How many people in the UK really have the human form of Mad Cow Disease vCJD?

Main Category: CJD / vCJD / Mad Cow Disease
Article Date: 22 May 2004 - 0:00 PDT

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A team of UK scientists found that 3 out of 12,674 stored appendix and tonsil samples showed evidence of the prion protein associated with vCJD, but urge caution about the way these results are interpreted. The research is published this week in The Journal of Pathology.

The study aimed to help health policymakers estimate the numbers of people who could become ill from vCJD by assessing the possible numbers of people in the UK who might be incubating the disease.

Based on the three positives and calculations in the highest risk group (those aged 10-30), the researchers estimate that about 3,800 individuals in the UK would test positive.

Although the scientists are certain that prion proteins were present in three samples, only one showed a pattern of prion accumulation that resembled that seen in tissue of known vCJD cases.

The other two had different patterns of accumulation, so their significance is uncertain. However, prion protein accumulation has not yet been described in any other disease, so data from these two samples cannot be dismissed.

Lead author of the paper David Hilton, who works in the Department of Histopathology at Derriford Hospital, Plymouth, said "Our findings need to be interpreted with caution, but cannot be discounted. There is still much to learn about vCJD and presence of the protein in these tissue samples does not necessarily mean that those affected will go on to develop vCJD. It is important that we clarify the significance of these findings by prospective screening of fresh tonsillectomy tissue"

In contrast to these high estimates of possible future incidence, clinical cases of vCJD remain low and seem to be in decline. "Although the numbers of cases are currently in decline, the possibility of further rises cannot be excluded," say the authors.

"The study it also reinforces the importance of measures taken by the UK Department of Health to reduce the risk of spread of vCJD via blood products and surgical instruments," they add.

Notes to Editors:

Hilton D. A., Ghani A.C., Conyers L., Edwards P., McCArdle L., Ritchie D., Penney M., Hegazy D., Ironside J.W. Prevalence of lymphoreticular prion protein accumulation in UK tissue samples. The Journal of Pathology, 2004. DOI: 10.1002/path.1580

About the Journal

The Journal of Pathology is the journal of the Pathological Society of Great Britain and Ireland. The Journal publishes high quality, influential papers in the fields of pathology and clinico-pathological correlation as well as experimental pathology relevant to the understanding of human disease. The main interests of The Journal of Pathology lie in the pathophysiological and pathogenetic mechanisms of human disease and in the application of such knowledge to diagnosis and prognosis.

The Journal of Pathology is published monthly by John Wiley & Sons and is available in print (ISSN: 1096-9896) and online (ISSN: 0022-3417) via Wiley InterScience at: http://www.interscience.wiley.com/thejournalofpathology

Contact: David Greenberg
dgreenbe@wiley.com
201-748-6484
John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

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