Study examines blood test to screen for fatal variant creutzfeldt-jakob disease

A blood test accurately screened for infection with the agent responsible for variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (vCJD), a fatal neurological disease.vCJD is a fatal degenerative brain disorder thought to be caused by a misfolded protein (prion) in the brain and contracted most commonly through eating infected beef. Up to 3 million cattle in the United Kingdom may have been infected with BSE (bovine spongiform encephalopathy), and establishing accurate prevalence estimates through screening for vCJD infection would guide public health initiatives.
Source: Health News from Medical News Today - Category: Consumer Health News Tags: CJD / vCJD / Mad Cow Disease Source Type: news