Abstract
Nine Suffolk ewes 3 to 4 years old from a certain farm in Hokkaido showed severe emaciation, general pruritus, alopecia and incoordination over a period from December, 1981, to May 1982. They died within 9 to 92 days since onset.
Histopathological examination revealed severe vacuolation of nerve cells and a spongy state of gray matter of the central nervous system, especially midbrain, pons and medulla oblongata.
A diasnosis of scrapie was made in the ewes. This disease had not been reported in Japan. It might have been caused by unconventional virus transmitted from sheep imported, since all the ewes affected were of the second generation of sheep imported from Canada in 1974.
