The Scottish Government

Scrapie

Scrapie is a fatal brain disease of sheep and goats and has been present in the UK flock for over 250 years. There are many clinical symptoms of the disease such as irritation, changes in behaviour and changes in posture.

These clinical signs can be confused with other sheep diseases. If you suspect that a sheep has scrapie, by law it must be reported to the Divisional Veterinary Manager at your local Animal Health Divisional Office. At present TSEs (Transmissible Spongiform Encephalopathies) can only be confirmed by examination of brain material after the animal is dead.

Scrapie control

Scrapie is difficult to control and often reoccurs in affected flocks with most cases occurring in animals between 2-5 years of age. Currently TSEs (Transmissible Spongiform Encephalopathies) in sheep, particularly scrapie, can be controlled by testing the blood, semen or tissue sample containing the animal's DNA.

This test, called the PrP genotyping test, determines the animal's genotype. Sheep can have up to 15 possible genotypes, and these can determine whether it may develop scrapie if exposed to a scrapie agent. The plans in place to eradicate scrapie from the national sheep flock can be viewed via the link to Scrapie Eradication.

BSE in Sheep

To date there has never been a naturally occurring case of BSE found in sheep and no evidence of a BSE-like epidemic of scrapie in sheep. However, to put the Government in a position of preparedness to deal effectively with such a situation, Government has produced the BSE in Sheep Contingency Plan. This is a living document which will be updated to take account of the latest advice and science. More information is available at the BSE in sheep section of this website.

Atypical scrapies

A previously undetected TSE in sheep, named atypical scrapie, has recently been identified through the use of more sensitive diagnostic techniques. Few clinical cases of atypical scrapie have been found in UK with most cases identified through the Active Surveillance Programme. It is possible that atypical scrapie represent more than one type of TSE. Other European countries have also reported similar findings through their own programmes of TSE surveillance.

Research into this newly identified TSE is still in its very early stages but results from atypical and classical cases of scrapie has identified AF ₁₄₁RQ and AHQ-allele carrying genotypes as a high risk group for atypical scrapie, although the ARR allele, the most resistant to developing the clinical signs of classical scrapie, is a higher risk group of contracting atypical scrapie than the wild-type (AL ₁₄₁RQ) allele. Evidence to date indicates that in most cases of atypical scrapie are found in isolation within flocks but can be found at very low levels. The EU commission are looking at how best to tackle atypical scrapie.

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