A viral disease of sheep involving the central nervous system and characterized by lack of coordination causing affected animals to rub against trees etc. for support.
Scrapie is essentially the Mad Cow Disease for sheep. While there is little reason to worry about Scrapie or Mad Cow Disease being transmitted to humans I have on occasion found myself believing that I had somehow contracted one of these dread diseases. This happens to me at the more vulnerable times in my life, and in particular it happens when I am depressed and watching Fox News. At least twice in my life I came away from a Fox News broadcast believing that Mad Cow and Scrapie and other ghastly ailments were sweeping the human populations of the country and the world, and that I was doomed to a slow, tic-filled demise for having recently consumed a porterhouse steak. When that bout of depression passes, I remember that Fox News is generally entertainment first and substance third.
