This Article
Right arrow Full Text
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow [Online Appendix]
Right arrow Submit a response
Right arrow View responses
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me when eLetters are posted
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Right arrow Citation Map
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via HighWire
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Coulthart, M. B.
Right arrow Articles by Cashman, N. R.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Coulthart, M. B.
Right arrow Articles by Cashman, N. R.
Related Collections
Right arrow Other epidemiology
Right arrow Other public health
Right arrow Non-Canadian governments
Right arrow Variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease
Right arrow Hematologic pathology (including blood transfusion)
CMAJ • July 10, 2001; 165 (1)
© 2001 Canadian Medical Association or its licensors

Review
Synthèse

Variant Creutzfeldt–Jakob disease: a summary of current scientific knowledge in relation to public health

Michael B. Coulthart and Neil R. Cashman

Dr. Coulthart is with the National Laboratory for Host Genetics and Prion Diseases, the Canadian Science Centre for Human and Animal Health, Health Canada, Winnipeg, Man. Dr. Cashman is with the Centre for Research in Neurodegenerative Diseases, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ont.

Correspondence to: Dr. Michael B. Coulthart, National Laboratory for Host Genetics and Prion Diseases, Canadian Science Centre for Human and Animal Health, Health Canada, 1015 Arlington St., Winnipeg MB R3E 3R2; fax 204 789-5021; mike_coulthart{at}hc-sc.gc.ca and to Dr. Neil R. Cashman, Centre for Research in Neurodegenerative Diseases, University of Toronto, 6 Queen's Park Cres. W, Toronto ON M5S 1A8; fax 416 978-1878; neil.cashman{at}utoronto.ca

Abstract

THE PRION DISEASES POSE UNIQUE SCIENTIFIC, medical, veterinary and regulatory challenges. Here, we summarize current information bearing on the natural history, pathobiology and epidemiology of these disorders and public policy responses to the potential threats to public health posed, particularly, by bovine spongiform encephalopathy and variant Creutzfeldt–Jakob disease (vCJD). Six years after the first case reports of vCJD, there is still no clear indication of the magnitude of the primary epidemic, or of the likelihood of lateral transmission of this untreatable disease by iatrogenic means, particularly by blood and blood products. However, the unsettling nature of the available evidence warrants prudence regarding public health policy and regulation, as well as a forward-looking approach to research.




This article has been cited by other articles:


Home page
 CMAJHome page
J. Hoey
Wild game feasts and fatal degenerative neurologic illness
Can. Med. Assoc. J., September 2, 2003; 169(5): 443 - 443.
[Full Text] [PDF]

Home page
 Arch DermatolHome page
J. Carruthers and A. Carruthers
Mad Cows, Prions, and Wrinkles
Arch Dermatol, May 1, 2002; 138(5): 667 - 670.
[Full Text] [PDF]

eLetters:

Read all eLetters

Bioterrorism - another explanation for the BSE case in Canada?
John H. Lange, et al.
CMAJ, 3 Jun 2003 [Full text]