| Eur J Epidemiol.
1991 Sep;7(5):520-3. |
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"Clusters" of CJD in Slovakia:
the first laboratory evidence of scrapie.
Mitrova E, Huncaga S, Hocman G, Nyitrayova O, Tatara M.
Institute of Preventive and Clinical Medicine, Bratislava.
Epidemic-like occurrence of Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease was
observed in 1987 in Slovakia (Orava). Search for the cause
of CJD focus indicated a coincidence of genetic and
environmental risks in clustering patients. Since Spongiform
Encephalopathies might be transmitted orally, (Bovine
Spongiform Encephalopathy), the possibility of zoonotic
source of CJD cases in Orava was also considered. A
deficient knowledge about the occurrence of scrapie in
Slovakia stimulated an examination of sheep with signs of
CNS disorders in two flocks of Valasky breed in Orava. In
one flock, neurohistopathological examination revealed in
sheep brains lesions characteristic for scrapie. Frozen
brain tissue of these animals were used for the detection of
scrapie associated fibrils. They were found in 2 animals
from the same flock. This is the first laboratory
confirmation of scrapie in Czecho-Slovakia. The possible
epidemiological and economical implications are emphasized.
PMID: 1761109 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]
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