Sheep feed and scrapie, France.
Scrapie is a small ruminant, transmissible spongiform encephalopathy (TSE). Although in the past scrapie has not been considered a zoonosis, the emergence of bovine spongiform encephalopathy, transmissible to humans and experimentally to sheep, indicates that risk exists for small ruminant TSEs in humans. To identify the risk factors for introducing scrapie into sheep flocks, a case-control study was conducted in France from 1999 to 2000. Ninety-four case and 350 control flocks were matched by location and main breed. Three main hypotheses were tested: direct contact between flocks, indirect environmental contact, and foodborne risk. Statistical analysis was performed by using adjusted generalized linear models with the complementary log-log link function, considering flock size as an offset. A notable effect of using proprietary concentrates and milk replacers was observed. The risk was heterogeneous among feed factories. Contacts between flocks were not shown to be a risk factor.
Philippe
Sandrine
S
Agence Française de Sécurité Sanitaire des Aliments, Lyon, France.
Ducrot
Christian
C
Roy
Pascal
P
Remontet
Laurent
L
Jarrige
Nathalie
N
Calavas
Didier
D
D000821:Animal Feed; D000818:Animals; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D018562:Disease Transmission, Infectious / Q000662:veterinary*; D005260:Female; D005602:France; D008297:Male; D012307:Risk Factors; D012608:Scrapie / Q000635:transmission*; D012756:Sheep; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires