Experimental transmission of human subacute spongiform encephalopathy to small rodents. IV. Positive transmission from a typical case of Gerstmann-Sträussler-Scheinker's disease.

Spongiform encephalopathy was transmitted to mice from a patient belonging to the "Sch" family with Gerstmann-Sträussler-Scheinker's disease (GSS). Incubation periods in the first passage were much shorter than those in mice infected with Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease. Clinical and pathologic findings of mice infected with both diseases were almost identical. This is the first successful transmission from a typical GSS case without severe spongiform change which suggests the possible transmissible nature of this disorder.