Amyloid plaques in spongiform encephalopathy of mule deer.

Amyloid plaques were demonstrable in central nervous system tissues of adult captive mule deer affected with chronic wasting disease, a transmissible primary spongiform encephalopathy. Plaques were detected in tissues of 13 of 21 (62 per cent) spontaneously affected animals from 2 to 4 years of age or older, but were not found in 16 unaffected deer of from a few months to 12 years of age.