Autoclaved, formol-fixed scrapie mouse brain is suitable for histopathological examination, but may still be infective.

Autoclaving Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD)-infected brain after fixation has been proposed previously as a means of making it safe for handling in the laboratory, while preserving its microscopic integrity. However, the practice which was recommended (126 degrees C for 30 min) would be unlikely to achieve complete decontamination. Autoclaving scrapie mouse brain (an analogue for CJD) to the higher, recommended standard of 134-138 degrees C for 18 min was found to lead to some tissue damage but not sufficient to prevent meaningful qualitative and quantitative study of the histopathological lesions.