In vivo prion protein intestinal uptake in fish.

Intestinal uptake of abnormal prion protein (PrPSc), the pathological agent involved in transmissible spongiform encephalopathies (TSEs), has been investigated in rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss). Experimental procedures were conducted in vivo by immunohistological PrPSc localization in intestine and pyloric caeca after forced feeding of infected material. Results indicate that PrPSc was absorbed by the intestinal mucosa and that it persisted in the fish gastrointestinal tract for up to 3 days in pyloric caeca and for up to 7 days in the distal intestine.

Scrapie infectivity is quickly cleared in tissues of orally-infected farmed fish.

Background: Scrapie and bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) belongs to the group of animal transmissible spongiform encephalopathy (TSE). BSE epidemic in the UK and elsewhere in Europe has been linked to the use of bovine meat and bone meals (MBM) in the feeding of cattle. There is concern that pigs, poultry and fish bred for human consumption and fed with infected MBM would eventually develop BSE or carry residual infectivity without disease.