[Jacob-list] certified scrapie free

Jacobflock at aol.com Jacobflock at aol.com
Wed Jul 21 12:53:39 EDT 2010


Jennifer - Outstanding - Fred Horak


In a message dated 7/20/2010 5:47:24 P.M. Central Daylight Time,
gotothewhip at aol.com writes:


Scrapie is an interesting situation. I work closely with the state on
this, while my herd is not certified as we have not yet closed the doors to
ewes( but we expect to soon) Due to my position with the University and in
Extension, I handle a few field questions on Scrapie's and the Scrapie's
program.

Let me fill you all in on a little bit of info:

First off.. My background... I worked at a University Vet Diagnostic lab
for many years, specifically running the Scrapie's testing in the
Histopathology lab. Then add in my recent experience with CWD in Elk, and I feel
pretty well versed.

OK, I guess we all need to acknowledge the "disease" for what it is.. a
Prion based issue. Prions are proteins, and I could get into a great deal of
chemistry here.. but lets think of this protein as something that can worm
its way into a system thru amino acids. It is a degenerative protein that
causes the proteins to be disfigured and eventually kill some cells.

Keep in mind that these prion based situations are classified as
Transmissible Spongiform Encephalpathy (TSE's) TSE's are expressed in several
species, including humans.

CWD- Chronic Wasting Disease in elk & Deer (and concern in all cervids,
but basically right now, North American Elk, Whitetail and Mule Deer are most
effected, with Fallow deer showing strong resistance if not immunity)
Seen as early as 13 months in one of my personal animals, and rare after age 10

BSE- Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy "Mad Cow Disease" , obviously
effects cattle Primarily seen in animals over 18 months old. I am not aware if
it is unusual to see in MUCH older animals (8 yrs +) or not....I should
look into this

Scrapie- Sheep disease, again seen in animals over 18 months

Humans can have Creutzfeld-Jakob disease (pronounced with a long A) and a
short list of other diseases with similar symptoms.

The question of the prions ability to jump species is not fully understood
at this point. There are heavy (not proven) accusations that CWD is the
result of captive cervids being forcibly exposed to scrapie positive animals
and their fluids. Again this is not documented to my knowledge, but is
definitely an example of concern.

Now lets talk about HOW THEY GET IT.... and again we hit a wall. For
example... Prion positive material can be found in most areas of animal
confinement where a positive animal has been. It is found in their manure, in
water,in feeding areas, in fetal fluid, in the blood, in the hair....... can
you see where this is going?

I will speak in respect to CWD, as I said, I am most up to date with
it.....

Our elk herd had been closed for nearly 10 years. We were a single fence
operation. This is different from many newer facilities that require
"double barrier" fencing. Meaning, the require 8 ft fence may have an
additional 8 ft fence on the inside, or even a hot wire fence system on the inside..
basically to avoid contact with animals outside the fence.

So we had brought NO (males or females) into the facility in 10 years,
the only additions that had come to the herd were births of animals. Now
keep in mind, that during the 10 years of no new animals coming in, under the
previous owner (we had only owned the facility and animals for 9 months
when we had the positive animal) there had been 2 unreported deaths. What
that means in the elk world, is that 2 animals died without tissues submitted
for CWD testing. Here in Colorado, we are required to submit at minimum a
specific piece of the Obex (brain stem) to a testing lab for CWD testing.
The animals that were unreported were found too late to submit tissue on..
meaning they were rotten

We had a young cow go missing from the herd in early July last year. We
didn't panic the first 12 hrs as she was likely calving down in the
Sagebrush and hid out with her calf. At 24 hrs we went looking for her, and she
was found 6 hrs later QUITE dead. We removed her entire head and submitted
it. It came back positive.

We went into quarantine, and volunteered for a new testing practice of
elk. While not a legal test, it is a live test of lymph tissue. We had all
of our animals tested using lymph tissue for rectal biopsy. We had 3
additional animals test positive. A Yearling Bull, A Yearling Cow and an Aged
Cow. We opted to kill off the entire herd to meet state standards.

We did quite a bit of testing on the facility. CWD prion was found in the
creek water that flowed into the ranch. Prion was also found in manure,
and on mineral/protein licks we provided. Saliva samples did not show
prions from any of the animals (I thought this was curious)

Something to keep in mind... Prions are difficult to reasonably kill.
Basically we abandoned the ranch and all of the equipment on it. We are
letting it set vacant for an unknown period of time, hoping we will find some
answers to future options. The State believed that our animals came into
contact with CWD from a positive animal OUTSIDE the fence. Meaning.. that
animal may have had nose to nose contact with our animals, or our animals may
have drank or somehow eaten the prion.This is the typical suspect as young
elk calves (like lambs) eat dirt and chew on everything.

The State was able to allow us to sell the meat off of some of the animals
to individuals who were aware of the CWD status on the ranch. The animals
we were able to use for meat were those who tested negative on 3
consecutive tests
-Rectal Biopsy
-Obex
-Lymph Nodes (also collected at butcher)

These tissues were all tested, and if all 3 came back negative, the person
could own that carcass... it was an interesting process with one final
hurdle.. We had a yearling heifer (Orange 55) test NEGATIVE on Rectal Biopsy,
NEGATIVE on obex (Which is considered the "Gold Standard") and then
POSITIVE on lymph tissue. That animal was donated to CSU for research, and they
believe that they may have seen the earliest infection of an elk in that
animal.

What we saw as owners: The positive animals behaved diffidently. Even
Orange 55, when we drove out to the pasture to shoot her, she behaved
differently than any of the others... My husband said "I bet she is positive" of
which I laughed off as she had been neg on rectal.


So... I guess you all can estimate that I am pretty wary of the Scrapie
status of my animals... So what do I do and what does it mean?

First off,.... I am a HUGE believer in the Necropsy process. I want to
know WHY an animal died, and what I can learn from that death. Necropsy can
be a fair cost to the owner, who has no hope of recovering that cost, but
if it prevents a disease or situation in the future, it will pay for itself.


Second: I test my herd for the codon 136, 154 & 171. I first did my
rams, and aged ewes, and am working my way thru the flock, here is a link to
an APHIS article, while a bit dated, still correct on most accounts..
_http://www.aphis.usda.gov/animal_health/animal_diseases/scrapie/downloads/s
crapie_genetics.pdf_
(http://www.aphis.usda.gov/animal_health/animal_diseases/scrapie/downloads/scrapie_genetics.pdf)

So lets sum this up... We dont know How they get it, We dont know where
they get it, and we cant really kill it.... But as sheep owners we have a
tool (something the cattlemen and Elk breeders dont have) to test the
susceptibility of the disease in our herd and a method of improving that. All of
my current rams are AARR, so I have a good deal of confidence in what they
produce, and I have yet to see a Jacob sheep be QQ in my herd. I would love
to hear from anyone that has had a QQ Jacob....


Hopefully this wasn't too much of a ramble, as I have taken a number of
phone calls (and a pleasant interruption of an ice cream break) during typing
all of this out!


Jennifer Tucker
Moose Mtn Ranch
Bennett, CO
_www.MooseMtnRanch.com_ (http://www.moosemtnranch.com/)






-----Original Message-----
From: Betty Berlenbach <lambfarm at tds.net>
To: BIDEWEE at aol.com; jacob-list at jacobsheep.com
Sent: Tue, Jul 20, 2010 3:11 pm
Subject: Re: [Jacob-list] certified scrapie free


Thanks, Karen, that makes great sense!

----- Original Message -----
From: BIDEWEE at aol.com
To: lambfarm at tds.net ; jacob-list at jacobsheep.com
Sent: Tuesday, July 20, 2010 1:05 PM
Subject: Re: [Jacob-list] certified scrapie free


Hi Betty,
In theory, the longest it would take for signs/symptoms of scrape to
appear in live animals is 5 years. The current theory for transmission is that
scrapie is passed from mother to lambs via birth fluids. Apparently it's
also possible for other animals housed in the same area to be infected from
the birth fluids.

When you're enrolled In the voluntary scrapie program, a state vet comes
out once a year to inspect your flock for signs of scrapie. Enrolled flocks
must provide the USDA with annual records (complete with names and contact
info) of all incoming and outgoing sheep. In addition, all farm born
animals over 18 months must be tagged and added to the flock 'inventory' and
cause of death must be provided for all deceased animals.

To be certified in the voluntary program, a flock must go 5 years without
signs/symptoms of scrapie appearing in the flock and without adding any
non-certified, unknown or suspect animals. Rams don't affect status since
scrapie isn't apparently transmitted through semen. Ewes can be added from
certified flocks without affecting status, but if they're added from
un-enrolled or enrolled (but not yet certified) flocks, the flock will revert back
to the status of the flock the ewe came from. Example, we enrolled in the
voluntary program in 2001 then bought our Huntsberger sheep in 2003 so our
status reverted back to year 1 since the Huntsberger sheep weren't on the
voluntary program. Our flock was certified in 2008 because we hadn't added
any ewes from non-certified flocks in the ensuing 5 years.

Obviously a live animal test would be more precise but until an
affordable, effective live animal test becomes widely available, this is the system
the USDA uses to consider a flock to be scrapie free.

Hope that makes sense,
Karen Lobb
bide a wee farm
www.bideaweefarm.com



In a message dated 7/20/2010 9:15:14 A.M. Pacific Daylight Time,
jacob-list-request at jacobsheep.com writes:

If the only way you can tell if a sheep has scrapie is through examing its
brain when it's dead, how can a flock be certified scrapie free? I'm
just curious as to the process. I know that the mandatory scrapie program
simply has people record who got sold to whom and keep records, in case, when
randomly checking for scrapie, they come across a sheep that has it and can
then, track it back. But I'm not entirely sure how the voluntary program
works in such a way that it can certify a flock scrapie-free? All
explanations welcome







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