[Clinico-morphological study of transmissible encephalopathy of mink]

Histological examination of the central nervous system of naturally infected and dying minks revealed the picture of "status spongiosus" in the brains and spinal cords, lysis and loss of neurons, hypertrophy and proliferation of astroglia typical of transmissible mink encephalopathy (TME). The disease in minks was induced experimentally by oral, suboccipital, intramuscular, intraperitoneal, and subcutaneous routes of inoculation inducing typical clinical signs and histological lesions. Suspensions prepared from the infectious material obtained from the Institute of Poliomyelitis and Viral Encephalitides, Acad. Med. Sci. USSR. were used for inoculations. The incubation period varied from 7 to 9 months with different routes of inoculation. The infection could be reproduced by keeping the infected and normal animals together. Transmission of the disease from sick mothers to their offsprings was also observed. Electron microscopic studies revealed ultrastructural changes characteristic of transmissible encephalopathies.