A4O-Lancaster Farming, Saturday, December 14, 2002
Researcher Looks For Test To Detect Scrapie, Other TSEs
WOOSTER, Ohio Counting
sheep is supposed to help us have
a good night sleep. But Ohio
sheep farmers whose flocks have
been infected with scrapie know
that sweet dreams can easily turn
into nightmares.
Between Oct. 1, 2001, and July
31, 2002, Ohio which boasts
142,000 head of sheep with a
value of $19.8 million- reported
the highest number of confirmed
cases of scrapie (38) and infected
flocks (13) in the country, accord
ing to the U.S. Department of
Agriculture (USDA).
That’s why Srinand Sreevat
san, a researcher with Ohio State
University's Ohio Agricultural
Research and Development Cen
ter (OARDC), is developing a test
that can detect scrapie and other
transmissible spongiform enceph
alopathies (TSEs) including
bovine spongiform encephalopa
thy (BSE, or mad cow disease) in
cattle, chronic wasting disease
(CWD) in elk and deer, and
Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease (CJD)
in humans- using scrapie as a
model.
“There is a desperate need for
a fast and reliable test for the di
agnosis of TSEs in live animals,”
said Sreevatsan, whose labora
tory is part of OARDC’s Food
Animal Health Research Pro
gram (FAHRP). “Early detection
could lead to efficient surveil
lance systems that may avert or
control this group of diseases.”
Scrapie is a fatal, degenerative
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disease that affects the central
nervous system of sheep and
goats. It was inadvertently intro
duced into the United States
from Europe in 1947. Since then,
USDA has reported more than
1,600 confirmed scrapie cases in
sheep and 10 cases in goats.
There is no cure for scrapie, and
death is inevitable once the dis
ease is contracted.
The agent responsible for scra
pie and other TSEs is smaller
than the smallest known virus.
It’s generally believed to be a
prion the abnormal form (PrPsc)
of a normal host protein (PrP)
that accumulates in the affected
brain. How prions kill nerve cells
in the brain and lead to serious
degerative diseases is still a puz
zle. However, Ohio State Univer
sity researchers recently discov
ered that PrPsc is able to
spontaneously form within the
cell’s cytosol. Once there, it can
convert normal PrP into PrPsc,
aiding in the destruction of host
nerve cells and helping the dis
ease to spread from cell to cell.
Sreevatsan is looking for a way
to identify prions through clinical
samples (blood, serum, tonsil
scrapings or cerebrospinal fluid)
before the onset of symptoms,
which usually occurs two to five
years after the animal is infected.
Although some tests have been
developed in the past, definite di
agnosis of scrapie is still only pos
sible after death.
“The idea is to detect the prion
protein, which is folded abnor
mally as compared to its normal
counterpart, in an animal that’s
still living, using non-invasive ap
proaches,” Sreevatsan explained.
“Identifying infected animals
early on will be profitable for the
farmers, and it will also be very
useful in getting rid of infected
animals. Anything that will help
both the farmers and public
health in general, by preventing a
spillover of potentially infected
meat or meat products into the
food chain, will benefit the ani
mal industry a lot.”
Scrapie-infected animals tend
to itch and pull out their wool (a
scraping action that gives the dis
ease its name), eat but remain
thin, bunny hop, step high with
their front feet, rub on objects,
bite at their legs, smack their lips,
wobble or stumble, shake, and
stare up at the sky, among other
symptoms.
“Not much attention has been
paid to the economics of
this particular problem,”
Sreevatsan said,
ever, it is anticipated that
TSEs (CWD and scrapie)
will have a significant im
pact on meat consumption
and the acceptability of the
carcass, because animals
that are infected usually
mutilate themselves and
are not acceptable for
sale.”
Decline in meat sales is
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not the only damage caused by
scrapie to the U.S. sheep indus
try. The presence of the disease
here also prevents the export of
breeding stock, semen and em
bryos to many other countries. In
addition, TSEs in general are the
subject of increased public atten
tion and concern because of the
catastrophic effects of mad cow
disease in Great Britain and the
link between BSE and variant
Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease
(vCJD) in people.
According to Sreevatsan, an
accurate prion-detection test
could also be used to diagnose
other TSEs in domestic and wild
animals, as well as in humans.
The need for such a test is exem
plified by concerns regarding the
occurrence of CJD in over 30
professional blood donors and the
possibility of a mad cow outbreak
in the United States.
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“Potentially, we could be able
to apply the test to detect the
prion protein in other animals
and humans,” Sreevatsan said.
“What is of foremost importance
now is to find a tool or a set of
tools to identify any infected ani
mals and prevent these diseases
from getting to people.”
Also involved in the prion test
project at Sreevatsan’s laboratory
are Kaori Takemura, an OARDC
postdoctoral research
er, and Katie Ringer, a senior
neuroscience student at The Col
lege of Wooster.
For more information on scra
pie, contact the USDA’s Animal
and Plant Health Inspection
Service Ohio office at (614)
469-5602 or visit http://
www.a p h i s
usda.gov/vs/nahps/scrapie/.
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