CREUTZFELDT-JAKOB-DISEASE IN THE UNITED-STATES, 1979-1994 - USING NATIONAL MORTALITY DATA TO ASSESS THE POSSIBLE OCCURRENCE OF VARIANT CASES

After a cluster of Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD) cases among unusual ly young patients was reported recently from the United Kingdom, we ex amined trends and the current incidence of CJD in the United States. W e found that the age-adjusted CJD death rate in the United States is s imilar to published estimates of the crude incidence of CJD worldwide and has continued to be stable from 1979 through 1994. The number of C JD deaths in persons <45 years of age remained stable during this peri od. We found no evidence of the variant form of CJD.