US Patent 7452709 Method of screening prion disease infection factor

Early detection of infectious agents of human prion diseases such as CJD by using an animal model, etc. is needed in order to rapidly determine prion infections in pharmaceuticals such as blood products, foods, or cosmetics. This invention provides a screening method for infectious agents of human or non-human prion diseases in samples, which employs, as an indication, the deposition of the aberrant prion protein in the follicular dendritic cell (FDC) of a non-human animal.