Atypical Scrapie

Via ProMED-mail: the New Zealand Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry reports on a case of atypical scrapie.

MAFBNZ Principal International Adviser Dr Stuart MacDiarmid says global knowledge about atypical scrapie/Nor 98 is evolving. The widely accepted mainstream scientific view is that it occurs spontaneously or naturally in very small numbers of older sheep in all sheep populations around the world.
"This positive detection of atypical scrapie/Nor 98 in a sheep from New Zealand's national flock reinforces that view. Every country that has conducted sufficient surveillance for atypical scrapie/Nor 98 has found it in their flocks. This includes most Scandinavian and EU countries, the UK, the USA and Canada," he says.
The detection does not change New Zealand's status as free from scrapie.