scrapie

noun scra·pie \ ˈskrā-pē \

Updated on: 5 Apr 2018

Definition of scrapie

: a usually fatal prion disease of sheep and goats characterized by twitching, excitability, intense itching, excessive thirst, emaciation, weakness, and finally paralysis

See scrapie defined for English-language learners

Recent Examples of scrapie from the Web

The disease is a transmissible spongiform encephalopathy (TSE), a family of diseases that includes scrapie, mad cow disease and Creutzfeldt-Jakob.

— paul a. smith, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, "Smith: CWD-positive deer die at three times rate of non-diseased animals in Wisconsin study," 28 Feb. 2018
The disease is a transmissible spongiform encephalopathy, a class of diseases that includes mad cow disease in cattle, scrapie in sheep and Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease in humans.

— lee bergquist, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, "Chronic wasting disease, scourge of wild deer, found for first time in Milwaukee County," 16 Jan. 2018
Chronic wasting disease is a transmissible spongiform encephalopathy, a family of prion diseases that includes Mad Cow and scrapie.

— paul a. smith, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, "Kit shortage has slowed CWD testing," 9 Dec. 2017
When Prusiner started work on them, it had been established that Creutzfeldt-Jakob, kuru and a sheep disease called scrapie could be transmitted by infected brains, but nobody knew what caused it.

— kat eschner, Smithsonian, "More Than 30 Years Since Their Discovery, Prions Still Fascinate, Terrify and Mystify Us," 6 Oct. 2017
The disease is a transmissible spongiform encephalopathy, a family that includes scrapie as well as mad cow disease and Creutzfeldt-Jakob (both of which are fatal to humans).

— paul a. smith, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, "DNR urges hunters to get deer tested for CWD," 30 Sep. 2017
But there are other infectious forms: scrapie in sheep, kuru and Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease in humans.

— michael nedelman, CNN, "A 'family curse': First insomnia, then death," 19 Sep. 2017
A number of studies indicated that bone meal contaminated with scrapie prions passed the prions to cows.

— carl zimmer, The Seattle Times, "Setting fire to spare deer from death," 30 June 2017
Mad cow disease first showed up in cattle after they were given feed and bone meal from sheep, including some that had been infected with another prion animal disease — scrapie.

— lee bergquist, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, "Can chronic wasting disease jump from deer to humans? Concerns keep rising," 7 July 2017

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'scrapie.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Origin and Etymology of scrapie

¹scrape

NEW! Time Traveler

First Known Use: 1910

in the meaning defined above

See Words from the same year

SCRAPIE Defined for English Language Learners

scrapie

noun

Definition of scrapie for English Language Learners

: a usually fatal brain disease that affects sheep

Medical Dictionary

scrapie

noun scra·pie \ ˈskrā-pē \

medical Definition of scrapie

: a usually fatal prion disease of sheep and goats that is characterized by twitching, excitability, intense itching, excessive thirst, emaciation, weakness, and finally paralysis