To estimate the number of cases of scrapie that would occur in sheep of different prion protein (PrP) genotypes if scrapie was to become established in New Zealand, and to compare the performance of two commercially available, rapid ELISA kits using ovine retro-pharyngeal lymph nodes (RLN) from non-infected and infected sheep of different PrP genotypes.Using published data on the distribution of PrP genotypes within the New Zealand sheep flock and the prevalence of cases of scrapie in these genotypes in the United Kingdom, the annual expected number of cases of scrapie per genotype was estimated, should scrapie become established in New Zealand, assuming a total population of 28 million sheep. A non-infected panel of RLN was collected from 737 sheep from New Zealand that had been culled, found in extremis or died. Brain stem samples were also collected from 131 of these sheep. A second panel of infected samples comprised 218 and 117 RLN from confirmed scrapie cases that had originated in Europe and the United States of America, respectively. All samples were screened using two commercial, rapid, transmissible spongiform encephalopathy ELISA kits: Bio-Rad TeSeE ELISA (ELISA-BR), and IDEXX HerdChek BSE-Scrapie AG Test (ELISA-ID).If scrapie became established in New Zealand, an estimated 596 cases would occur per year; of these 234 (39

作者：R, Kittelberger；L, McIntyre；J, Watts；S, MacDiarmid；M J, Hannah；J, Jenner；R, Bueno；R, Swainsbury；J P M, Langeveld；L J M, van Keulen；F G, van Zijderveld；W M, Wemheuer；J A, Richt；S J, Sorensen；C J, Pigott；J S, O'Keefe

来源：New Zealand veterinary journal 2014 年 62卷 6期