The latest comming out of the states is a link between the misfolded prion & a spiroplasma. There are thoughts this may be the infectious agent in TSE's, its early yet & the fact that the infectious agent in prions are so difficult to denature seems to confound the theory. At the very least, even if the bacteria is a symptoms rather than a cause it means that a test kit for field use could be avaliable in the foreseeable future.