Variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease and blood transfusion

A prion disease that has long been known to occur in humans is Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD), which has a virtually stable incidence of approximately one per million person years. In 1996 a new variant of the disease (vCJD) was recognised in the United Kingdom. The incidence of vCJD appears to be increasing. Up until the 3^rd January 2001 vCJD had been diagnosed in 88 patients, 83 of whom have died. In France there have been two deaths from vCJD. The disease has been identified in a third patient. It is unclear how the situation will develop in the United Kingdom and in the rest of Europe.

Committee

• Dr ADME Osterhaus, professor virology; Erasmus University Rotterdam, chairman
• Dr A Brand, professor transfusion medicine; Leiden University Medical Centre
• Dr TL Ching, Ministry of Public Health, Welfare and Sports, The Hague, advisor
• Dr CM van Duijn, epidemiologist; Erasmus University Rotterdam
• Dr WA van Gool, neurologist; Academic Medical Centre, Amsterdam
• A van Loosbroek, Inspectorate for Health Care, The Hague, advisor
• Dr AS Peña, professor gastrointestinal immunology; Medical Centre Vrije Universiteit, Amsterdam
• Dr CL van der Poel, transfusion physician/epidemiologist; Sanquin Blood Supply Foundation, Amsterdam
• Dr EJ Ruitenberg, professor immunology; University of Utrecht, director of the CLB, Sanquin Blood Supply Foundation, Amsterdam
• Dr BEC Schreuder, veterinarian; Institute for Animal Husbandry and Animal Health, Lelystad
• Dr LF Verdonck, clinical haematologist, University Medical Centre Utrecht
• Dr K Groeneveld, Health Council of the Netherlands, The Hague, secretary