Action of Disinfectants on Experimental Mouse Scrapie

Abstract

MOUSE adapted scrapie, a progressive degenerative disease of the central nervous system, appears to be unusually resistant to heat and exposure to formalin. In view of this, it was decided to attempt to kill the experimental scrapie infectious agent by treating with some disinfectants, such as alcohol, a hypochlorite, a surface-active agent, and the agent was also boiled for 60 min. A 1 : 10 w/v suspension of mouse brain infected with scrapie was mixed with an equal volume of the suitably diluted disinfectant and the mixtures were kept overnight at + 4° C before female mice (18–20 g) were inoculated by the subcutaneous route. Each 0.5 ml. dose of the mixture contained 0.25 ml. of the infective material. Controls were inoculated with disinfectants and scrapie suspension. An additional control group was inoculated with 0.03 ml. of scrapie intracerebrally to give an early indication of the pathogenicity of the scrapie agent; the incubation period in mice was considerably shorter by this route¹.