TRANSMISSION OF CREUTZFELDT-JAKOB-DISEASE TO A CHIMPANZEE BY ELECTRODES CONTAMINATED DURING NEUROSURGERY

Stereotactic multicontact electrodes used to probe the cerebral cortex of a middle aged woman with progressive dementia were previously impl icated in the accidental transmission of Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJ D) to two younger patients. The diagnoses of CJD have been confirmed f or all three cases. More than two years after their last use in humans , after three cleanings and repeated sterilisation in ethanol and form aldehyde vapour, the electrodes were implanted in the cortex of a chim panzee. Eighteen months later the animal became ill with CJD. This fin ding serves to re-emphasise the potential danger posed by reuse of ins truments contaminated with the agents of spongiform encephalopathies, even after scrupulous attempts to clean them.