Airborne prions are infectious and can induce transmissible spongiform encephalopathies such as mad cow disease and scrapie, report researchers in Switzerland (Haybaeck J et al. PLoS Pathog. 2011;7[1]:e1001257).
In the new work, investigators at the University of Zurich, the University Hospital Zurich, and the University of Tübingen showed that 100% of mice exposed to aerosols containing prions for a single minute succumbed to scrapie. Longer exposures strongly correlated with shortened incubation periods.
Precautionary measures against prion infections in laboratories, slaughterhouses, and animal feed plants do not typically include stringent protection against aerosols. The findings suggest that revised prion biosafety guidelines are warranted, although the authors noted that they did not investigate whether production of prion aerosols in nature suffices to cause prion transmission.
Country-Specific Mortality and Growth Failure in Infancy and Yound Children and Association With Material Stature
Use interactive graphics and maps to view and sort country-specific infant and early dhildhood mortality and growth failure data and their association with maternal
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