Distribution of prion seeding activity in CWD-infected white-tailed deer.

We performed real-time, quaking-induced conversion with NaPTA pre-treatment on homogenates of the same tissues in CWD-inoculated white-tailed deer. We included 5 deer that were euthanized in symptomatic stages of disease and 3 deer that were euthanized 4 months after oral inoculation with CWD-positive brain tissue (4mpi, no signs of CWD). We compared inoculated deer to CWD-negative deer; for a tissue to be designated as positive, it must have been significantly different from the negative control tissue tested in the same experiment (Wilcoxon-Mann-Whitney or Wilcoxon Signed Rank tests, p