A Survey of More Than 11 Years of Neurologic Diseases of Ruminants with Special Reference to Transmissible Spongiform Encephalopathies (TSEs) in Greece

Abstract

The first cases of scrapie were detected in Greece in a flock of sheep in October 1986. All the animals of the affected flock and all sheep in two flocks that were in contact were killed and buried. A systematic investigation of all available cases with signs indicating a neurological disease started in sheep and goats in late 1986, as well as in cattle in 1989. The investigation was based on clinical examination, necropsy or macroscopical examination of the brain and viscera, and histological examination of the brain in all animals except those with coenurosis. Histological examinations of specimens from the spinal cord and other tissues, and if considered necessary bacteriological, toxicological and serological examinations were also carried out. In October 1997, scrapie was diagnosed in sheep of a second flock (a mixed flock of sheep and goats), grazing in a pasture close to the place where scrapie was initially detected. All animals of the second flock were also killed and buried. Diagnosis in the first flock was based on clinical signs and histological lesions, and in the second immunoblotting was also used. Distinctive lesions of scrapie were found in the brain and/or the spinal cord of eight sheep with clinical signs from the two flocks. The lesions were revealed in the brain stem and/or in the cervical spinal cord, and tended to be symmetrical. In one sheep, severe lesions in the cortex of cerebral hemispheres and of the cerebellum were also found. In the brain of two sheep from the second flock the pathological isoform of PrP protein was detected. Despite the eradication scheme applied, scrapie in sheep reappeared after 11 years in a place close to where it occurred initially. This may indicate that the effectiveness of the eradication scheme implemented was not adequate and additional approaches may be needed.

Monitoring of parasitic cysts in the brains of a flock of sheep in Egypt

“…The whole brain was fixed in 20% neutral buffered formalin. Coronal sections were sliced through the longitudinal axis of the brain at 5 mm intervals, in accordance with the method described by Leontides et al (2000), in order to ensure that a wide range of neuroanatomical structures were sampled, and in order to detect the presence of cysts and other similar lesions. The dimensions of cysts and their locations were recorded and photographed.…”

State-of-the-art review of goat TSE in the European Union, with special emphasis onPRNPgenetics and epidemiology

“…Epidemiology of goat scrapie – In both Cyprus and Greece, the first cases of scrapie were diagnosed in sheep, in 1985 and 1986, respectively [46, 64]. Less than a year after its initial scrapie report, Cyprus identified its first confirmed cases of goat scrapie in four dairy goats from one of the original scrapie-affected flocks, which included a few goats as well as sheep [65].…”

“…Since then clinical scrapie cases in goats have been recorded throughout Europe and in other regions of the world [13, 40, 46, 60, 62–64, 73]. In general, however, the incidence of scrapie in goats is much lower than in sheep.…”

Study of microbiological aspects of meningoencephalitis due to Listeria spp in ruminants

“…laboratory by isolation of L. monocytogenes. A part of these (23%) in 1986-1997 had also been detected histologically, within the scope of a neurological disease survey in Greece (Leontides et al 1999). …”