title: Isolation of prion with BSE properties from farmed goat.
abstract: Transmissible spongiform encephalopathies are fatal neurodegenerative diseases that include variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease in humans, scrapie in small ruminants, and bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) in cattle. Scrapie is not considered a public health risk, but BSE has been linked to variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease. Small ruminants are susceptible to BSE, and in 2005 BSE was identified in a farmed goat in France. We confirm another BSE case in a goat in which scrapie was originally diagnosed and retrospectively identified as suspected BSE. The prion strain in this case was further characterized by mouse bioassay after extraction from formaldehyde-fixed brain tissue embedded in paraffin blocks. Our data show that BSE can infect small ruminants under natural conditions and could be misdiagnosed as scrapie. Surveillance should continue so that another outbreak of this zoonotic transmissible spongiform encephalopathy can be prevented and public health safeguarded.
authors.affiliation: Animal Health and Veterinary Laboratories Agency, Weybridge, Surrey, UK.
authors.forename: John
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Spiropoulos
authors.forename: Richard
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Lockey
authors.forename: Rosemary E
authors.initials: RE
authors.lastname: Sallis
authors.forename: Linda A
authors.initials: LA
authors.lastname: Terry
authors.forename: Leigh
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Thorne
authors.forename: Thomas M
authors.initials: TM
authors.lastname: Holder
authors.forename: Katy E
authors.initials: KE
authors.lastname: Beck
authors.forename: Marion M
authors.initials: MM
authors.lastname: Simmons
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000829:Animals, Domestic; D001681:Biological Assay; D001921:Brain / Q000473:pathology; D001923:Brain Chemistry; D002417:Cattle; D021821:Communicable Diseases, Emerging / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000635:transmission / Q000662:veterinary; D016643:Encephalopathy, Bovine Spongiform / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000635:transmission*; D015511:Goat Diseases / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000635:transmission*; D006041:Goats; D006801:Humans; D051379:Mice; D008810:Mice, Inbred C57BL; D008822:Mice, Transgenic; D018620:PrPSc Proteins / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000472:pathogenicity; D011328:Prions / Q000302:isolation & purification* / Q000472:pathogenicity; D012608:Scrapie / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000635:transmission; D006113:United Kingdom
chemical_list: D018620:PrPSc Proteins; D011328:Prions