A new variant of Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease and bovine spongiform encephalopathy

In March 1996 the UK government stated that the most likely cause of a new disease defined as being a new variant of Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (vCJD) was exposure to a causative agent of bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) . Since then, further cases and research point to a link between the two di seases. The most convincing evidence has been demonstrated in experiments c arried out by two groups of researchers led by Moira Bruce and John Colling e. Both groups reinforce the conclusion that vCJD is quite distinct from ot her forms of CJD and provide essential data indicating that this new varian t of the disease is caused by an agent strain of BSE. These recent results include a large number of transmissions to both transgenic mice expressing human PrP and their non-transgenic counterparts and support the conclusion that vCJD and BSE infective factors are highly similar in their molecular a nd pathogenic features. The at-tide discusses the data which both confirm a nd question this conclusion.