Líffræðifélag Íslands - biologia.is
Líffræðiráðstefnan 2019
Erindi/veggspjald / Talk/poster V27
Höfundar / Authors: Eva Hauksdóttir og Stefanía Þorgeirsdóttir
Starfsvettvangur / Affiliations: Tilraunastöð Háskóla Íslands í meinafræði að Keldum
Kynnir / Presenter: Eva Hauksdóttir
Introduction. Since 1978 Iceland has actively screened healthy slaughtered (HS) sheep for scrapie, however, in 2004 the screening method changed from histopathological staining to a rapid ELISA test. With this new method scrapie cases in HS were identified for the first time, as before index scrapie cases had only been detected in sheep with clinical symptoms (CS). This method also led to the detection of the first atypical scrapie case (Nor98) in Iceland in 2004.
Materials and Methods. During 2004-2018 there were 50,515 HS samples tested with ELISA, along with 558 samples from fallen stock and clinical suspects. In this overview, the cases detected during this time are analyzed further e.g. origin, PrP genotype and number of additional cases from each farm detected after culling of the scrapie flock.
Results. In the years 2004-2018 there were 29 scrapie cases identified, where one case refers to a single affected farm. Two thirds of the classical scrapie cases originate from CS sheep, while Nor98 is generally identified in HS samples rather than CS. The genotype most associated with susceptibility to classical scrapie is frequent in the classical scrapie cases, however a neutral genotype is found in many of those cases as well. After culling, additional positive samples of classical scrapie were frequently detected.
Conclusion. The comparison of classical and atypical scrapie in Iceland shows that they have many different qualities in relation to e.g. origin and genotype.