BSE did not cause variant CJD: an alternative cause related to post-industrial environmental contamination

The new prion diseases that have emerged in the last 15 years are bovine sp ongiform encephalopathy (BSE) and variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (varian t CJD). Although initially confined to the UK, these diseases have recently emerged in other European countries. The accepted cause of the human disea se is that BSE spread from cattle to humans by the consumption of infected beef. However, the evidence that supports this is very thin. This article d escribes this evidence and lists a series of hypotheses concerning the caus e of both BSE and variant CJD. The final hypothesis is based on recent evid ence linking prion diseases to environmental factors including manganese. H igh environmental availability of manganese is associated with the prevalen ce of those prion diseases not linked to BSE. Therefore it is quite possibl e that BSE and variant CJD have emerged as a result of manganese-rich indus trial pollution that has only occurred in the last century. (C) 2001 Harcou rt Publishers Ltd.