Dynamics of the natural transmission of bovine spongiform encephalopathy within an intensively managed sheep flock

Abstract

The transmissible spongiform encephalopathies (TSEs) or prion diseases comprise a group of fatal neurological disorders affecting man, domestic ruminants, farmed and free-living cervid species, domestic and captive felids and, rarely, farmed mustellids. The infectious agent of TSEs is poorly characterised and diagnosis of prion diseases is generally achieved by detecting disease-associated forms of the prion protein (PrPd) using immunohistochemistry or immunoassay, or partially protease resistant forms of prion protein (PrPres) by molecular methods.