C23751 - Classical Scrapie in Iceland, a model for prion diseases worldwide (ADAS)

This STA (single tender agreement) approval request relates to a Research Project awarded by ICRAD to ADAS following an open competition. ADAS was then jointly subcontracted with the University of Nottingham (UoN) by APHA with the costs have been approved by Defra (Project Code: SE14335). The Project co-ordinator is the Friedrich-Loeffler-Institut (FLI), Germany. The project involves multiple partners from 6 European countries.

The objectives of the project are to:

• determine the extent of Prion protein gene (PRNP) variability in Icelandic sheep and predict the effect of specific polymorphisms (PM) on susceptibility/resistance to CS and analyse the prion biodiversity and zoonotic potential of Icelandic CS strains over time

• analyse how and where scrapie infectivity remains within the environment and how effective decontamination is in the field

• conduct epidemiological analysis of outbreaks to identify risk factors associated with prolonged exposure to CS, and to develop an economic model for CS response.

To address these objectives, 4 interactive Work-Packages (WP) were designed. Host Genetics (WP1), Prion Strain Evolution (WP2) and Environmental Factors (WP3) define the key impacts on this multifactorial disease, whilst WP4 utilises all results for Epidemiological Analysis and the development of an economic model.

APHA is actively involved in WP2 (Prion Strain Evolution) and WP3 (Environmental factors).