Neonatal Encephalopathy (NE)

Neonatal encephalopathy is a recessive developmental brain disease. Affected pups exhibit extreme weakness, and those that survive the first week generally develop progressively worse ataxia, or inability to move properly. This is often accompanied by severe seizures. None have survived to 7 weeks of age.

The mutation which causes this disease was identified by a research team at the University of Missouri led by Drs. Gary Johnson, and Dennis O'Brien. The test offered by Vetgen is based on their discovery. Animals with no copies of the mutation (clear), and those with only one copy (carriers) show no signs of the disease.