PHYSICOCHEMICAL AND BIOLOGICAL CHARACTERIZATIONS OF DISTINCT STRAINS OF THE TRANSMISSIBLE MINK ENCEPHALOPATHY AGENT

Inoculation of the Stetsonville, Wisconsin source of transmissible min k encephalopathy (TME) into Syrian hamsters has identified two strains of the TME agent having distinct biological properties and producing disease-specific prion proteins (PrPTME) having different physicochemi cal properties. Although several strains of the sheep scrapie agent ha ve been identified in Great Britain, this is the first indication that agents producing transmissible spongiform encephalopathies in the Uni ted States also are capable of producing distinct strains.