Abstract
We have shown that it is possible to transmit bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) to a sheep by transfusion with whole blood taken from another sheep during the symptom-free phase of an experimental BSE infection. BSE and variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (vCJD) In human beings are caused by the same infectious agent, and the sheep-BSE experimental model has a similar pathogenesis to that of human vCJD. Although UK blood transfusions are leucodepleted--a possible protective measure against any risk from blood transmission--this report suggests that blood donated by symptom-free vCJD-infected human beings may represent a risk of spread of vCJD infection among the human population of the UK.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 999-1000 |
| Number of pages | 2 |
| Journal | The Lancet |
| Volume | 356 |
| Issue number | 9234 |
| Publication status | Published - 16 Sept 2000 |
Keywords / Materials (for Non-textual outputs)
- Animals
- Blood Transfusion
- Creutzfeldt-Jakob Syndrome
- Disease Models, Animal
- Electrophoresis, Polyacrylamide Gel
- Encephalopathy, Bovine Spongiform
- Humans
- PrPSc Proteins
- Sheep