Major study of vCJD commissioned by Blood Bank

A MAJOR study to reveal the rate of variant Creutzfeldt Jakob Disease (vCJD) infection through consumption of BSE-infected meat has been commissioned by the Blood Bank.

“The survey is an attempt to establish how much infectious material has been eaten by Irish people in Ireland,” said Dr William Murphy, national director of the Irish Blood Transfusion Service (IBTS).

He said the survey, to be carried out by a British firm of consultants, Detnorskeveritas (DNV), would concentrate on tracking the movement of BSE-infected animals within the food chain.

Dr Murphy said the £25,000 survey would provide a broad estimate of the risk Irish people were exposed to.

“The main risk factor is still how long the person lived in the UK.

“Almost all cases since the first cases of vCJD were reported in 1996 were in the UK.”

He said the survey would reveal the relative risk of infection to Irish people compared to their British counterparts.

International blood transfusion officials will be briefed on the project in Dublin later this month and Dr Murphy said that the survey should be completed within a couple of months.

The average age of death from vCJD (the human form of mad cow disease) is 28 and infection results from eating BSE-infected meat.

It is different from classical CJD which occurs naturally in older age groups and is linked to a degenerative neurological condition. To date, 130 cases have been recorded in Britain since 1996.

Just one person, a former British resident, has died in Ireland from the disease.

Meanwhile, a programme introduced by the IBTS in March 2001 deferring donors who lived in Britain from 1980-1996 from giving blood, is still in place.

There is no blood test for vCJD.