Journal of Infectious Diseases 1994; 169:814-20 by The University of Chicago

Intracerebral Transmission of Scrapie to Cattle

R.C. Cutlip, J.M. Miller, R.E. Race, A.L. Jenny, J.B. Katz, H.D. Lehmkuhl, B.M. DeBey, and M.M. Robinson

To determine if sheep scrapie agent(s) in the United States would induce disease in cattle resembling bovine spongiform encephalopathy, 18 newborn calves were inoculated intracerebrally with a pooled suspension of brain from 9 sheep with scrapie. Half of the calves were euthanized 1 year after inoculation. All calves kept longer than 1 year became severely lethargic and demonstrated clinical signs of motor neuron dysfunction that were manifest as progressive stiffness, posterior paresis, general weakness, and permanent recumbency. The incubation period was 14-18 months, and the clinical course was 1-5 months. The brain from each calf was examined for lesions and for protease-resistant prion protein. Lesions were subtle, but a disease specific isoform of the prion protein was present in the brain of all calves. Neither signs nor lesions were characteristic of those for bovine spongiform encephalopathy.