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Horigan V, Gale P, Adkin A, Konold T, Cassar C, Spiropoulos J, Kelly L. Assessing the aggregated probability of entry of a novel prion disease agent into the United Kingdom. MICROBIAL RISK ANALYSIS 2020; 16:100134. [PMID: 32837979 PMCID: PMC7428426 DOI: 10.1016/j.mran.2020.100134] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/13/2020] [Revised: 07/06/2020] [Accepted: 08/10/2020] [Indexed: 06/11/2023]
Abstract
In 2018 prion disease was detected in camels at an abattoir in Algeria for the first time. The emergence of prion disease in this species made it prudent to assess the probability of entry of the pathogen into the United Kingdom (UK) from this region. Potentially contaminated products were identified as evidenced by other prion diseases. The aggregated probability of entry of the pathogen was estimated as very high and high for legal milk and cheese imports respectively and very high, high and high for illegal meat, milk and cheese products respectively. This aggregated probability represents a qualitative assessment of the probability of one or more entry events per year into the UK; it gives no indication of the number of entry events per year. The uncertainty associated with these estimates was high due to the unknown variation in prevalence of infection in camels and an uncertain number and type of illegal products entering the UK. Potential public health implications of this pathogen are unknown although there is currently no evidence of zoonotic transmission of prion diseases other than bovine spongiform encephalopathy to humans.
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Affiliation(s)
- Verity Horigan
- Department of Epidemiological Sciences, Animal and Plant Health Agency, Woodham Lane, New Haw, Surrey, KT15 3NB, UK
| | - Paul Gale
- Department of Epidemiological Sciences, Animal and Plant Health Agency, Woodham Lane, New Haw, Surrey, KT15 3NB, UK
| | - Amie Adkin
- Department of Epidemiological Sciences, Animal and Plant Health Agency, Woodham Lane, New Haw, Surrey, KT15 3NB, UK
| | - Timm Konold
- Department of Pathology, Animal and Plant Health Agency, Woodham Lane, New Haw, Surrey, KT15 3NB, UK
| | - Claire Cassar
- Department of Pathology, Animal and Plant Health Agency, Woodham Lane, New Haw, Surrey, KT15 3NB, UK
| | - John Spiropoulos
- Department of Pathology, Animal and Plant Health Agency, Woodham Lane, New Haw, Surrey, KT15 3NB, UK
| | - Louise Kelly
- Department of Epidemiological Sciences, Animal and Plant Health Agency, Woodham Lane, New Haw, Surrey, KT15 3NB, UK
- Department of Mathematics and Statistics, University of Strathclyde, 26 Richmond St, Glasgow G1 1XH, UK
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Marier E, Dawson M, Simmons M, Hope J, Ortiz-Peláez A. Case-control study on the use of pituitary-derived hormones from sheep as a potential risk factor for the occurrence of atypical scrapie in Great Britain. Vet Rec 2017; 180:403. [PMID: 28213529 DOI: 10.1136/vr.103762] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 01/23/2017] [Indexed: 11/04/2022]
Abstract
A case-control study was conducted in 2013 to investigate the use of pituitary-derived hormones from sheep as a potential risk factor for the presence of atypical scrapie in Great Britain sheep holdings. One hundred and sixty-five holdings were identified as cases. Two equal sets of controls were selected: no case of scrapie and cases of classical scrapie. A total of 495 holdings were selected for the questionnaire survey, 201 responses were received and 190 (38.3 per cent) were suitable for analysis. The variables 'use-of-heat-synchronisation/superovulation' and 'flock size' were significantly associated with the occurrence of atypical scrapie. Farms with atypical cases were less likely (OR 0.25, 95 per cent CI 0.07 to 0.89) to implement heat synchronisation/superovulation in the flock than the control group. Atypical cases were 3.3 times (95 per cent CI 1.38 to 8.13) more likely to occur in large holdings (>879 sheep) than in small flocks (<164 sheep). If the 'use-of-heat-synchronisation/superovulation' is a proxy for the use of pituitary-derived hormones, the significant negative association between having a case of atypical scrapie and the use of these practices rules out the initial hypothesis that using these drugs is a risk factor for the occurrence of atypical scrapie. Flock size was a significant risk factor for atypical scrapie, consistent with a previous generic case-control study.
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Affiliation(s)
- E Marier
- Department of Epidemiological Sciences (DES), Animal Health and Veterinary Laboratories Agency - Weybridge, New Haw, Addlestone, Surrey KT15 3NB, UK
| | - M Dawson
- Department of Pathology, Animal Health and Veterinary Laboratories Agency - Weybridge, New Haw, Addlestone, Surrey KT15 3NB, UK
| | - M Simmons
- Department of Virology, Animal Health and Veterinary Laboratories Agency - Weybridge, New Haw, Addlestone, Surrey KT15 3NB, UK
| | - J Hope
- Department of Pathology, Animal Health and Veterinary Laboratories Agency - Weybridge, New Haw, Addlestone, Surrey KT15 3NB, UK
| | - A Ortiz-Peláez
- Department of Epidemiological Sciences (DES), Animal Health and Veterinary Laboratories Agency - Weybridge, New Haw, Addlestone, Surrey KT15 3NB, UK
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Rubenstein R, Bulgin MS, Chang B, Sorensen-Melson S, Petersen RB, LaFauci G. PrP(Sc) detection and infectivity in semen from scrapie-infected sheep. J Gen Virol 2012; 93:1375-1383. [PMID: 22323531 DOI: 10.1099/vir.0.038802-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 24] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/18/2022] Open
Abstract
A scrapie-positive ewe was found in a flock that had been scrapie-free for 13 years, but housed adjacent to scrapie-positive animals, separated by a wire fence. Live animal testing of the entire flock of 24 animals revealed seven more subclinical scrapie-positive ewes. We hypothesized that they may have contracted the disease from scrapie-positive rams used for breeding 4 months prior, possibly through the semen. The genotypes of the ewe flock were highly scrapie-susceptible and the rams were infected with the 'Caine' scrapie strain having a short incubation time of 4.3-14.6 months in sheep with 136/171 VQ/VQ and AQ/VQ genotypes. PrP(Sc) accumulates in a variety of tissues in addition to the central nervous system. Although transmission of prion diseases, or transmissible spongiform encephalopathies, has been achieved via peripheral organ or tissue homogenates as well as by blood transfusion, neither infectivity nor PrP(Sc) have been found in semen from scrapie-infected animals. Using serial protein misfolding cyclic amplification followed by a surround optical fibre immunoassay, we demonstrate that semen from rams infected with a short-incubation-time scrapie strain contains prion disease-associated-seeding activity that generated PrP(Sc) in sPMCA (serial protein misfolding cyclic amplification). Injection of the ovinized transgenic mouse line TgSShpPrP with semen from scrapie-infected sheep resulted in PrP(Sc)-seeding activity in clinical and, probably as a result of the low titre, non-clinical mouse brain. These results suggest that the transmissible agent, or at least the seeding activity, for sheep scrapie is present in semen. This may be a strain-specific phenomenon.
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Affiliation(s)
- Richard Rubenstein
- Departments of Neurology and Physiology/Pharmacology, SUNY Downstate Medical Center, 450 Clarkson Avenue, Brooklyn, NY 11203, USA
| | - Marie S Bulgin
- University of Idaho, Caine Veterinary Teaching and Research Center, 1020 E. Homedale Road, Caldwell, ID 83607, USA
| | - Binggong Chang
- Departments of Neurology and Physiology/Pharmacology, SUNY Downstate Medical Center, 450 Clarkson Avenue, Brooklyn, NY 11203, USA
| | - Sharon Sorensen-Melson
- University of Idaho, Caine Veterinary Teaching and Research Center, 1020 E. Homedale Road, Caldwell, ID 83607, USA
| | - Robert B Petersen
- Departments of Pathology Neuroscience, and Neurology, Case Western Reserve University, 2103 Cornell Road, Cleveland, OH 44120, USA
| | - Giuseppe LaFauci
- New York State Institute for Basic Research in Developmental Disabilities, 1050 Forest Hill Road, Staten Island, NY 10314, USA
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