #BSE

Removal of wolves led to deer population explosion in #Japan increasing damage to forests & crops. If prions are found in Japan's deer, hunting deer for deer meat will be out. So, bring back wolves?

I get that folks love hunting but frankly, I wouldn't eat deer or elk anymore at all. That's just me. Prions are frightening. It's not known what the risk to humans is with this but prion diseases have extremely long incubation periods. So you might think there's no problem...when there is.

"Researchers have identified chronic wasting disease (CWD) prions in raw, cooked, and cured meat from an infected elk in Texas, confirming the presence of the infectious CWD-causing agents in muscle but concluding that the risk of transmission to humans through consumption is still unclear and requires continued vigilance.

Cooking temperatures are well known to be ineffective in disabling CWD prions, which are misfolded cervid (eg, deer, moose, elk) prions, leading to neurologic disease and death. The prions spread among cervids and through environmental contamination. There is no vaccine or treatment for CWD, which has been found in 35 US states, Canada, Norway, Finland, Sweden, and South Korea."
#prions #InfectiousDisease #cervids #CWD https://www.cidrap.umn.edu/chronic-wasting-disease/cwd-prions-confirmed-raw-cooked-elk-meat-and-water-used-boiling-risk-people

Chronic Wasting Disease Spillover: Preparing for 'the day after'

"While no human CWD cases have been identified, increasing disease prevalence in cervids boosts the odds of spillover into people, other wildlife, and livestock. "Emerging prion strains with a greater propensity for cross-species transmission could heighten these concerns," the report said. "In addition to human health risks, CWD spillover could have far-reaching effects on the food supply, economy, global trade, and agriculture."

"Since we began working on this report in 2023, concerns about a CWD prion spillover from cervids to other animal species and humans have only continued to grow in importance, and we're simply not prepared should a species jump occur," said Michael T. Osterholm, PhD, MPH, CIDRAP director. #CWD #prions #zoonosis #health https://www.cidrap.umn.edu/chronic-wasting-disease/cidrap-report-highlights-gaps-offers-guidance-possible-cwd-spillover-people

Detection of #Prions in Wild #Pigs (Sus scrofa) from Areas with Reported #CWD Cases, #USA, https://etidiohnew.blogspot.com/2024/12/detection-of-prions-in-wild-pigs-sus.html

One wonders where he would have picked that up, if it were the transmissible form. #prions #cjd

https://www.ninds.nih.gov/health-information/disorders/transmissible-spongiform-encephalopathies

Oooh, Dodger's Fernando Valenzuela may have died of a prion disease (Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease) 👀

https://abc7.com/post/cause-death-revealed-legendary-dodgers-pitcher-fernando-valenzuela/15542990/

#prions #disease

A few years ago an attempt was made to extrapolate success in identifying #Prions as a #Pathogen in Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy to other #NeuroDegenerative conditions Problem is that much of papers on molecular basis of #Prion #Diseases are probably #Fake #Science.

#hunting #prions
https://cardinalnews.org/2024/09/23/chronic-wasting-disease-gets-further-entrenched-in-virginia/