The epidemics of bovine spongiform encephalopathy and variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease: current status and future prospects
The large epidemic of bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) in the United Kingdom has been in decline since 1992, but has spread to other countries. The extensive control measures that have been put in place across the European Union and also in Switzerland should have brought the transmission of B...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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The World Health Organization
2003-01-01
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| Series: | Bulletin of the World Health Organization |
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| Online Access: | http://www.scielosp.org/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S0042-96862003000200009 |
| _version_ | 1797282042367442944 |
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| author | Smith Peter G. |
| author_facet | Smith Peter G. |
| author_sort | Smith Peter G. |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | The large epidemic of bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) in the United Kingdom has been in decline since 1992, but has spread to other countries. The extensive control measures that have been put in place across the European Union and also in Switzerland should have brought the transmission of BSE under control in these countries, provided that the measures were properly enforced. Postmortem tests on brain tissue enable infected animals to be detected during the late stages of the incubation period, but tests that can be performed on live animals (including humans) and that will detect infections early are urgently needed. The number of infected animals currently entering the food chain is probably small, and the controls placed on bovine tissues in the European Union and Switzerland should ensure that any risks to human health are small and diminishing. Vigilance is required in all countries, especially in those in which there has been within-species recycling of ruminant feed. Fewer than 150 people, globally, have been diagnosed with variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (vCJD), but there are many uncertainties about the future course of the epidemic because of the long and variable incubation period. Better control measures are necessary to guard against the possibility of iatrogenic transmission through blood transfusion or contaminated surgical instruments. These measures will require sensitive and specific diagnostic tests and improved decontamination methods. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-07T17:06:15Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-c9f0ffe10e5b4f25b0423bc1ccdc65db |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 0042-9686 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-07T17:06:15Z |
| publishDate | 2003-01-01 |
| publisher | The World Health Organization |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Bulletin of the World Health Organization |
| spelling | doaj.art-c9f0ffe10e5b4f25b0423bc1ccdc65db2024-03-03T02:35:38ZengThe World Health OrganizationBulletin of the World Health Organization0042-96862003-01-01812123130The epidemics of bovine spongiform encephalopathy and variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease: current status and future prospectsSmith Peter G.The large epidemic of bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) in the United Kingdom has been in decline since 1992, but has spread to other countries. The extensive control measures that have been put in place across the European Union and also in Switzerland should have brought the transmission of BSE under control in these countries, provided that the measures were properly enforced. Postmortem tests on brain tissue enable infected animals to be detected during the late stages of the incubation period, but tests that can be performed on live animals (including humans) and that will detect infections early are urgently needed. The number of infected animals currently entering the food chain is probably small, and the controls placed on bovine tissues in the European Union and Switzerland should ensure that any risks to human health are small and diminishing. Vigilance is required in all countries, especially in those in which there has been within-species recycling of ruminant feed. Fewer than 150 people, globally, have been diagnosed with variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (vCJD), but there are many uncertainties about the future course of the epidemic because of the long and variable incubation period. Better control measures are necessary to guard against the possibility of iatrogenic transmission through blood transfusion or contaminated surgical instruments. These measures will require sensitive and specific diagnostic tests and improved decontamination methods.http://www.scielosp.org/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S0042-96862003000200009EncephalopathyBovine spongiform/epidemiologyBovine spongiform/etiologyBovine spongiform/prevention and controlCreutzfeldt-Jakob syndrome/epidemiologyCreutzfeldt-Jakob syndrome/etiologyCreutzfeldt-Jakob syndrome/prevention and controlDisease outbreaks/prevention and controlCattleSheepAnimal feed/adverse effectsDisease transmissionForecastingUnited KingdomSwitzerlandEuropean Union |
| spellingShingle | Smith Peter G. The epidemics of bovine spongiform encephalopathy and variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease: current status and future prospects Bulletin of the World Health Organization Encephalopathy Bovine spongiform/epidemiology Bovine spongiform/etiology Bovine spongiform/prevention and control Creutzfeldt-Jakob syndrome/epidemiology Creutzfeldt-Jakob syndrome/etiology Creutzfeldt-Jakob syndrome/prevention and control Disease outbreaks/prevention and control Cattle Sheep Animal feed/adverse effects Disease transmission Forecasting United Kingdom Switzerland European Union |
| title | The epidemics of bovine spongiform encephalopathy and variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease: current status and future prospects |
| title_full | The epidemics of bovine spongiform encephalopathy and variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease: current status and future prospects |
| title_fullStr | The epidemics of bovine spongiform encephalopathy and variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease: current status and future prospects |
| title_full_unstemmed | The epidemics of bovine spongiform encephalopathy and variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease: current status and future prospects |
| title_short | The epidemics of bovine spongiform encephalopathy and variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease: current status and future prospects |
| title_sort | epidemics of bovine spongiform encephalopathy and variant creutzfeldt jakob disease current status and future prospects |
| topic | Encephalopathy Bovine spongiform/epidemiology Bovine spongiform/etiology Bovine spongiform/prevention and control Creutzfeldt-Jakob syndrome/epidemiology Creutzfeldt-Jakob syndrome/etiology Creutzfeldt-Jakob syndrome/prevention and control Disease outbreaks/prevention and control Cattle Sheep Animal feed/adverse effects Disease transmission Forecasting United Kingdom Switzerland European Union |
| url | http://www.scielosp.org/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S0042-96862003000200009 |
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