I write in response to the “In The Know” article titled “Misfolded Proteins” by Dibash Kumar Das and Dr. Steven L. Shafer, which appears in the October 2024 issue (ASA Monitor 2024;88:1-4). In their otherwise excellent summary of prion and prion-like diseases, the esteemed scientists make one important factual error and another potentially confusing statement that I wish to clarify below.
First, the authors state incorrectly that “Extensive studies have demonstrated that scrapie, bovine spongiform encephalitis, and chronic wasting disease cannot be transmitted to humans” (Prion 2016;10:83-91). In fact, the manuscript which they cite to back up their claim describes the apparent inability only of chronic wasting disease to jump the species barrier between cervids and humans. The citation says nothing about any supposed lack of bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) transmission between cattle and humans. Indeed, BSE is well-established to cross from cattle into humans via...
