Posted on 04/08/2008 3:02:59 PM PDT by blam
Transmitting Prion Diseases In Milk
ScienceDaily (Apr. 8, 2008) — Scrapie can be transmitted to lambs through milk, according to new research. The study provides important information on the transmission of this prion-associated disease and the control of scrapie in affected flocks. Scrapie is a fatal neurodegenerative disease of sheep and goats. Clinical signs include itchiness, head tremor, wool loss and skin lesions as well as changes in behaviour and gait.
Timm Konold and colleagues from the Veterinary Laboratories Agency in Weybridge, UK, investigated the transmission of scrapie by feeding milk from scrapie-affected ewes to lambs that are genetically susceptible to contracting scrapie. The researchers were looking for the presence of the prion protein, PrPd, which is associated with the disease.
Eighteen lambs were fed milk from scrapie-affected ewes. Three of these lambs were culled and two were found to have PrPd in intestinal tissues. The prion protein was also detected in lymphoid tissue of the gut of the surviving lambs and in some control lambs mixed with the scrapie milk recipients after weaning.
This suggested that scrapie milk recipients were able to shed the infectious agent and infect other lambs. There was no sign of PrPd in tissue samples from a control group of 10 lambs(one culled and the rest alive), which were housed in the same building but fed milk from healthy ewes. The research will continue, to see whether the lambs with PrPd develop the disease as they get older.
This work raises the possibility that other prion diseases could be transmitted in sheep via milk although it should have no direct implications for human health. Scrapie has been found in sheep and has not been shown to be transmissible to humans. BSE has not been found naturally in sheep and occurrence in sheep in the UK is considered to be unlikely. This research adds to our understanding of the transmission of prion diseases in sheep and would help to inform measures needed to protect human health if BSE were ever to be found in sheep.
Journal reference: Evidence of scrapie transmission via milk. Timm Konold, S. Jo Moore, Susan J. Bellworthy, and Hugh A. Simmons. BMC Veterinary Research (in press)
Adapted from materials provided by BMC Veterinary Research, via EurekAlert!, a service of AAAS.
mad cow, anyone?
Will feta cheese be next?
This has been hypothesized for almost ten years and the first time its been confirmed. This is a scary finding.
BS, reread the story, there is not one bit of confirmation of anything. It is all 100% speculation.
I think the elk with prion disease in Colorado shed the prion in their saliva - they chew on plants and the next animal can pick it up.
I do not like prions.
22 Year Old Portsmouth Woman May Have Rare Disease
22 year old Portsmouth native and Virginia State University grad Aretha Vinson was full of life. In January she had gastric bypass to lose weight and was looking forward to the summer. All of sudden an illness out of nowhere stopped her in her tracks.
Doctors are investigating whether it is variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease. The family has never heard of the disease and chances are you haven’t either. CJD is a rare brain disorder.
This of it as the human form of mad cow disease. Even more gut wrenching is there is no treatment or cure. Aretha’s parents say doctors gave her about 6 months to live. Doctors will also investigate whether gastric bypass surgery played a role in Aretha’s sickness. Right now her symptoms seem to be in line with CJD: blurred vision, dizziness, headaches, and memory loss.
The Virginia Health Department is investigating test results and will report the disease to the Centers for Disease Control if the test are positive for CJD.
http://www.wtkr.com/Global/story.asp?S=8131355
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