Maternal transmission studies of BSE in sheep

If BSE (bovine spongiform encephalopathy) infected the UK sheep population concurrently with cattle, it would only now be maintained by transmission between sheep by routes which could include from mother to lamb either in utero or via perinatal close contact. In this study of experimental BSE, Cheviot ewes challenged orally with BSE cattle brain produced lambs of various PrP genotypes over the next 7 years. Of 72 surviving to > 30 months of age, 29 are of the most susceptible PrP genotype (AQ/AQ) and born to mothers that were challenged with BSE. None of the progeny have shown any signs of disease. The results suggest that in these sheep, BSE could only transmit by the maternal route at a frequency of less than one in four (95% confidence limit) from clinically affected ewes, a rate which if replicated in other breeds may not be sufficient to maintain BSE within the sheep population.