Canadian 2021 H-type Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy case associated with a novel E211K polymorphism in prion protein gene

Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE) is a fatal neurodegenerative disease in cattle which can be either classical BSE (C-BSE) or atypical BSE (including H-BSE and L-BSE). Here, we report the results of our analyses of an H-BSE case found in Canada in 2021, indicating restriction of the pathological agent (PrP^Sc) mainly to the central nervous system with no or occasional weak involvement of peripheral tissues. Importantly, a non-synonymous mutation at codon 211 of the <i>PRNP</i> gene was detected and confirmed to be present as a germline mutation. This is the first case of BSE in Canada with a predisposing E211K mutation.