Affected sheep rub their coat against a tree or building as if it itches.
Hence the name 'scrapie'. In French, it is 'La tremblante', for the shaking of the animal due to ataxia, another symptom. The human form of the disease was described in the 1920's in Germany and Austria. They called the disease Kuru . With this hint, Gibbs and Gajdusek showed that Kuru brain material, as well as that of CJD and GSS, were infectious for monkeys.