Publikationsdatenbank

Rapid testing leads to the underestimation of the scrapie prevalence in an affected sheep and goat flock (2007)

Art

Zeitschriftenartikel / wissenschaftlicher Beitrag

Autoren

Reckzeh, Claudia

Hoffmann, Christine

Buschmann, Anne

Buda, Silke

Budras, Klaus-Dieter

Reckling, Karl-Friedrich

Bellmann, Steffi

Knobloch, Hartmut

Erhardt, Georg

Fries, Reinhard

Groschup, Martin H

Quelle

Veterinary microbiology : an international journal

Bandzählung: 123

Heftzählung: 4

Seiten: 320 – 327

ISSN: 0378-1135

Sprache

Englisch

Verweise

Pubmed: 17521831

Kontakt

Institut für Veterinär-Anatomie

Koserstr. 20
14195 Berlin
+49 30 838 75784
anatomie@vetmed.fu-berlin.de

Abstract / Zusammenfassung

To obtain a more detailed understanding of the prevalence of classical scrapie infections in a heavily affected German sheep flock (composed of 603 sheep and 6 goats), we analysed 169 sheep and 6 goats that carried the genotypes susceptible to the disease and that were therefore culled following discovery of the index case. The initial tests were performed using the Biorad TeSeE ELISA and reactive results were verified by official confirmatory methods (OIE-immunoblot and/or immunohistochemistry (IHC)) to demonstrate the deposition of scrapie-associated PrP(Sc) in the brain stem (obex). This approach led to the discovery of 40 additional subclinically scrapie-infected sheep. Furthermore, peripheral lymphatic and nervous tissue samples of the 129 sheep and 6 goats with a negative CNS result were examined by IHC in order to identify any preclinical infections which had not already spread to the central nervous system (CNS). Using this approach we found 13 additional sheep with PrP(Sc) depositions in the gut-associated lymph nodes (GALT) as well as in the enteric nervous system. Moreover, in most of these cases PrP(Sc) was also deposited in the spleen and in the retropharyngeal and superficial cervical lymph nodes. Taken together, these results show a 30.3% infection prevalence in this scrapie-affected flock. Almost 7.4% of the infected animals harboured PrP(Sc) exclusively in the peripheral lymphatic and nervous tissue and were therefore missed by the currently used testing strategy.