Prions: strategies for control of BSE and scrapie

BSE in cattle, scrapie in sheep and Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD) in huma ns are members of a family of fatal neurodegenerative diseases called Trans missible Spongiform Encephalopathies (TSEs) or Prion diseases. They are cha racterised by a long pre-clinical incubation period and a variable length c linical course determined by the strain of agent and the species of host. T hey are invariably fatal. The link between BSE in cattle and a variant form of CJD (vCJD) has focused attention on the controls in place to minimise t he spread of these agents both within the animal population and to humans. Here the strategies for reducing the transmission of these agents are discu ssed and the potential for successful eradication of these animal diseases considered.