Resistance of cattle to scrapie by the oral route

Early epidemiological information indicated that bovine spongiform encephal opathy (BSE) originated from scrapie in sheep. The question arose if scrapi e in North America would induce a BSE-like disease in cattle. Six years ago , we reported that brain tissue from sheep with scrapie caused a neurologic disease when injected directly into the brains of cattle, but the disease induced was different from BSE as it occurs in the United Kingdom and Europ e. Here, we report that cattle fed raw brain or meat and bone meal and tall ow prepared from sheep with scrapie remained normal for 8 years after expos ure. This work indicates that cattle are highly resistant to North American scrapie by the oral route.