No abnormal prion protein detected in the milk of cattle infected with the bovine spongiform encephalopathy agent

Abstract

Milk specimens were collected from lactating cows that had previously been challenged with bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE)-infected brain at 4–6 months of age. One group of 10 animals received a single oral dose of 100 g, a second group received 1 g and the third was made up of unexposed controls. The cows were inseminated artificially, and calved at approximately 2 years of age and annually thereafter. Milking was done within the first week following calving and at 10-weekly intervals during the lactation period. Specimens were centrifuged to obtain a fraction enriched for somatic cells and these fractions were analysed for disease-associated, abnormal prion protein (PrPBSE) by using a modified commercial BSE ELISA and a different confirmatory assay. No abnormal prion protein has so far been identified in the cell fraction of milk from cattle incubating BSE by using these methods at their limits of detection.