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ABSTRACT
A classical type of bovine spongiform encephalopathy (C-BSE), recognized in 1987, had a large impact on public health due to its zoonotic link to variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease by the human consumption of dietary products contaminated with the C-BSE prion. Thus, a number of countries implemented BSE surveillance using rapid post-mortem test kits that were approved for detection of the C-BSE prion in the cattle brain. However, as atypical BSE (L- and H-BSE) cases emerged in subsequent years, the efficacy of the kits for the detection of atypical BSE prions became a matter of concern. In response to this, laboratories in the European Union and Canada evaluated the kits used in their countries. Here, we carried out an evaluation study of NippiBL®, a kit currently used for BSE screening in Japan. By applying the kit to cattle brains of field cases of C-BSE and L-BSE, and an experimental case of H-BSE, we showed its comparable sensitivities to C, L-, and H-BSE prions, and satisfactory performance required by the European Food Safety Authority. In addition to NippiBL®, two kits (TeSeE® and FRELISA®) formerly used in Japan were effective for detection of the L-BSE prion, although the two kits were unable to be tested for the H-BSE prion due to the discontinuation of domestic sales during this study. These results indicate that BSE screening in Japan is as effective as those in other countries, and it is unlikely that cases of atypical BSE have been overlooked.
ABBREVIATIONS
| BSE | = | bovine spongiform encephalopathy |
| CJD | = | Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease |
| EFSA | = | European Food Safety Authority |
| ELISA | = | enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay |
| PK | = | proteinase K |
| PrPC | = | cellular prion protein |
| PrPSc | = | disease-associated forms of prion protein |
| TSE | = | transmissible spongiform encephalopathy |
DISCLOSURE OF POTENTIAL CONFLICTS OF INTEREST
No potential conflicts of interest were disclosed.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
The authors thank Dr. Tetsutaro Sata (former affiliation; National Institute of Infectious Diseases, Tokyo, Japan) and Prof. William. Hall (University College of Dublin, Dublin, Ireland) for providing us with specimens of the C-BSE cow, Drs. Hiroyuki Okada, Morikazu Imamura, Yuichi Matsuura, Kentaro Masujin, and Kohtaro Miyazawa (National Institute of Animal Health, Ibaraki, Japan) for specimens of the H-BSE cow. The specimens of the L-BSE cow were given to us by courtesy of the abattoir and Meat Inspection Center of Sasebo city (Nagasaki, Japan).16 We thank Dr. Kentaro Hanada (National Institute of Infectious Diseases, Tokyo, Japan) for advice regarding this study.
FUNDING
This study was supported by the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare, Japan under Grant H26-Shokuhin-Ippan-004. The funder did not participate in the study design, data collection and analysis, or preparation of the manuscript.