BMJ 1995;311:1415 (25 November)

Education and debate

Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease and bovine spongiform encephalopathy: any connection?

Two cases of sporadic Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease have recently been reported in teenagers in Britain,1 2 adding to only four cases previously reported in this age group. Four British dairy farmers have died from Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease in the past three years3 4 5--an occupational association that is unlikely to have arisen by chance. In the light of these findings, we asked a range of professionals how likely they thought it was that the agent responsible for Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease could be transmitted to humans from cattle affected with bovine spongiform encephalopathy.

  1. Britton TC, Al-Sarraj S, Shaw C, Campbell T, Collinge J. Sporadic Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease in a 16-year-old in the UK. Lancet 1995;346:1155. [Medline]
  2. Bateman D, Hilton D, Love S, Zeidler M, Beck J, Collinge J. Sporadic Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease in a 18-year-old in the UK. Lancet 1995;346:1155-6.
  3. Sawcer SJ, Yuill GM, Esmonde TFG, Estibeiro P, Ironside JW, Bell JE, et al. Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease in an individual occupationally exposed to BSE. Lancet 1993;341:642. [Medline]
  4. Davies PTG, Jahtar S, Ferguson IT, Windl O. Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease in individual occupationally exposed to BSE. Lancet 1993;342:680.
  5. Smith PEM, Zeidler M, Ironside JW, Estibeiro P, Moss TH. Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease in a dairy farmer. Lancet 1995;346:898.

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