The prevalence of atypical scrapie in sheep from positive flocks is not higher than in the general sheep population in 11 European countries.

BACKGROUND: During the last decade, active surveillance for transmissible spongiform encephalopathies in small ruminants has been intensive in Europe. In many countries this has led to the detection of cases of atypical scrapie which, unlike classical scrapie, might not be contagious. EU legislation requires, that following detection of a scrapie case, control measures including further testing take place in affected flocks, including the culling of genotype susceptible to classical scrapie. This might result in the detection of additional cases. The aim of this study was to investigate the occurrence of additional cases in flocks affected by atypical scrapie using surveillance data collected in Europe in order to ascertain whether atypical scrapie, is contagious. RESULTS: Questionnaires were used to collect, at national level, the results of active surveillance and testing associated with flock outbreaks in 12 European countries. The mean prevalence of atypical scrapie was 5.5 (5.0-6.0) cases per ten thousand in abattoir surveillance and 8.1 (7.3-9.0) cases per ten thousand in fallen stock. By using meta-analysis, on 11 out of the 12 countries, we found that the probability of detecting additional cases of atypical scrapie in positive flocks was similar to the probability observed in animals slaughtered for human consumption (odds ratio, OR = 1.07, CI95%: 0.70-1.63) or among fallen stock (OR = 0.78, CI95%: 0.51-1.2). In contrast, when comparing the two scrapie types, the probability of detecting additional cases in classical scrapie positive flocks was significantly higher than the probability of detecting additional cases in atypical scrapie positive flocks (OR = 32.4, CI95%: 20.7-50.7). CONCLUSIONS: These results suggest that atypical scrapie is not contagious or has a very low transmissibility under natural conditions compared with classical scrapie. Furthermore this study stressed the importance of standardised data collection to make good use of the analyses undertaken by European countries in their efforts to control atypical and classical scrapie.

A shift to glycolysis accompanies the inflammatory changes in PBMCs from individuals with an IQ-discrepant memory.

Identification of a blood-based biomarker that can detect early cognitive decline presents a significant healthcare challenge. We prepared peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) from individuals who had a poorer than predicted performance in their delayed recall performance on the Logical Memory II Subtest of the Wechsler Memory Scale (WMS) relative to their IQ estimated by the National Adult Reading Test (NART); we described these individuals as IQ-discrepant, compared with IQ-consistent, individuals. Stimulation with Aß + LPS increased production of TNFα to a greater extent in cells from IQ-discrepant, compared with IQ-consistent, individuals. This was associated with a shift towards glycolysis and the evidence indicates that 6-phosphofructo-2-kinase/fructose-2,6-biphosphatase (PFKFB)3 plays a role in driving glycolysis. A similar shift towards glycolysis was observed in MDMs prepared from IQ-discrepant, compared with IQ-consistent, individuals. The important finding here is that we have established an increased sensitivity to Aß + LPS stimulation in PBMCs from individuals that under-perform on a memory task, relative to their estimated premorbid IQ, which may be an indicator of early cognitive decline. This may be a useful tool in determining the presence of early cognitive dysfunction.