Scrapie is a fatal prion disease of sheep and goats causing progressive neurological deterioration. Prevention through breeding for genetic resistance and biosecurity offers the most humane long-term strategy.
Scrapie causes prolonged, intense suffering in affected sheep. The characteristic scratching and rubbing that gives the disease its name reflects severe pruritus that drives animals to cause self-injury. Progressive ataxia and weight loss compound the welfare burden as animals deteriorate over weeks and months before dying. The welfare imperative is prevention: breeding programs that select for scrapie-resistant PrP genotypes are effective, affordable, and represent a major success story for genetic approaches to disease control. Rapid identification and humane euthanasia of clinically affected animals is essential to limit individual suffering, while strict biosecurity prevents the spread of prion-contaminated material to clean flocks.