Laboratory data on the experimental transmission of Creutzfeldt--Jakob disease in the guinea pig.

Cerebrospinal fluid samples collected from 3 patients with Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease were inoculated intracerebrally to guinea pigs. After an incubation period of 4-14 months the animals developed a serially transmissible disease, characterized by loss of appetite, loss of weight, difficulty in movement, myoclonic convulsions and a fatal outcome within several days. The microscopic lesions caused by the experimental disease consisted in glial proliferation, spongiform change and vacuolation of the cytoplasm of proximal dendritic regions.