Crows spread infectious diseases caused by prions / Los cuervos dispersan enfermedades causadas por priones

Crows don't digest prions (vg. mad cows disease, cwd, scrapie) , may transport them to other locations / Los cuervos no digieren los priones (ejem. enfermedad de las vacas locas, cwd, scrapie) y pueden transportar las proteinas infecciosas a otras localidades

Crows fed on prion-infected brains from mice can transmit these infectious agents in their feces and may play a role in the geographic spread of diseases caused by prions, such as chronic wasting disease or scrapie.

...Kurt VerCauteren from the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) and other colleagues, shows that prions can pass through crows' digestive systems without being destroyed, and may be excreted intact after ingestion by the birds. According to the authors, their results demonstrate a potential role for the common crow in the spread of infectious diseases caused by prions.

Full open access article here: VerCauteren KC, et al. Prion Remains Infectious after Passage through Digestive System of American Crows (Corvus brachyrhynchos). PLoS ONE, 2012; 7 (10): e45774.  DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0045774