Inquiry ordered after organ donor found to have CJD

An inquiry has been ordered into the screening system for organ donors in Britain after a woman who donated eye tissue to three patients was found to have been infected with Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD).

The case has highlighted a weakness in the current system, which can result in tissue infected with CJD being used in transplants before a donor's infected status becomes apparent. However, both CJD specialists and the government say that any such circumstances are likely to be extremely rare and the overall risks of the fatal brain disease being transmitted in this way are low. Mrs …