Do Soay sheep get scrapie?
We are not aware of any cases of scrapie in Soay sheep in Great Britain. All US British Soay breeders are participants in the USDA scrapie program and to date no scrapie has been identified in the national flock. Prior to admission into the United States the entire foundation flock was held in quarantine in Canada for a decade to insure that it was disease free. Interestingly, while the Soay is genetically susceptible to scrapie it does not seem to occur. Scrapie resistance remains a mystery, even as many agricultural programs are promoting the elimination of rams that carry scrapie-susceptible genes. This elimination would threaten the very existence of primitive northern shorttailed sheep breeds, including the Soay, because most of them are genetically susceptible to scrapie.
