Genotyping and surveillance for scrapie in Finnish sheep

Background The progression of scrapie is known to be influenced by the amino acid polymorphisms of the host prion protein (PrP) gene. There is no breeding programme for TSE resistance in sheep in Finland, but a scrapie control programme has been in place since 1995. In this study we have analysed PrP genotypes of total of 928 purebred and crossbred sheep together with the data of scrapie survey carried out in Finland during 2002–2008 in order to gain knowledge of the genotype distribution and scrapie prevalence in Finnish sheep.