National CJD Surveillance Unit Publishes 16th Annual Report For 2007 And Scientific Report, UK

Main Category: CJD / vCJD / Mad Cow Disease
Also Included In: Neurology / Neuroscience
Article Date: 14 Nov 2008 - 2:00 PST

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The Sixteenth Annual Report of the National Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease Surveillance Unit (NCJDSU) is published today. The report looks back over the period from May 1990 (when the Unit was set up) to 31 December 2007. The report outlines the Unit's work in the clinical surveillance of variant (vCJD), sporadic and iatrogenic CJD.

The key figures on the incidence of CJD are:

- between 1996 and 31 December 2007, a total of 166 cases of definite or probable vCJD had been identified in the UK;
- only one new probable or definite case of vCJD was reported in 2007;
- there were five deaths from vCJD in 2007, the same as in 2006;
- there were 56 deaths from sporadic CJD in 2007, compared to 65 in 2006. This is comparable to the mortality rates for sporadic CJD in most other countries.

We also welcome the publication of the Unit's scientific report, which provides details of the current, and planned future scientific research being undertaken by staff at the NCJDSU, in the context of the Unit's previous research and its on-going background surveillance. Both reports are available on the NCJDSU website at http://www.cjd.ed.uk.

The NCJDSU is funded by the Department of Health and the Scottish Executive Health Department.

Department of Health, UK