Clinical findings in two cases of atypical scrapie in sheep: a case report
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BioMed Central
Open Access
Case report
Clinical findings in two cases of atypical scrapie in sheep: a case report Timm Konold*1,2, Andrew Davis1, Gemma Bone1, John Bracegirdle3, Sharon Everitt4, Melanie Chaplin4, Ginny C Saunders4, Saira Cawthraw4 and Marion M Simmons1 Address: 1Neuropathology, Veterinary Laboratories Agency Weybridge, New Haw, Addlestone, UK, 2Royal Veterinary College, Population Biology and Disease Control Research Group, North Mymms, Hatfield, UK, 3State Veterinary Service Cardiff, Llandrindod Wells, Powys, UK and 4TSE Molecular Biology 4, Veterinary Laboratories Agency Weybridge, New Haw, Addlestone, UK Email: Timm Konold* - [email protected]; Andrew Davis - [email protected]; Gemma Bone - [email protected]; John Bracegirdle - [email protected]; Sharon Everitt - [email protected]; Melanie Chaplin - [email protected]; Ginny C Saunders - [email protected]; Saira Cawthraw - [email protected]; Marion M Simmons - [email protected] * Corresponding author
Published: 13 February 2007 BMC Veterinary Research 2007, 3:2
doi:10.1186/1746-6148-3-2
Received: 25 October 2006 Accepted: 13 February 2007
This article is available from: http://www.biomedcentral.com/1746-6148/3/2 © 2007 Crown; licensee BioMed Central Ltd. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Abstract Background: Atypical scrapie is a recently recognised form of transmissible spongiform encephalopathy of sheep that differs from classical scrapie in its neuropathological and biochemical features. Most cases are detected in apparently healthy sheep and information on the clinical presentation is limited. Case presentation: This report describes the clinical findings in two sheep notified as scrapie suspects and confirmed as atypical scrapie cases by immunohistochemistry and Western immunoblotting. Although both sheep displayed signs suggestive of a cerebellar dysfunction there was considerable variation in the individual clinical signs, which were similar to classical scrapie. Conclusion: Any sheep presenting with neurological gait deficits should be assessed more closely for other behavioural, neurological and physical signs associated with scrapie and their presence should lead to the suspicion of scrapie.
Background Scrapie is a transmissible spongiform encephalopathy (TSE) of small ruminants, which has been reported in many countries of the world. There is considerable variation in the clinical presentation of individual cases but the major clinical signs are behavioural, sensory and locomotor changes [1]. These include increased anxiety, teeth grinding, pruritus, a crouched or wide-based stance, ataxia and hypermetria. In addition, tremors and loss of weight or bodily condition are frequen
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