The death of a domestic Siamese cat from a spongiform encephalopathy (SE) in Bristol was reported to Ministers in May 1990.
There are two hypotheses about the TSE agent [the agent that transmits Spongiform encephalopathy] .
Bovine spongiform encephalopathy was reported in four cattle in Ireland where energetic measures have been taken to control the disease.
Neither was there any recorded transmissible spongiform encephalopathy in pigs or poultry.
All the spongiform encephalopathies can be transmitted in the laboratory but only scrapie is known to be naturally transmissible among sheep.