Monitoring of Clinical Signs in Goats with Transmissible Spongiform Encephalopathies

    March 2010 in “ BMC veterinary research ”
    Timm Konold, Gemma E Bone, Laura Phelan, Marion Simmons, Lorenzo González, Sílvia Sisó, Wilfred Goldmann, Saira Cawthraw, Steve Hawkins
    TLDR Goats with BSE or scrapie show varying symptoms, and using only clinical signs may not detect all scrapie cases.
    The study monitored clinical signs in goats with transmissible spongiform encephalopathies (TSEs), including scrapie and BSE, and evaluated a short clinical protocol for detecting scrapie. Clinical assessments were conducted on 5 BSE-infected goats, 5 scrapie suspects, and 346 goats from two herds, with 24 retained for further monitoring. The protocol had a sensitivity of 3.9% and specificity of 99.6% for detecting scrapie. Key findings included hair loss, pruritic behavior, and abnormalities in sensation and movement. The study concluded that clinical signs alone might miss many scrapie cases, emphasizing the need for postmortem tests for accurate detection. PrPd accumulation in the brain correlated with disease severity but not specific neurological signs.
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