March 19, 2002

North Dakota State University Sheep Flock Quarantined

The State Board of Animal Health and North Dakota State University are working together to develop a plan to deal with a scrapie case in the NDSU sheep flock. In the meantime, most of the flock of some 800 sheep are quarantined. Scrapie is a fatal, degenerative disease affecting goats and sheep. It was first diagnosed more than 250 years ago and only two countries are recognized as being free of scrapie: Australia and New Zealand. According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the disease cannot be spread from sheep to cattle, and there is no evidence that people who consume sheep meat or milk or who work with sheep are at risk of contracting scrapie.

"Scrapie is a serious disease, which is why we issued the quarantine notice, but we hope that people do not over-react to this situation," said Larry Schuler, state veterinarian. "Among our first tasks will be to determine the extent of the disease in the NDSU flock, and then to track how the NDSU flock has interacted with other flocks. There is an opportunity to participate with the federal government in a pilot project on scrapie eradication."

The NDSU case was confirmed after two sheep that had been a part of the NDSU flock but were sold to private parties tested positive. The disease is slow developing and it can take years for an infected sheep to show symptoms. It is thought to spread most commonly from a ewe to her offspring and to other lambs that are in close proximity to the birthing.

"We will work closely with the Board of Animal Health on this pilot project to manage this outbreak," said Patricia Jensen, vice president, dean and director for agricultural affairs.

Jensen was previously employed by the USDA and was responsible for its Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS), which is implementing a national scrapie eradication program. As of August 1, 2001, there were 48 infected or source flocks in the United States. The goal is to have the nation officially declared scrapie free by international standards by 2017.

"We are participating with the North Dakota state veterinarians in developing a management program for this outbreak," said Douglas Freeman, chair of veterinary and microbiological sciences. "We will make every effort to provide producers with information on scrapie and people should feel free to contact us if they have any questions."

An assessment of the scope of the outbreak and the specific steps in dealing with it will be developed starting today with a visit by veterinarians from the State Board of Animal Health.

For more information, visit www.animalagriculture.org/scrapie 

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Source: Douglas Freeman, (701) 231-7694, douglas.freeman@ndsu.nodak.edu 

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