Autoclave treatment of the classical scrapie agent US No. 13-7 and experimental inoculation to susceptible VRQ/ARQ sheep via the oral route results in decreased transmission efficiency.

ABSTRACT: Scrapie, a prion disease of sheep, is highly resistant to conventional deactivation. Numerous methods to deactivate scrapie have been tested in laboratory animal models, and adequate autoclave treatment can reduce or remove the infectivity of some classical scrapie strains depending on the heating parameters used. In this study, we autoclaved brain homogenate from a sheep with US scrapie strain 13-7 for 30 minutes at 121°C. Genetically susceptible VRQ/ARQ sheep were orally inoculated with 3 grams of the autoclaved brain homogenate. For comparison, a second group of sheep was inoculated with a non-autoclaved brain homogenate. Rectal biopsies were used to assess antemortem scrapie disease progression throughout the study. Five out of ten (5/10) sheep that received autoclaved inoculum ultimat

SUBMITTER: Cassmann ED 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7714121 | biostudies-literature | 2020

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature