Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease

Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease (CJD) is a very rare and incurable brain disease that is ultimately fatal. It is the most common of the transmissible spongiform encephalopathies (TSEs). TSEs (also known as prion diseases) are caused by a unique type of infectious agent called prions, an abnormally-structured form of a protein found in the brain. Other prion diseases include Gerstmann-Sträussler-Scheinker syndrome (GSS), fatal familial insomnia (FFI) and kuru in humans, as well as BSE and scrapie in animals.

External links

• National Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease Surveillance Unit, UK CJD surveillance unit at Western General Hospital in Edinburgh, Scotland
• US Center for Disease Control, Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease information
• Mad Cow Facts, Beef industry view on BSE links to vCJD
• "Mad Cow" Blood Donor Restrictions - Blood Centers of the Pacific
• forecast information on vCJD and HIV/AIDS in the UK