Allelic variants at codon 146 in thePRNPgene show significant differences in the risk for natural scrapie in Cypriot goats

Abstract

SUMMARYPrevious studies have shown the association between the polymorphisms serine (S) or aspartic acid (D) at codon 146 of thePRNPgene and resistance to scrapie. All goats aged >12 months (a total of 1075 animals) from four herds with the highest prevalence of scrapie in the country were culled and tested, of which 234 (21·7%) were positive by either the rapid test or immunohistochemistry (IHC) for any of the tissues tested. The odds of scrapie infection occurring in NN146goats was 101 [95% credible interval (CrI) 19–2938] times higher than for non-NN146or unknown genotypes. IHC applied to lymphoreticular tissue produced the highest sensitivity (94%, 95% CrI 90–97). The presence of putatively resistant non-NN146alleles in the Cypriot goat population, severely affected by scrapie, provides a potential tool to reduce/eradicate scrapie provided that coordinated nationwide breeding programmes are implemented and maintained over time.