WASHINGTON — The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service is looking to increase sheep producer participation in scrapie surveillance.
“The United States is nearing the goal line after a 70-year battle against scrapie, a fatal disease that affects the brain of sheep and goats. While the current program has been very successful in drastically reducing the amount of scrapie in the U.S., we are still finding scrapie positive animals. The most recent two cases of scrapie found in the U.S. were sampled at slaughter – a sheep tested in Wisconsin in 2021 and a goat in Indiana in 2019,” read a recent statement from APHIS. “However, we were unable to trace these to the farms of origin. It is likely there are still farms with cases of scrapie.
“One of the most difficult aspects of an eradication program is finding the last few cases of the disease. This involves testing sheep and goats that are showing signs suspect of scrapie but also testing those mature animals that may be incubating the disease. Here is where we need your help. If you have an adult sheep or goat that is exhibiting signs of scrapie such as incoordination, severe continuous rubbing or other neurologic signs, or an adult animal dies or is euthanized, or is being culled – even if you know the cause of death – please contact your local state or USDA, APHIS, Veterinary Services veterinarian or call 866-536-7593 right away. There is no charge for the collection or testing of the samples for scrapie. In addition, producers providing samples may be eligible for free official plastic tags as long as our supplies last.
“For a country to be considered free of scrapie, international standards require that no sheep or goats test positive for classical scrapie for seven years and a certain level of testing be done each year that represents the sheep and goat populations within the country. The annual goal set for the United States is more than 40,000 samples collected from mature (18 months or older) sheep and goat populations. Please join your fellow producers in helping us reach this goal.”
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— USDA Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service
