Scrapie could breach the species barrier

The pathogens responsible for scrapie in small ruminants (prions) have the potential to convert the human prion protein from a healthy state to a pathological state, researchers have discovered for the first time. In mice models reproducing the human species barrier, this prion induces a disease similar to Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease. These primary results stress the necessity to reassess the transmission of this disease to humans.   
Source: ScienceDaily Headlines - Category: Science Source Type: news