Assessing the risk of transmission of vCJD via blood transfusion and identifying potential for diagnosis and prevention

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In the UK four patients appear to have developed variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (vCJD) after transfusion of blood from a donors infected with vCJD. These cases raise concern as the blood donors did not show any clinical signs of vCJD at the time the blood donations were made. Whether many more individuals will also develop disease after transfusion of vCJD-contaminated blood is currently uncertain, as is the number of people in the UK infected with vCJD but not showing clinical disease. These factors currently make the diagnosis and prevention of further human to human transmissions of vCJD extremely difficult. This project aims to addresses the major issues surrounding the transmission of vCJD via transfusion of blood or blood products. We aim to assess the risk of transmission of vCJD by blood and to determine whether the disease is modified after human-to-human transmission. For example, transmission of vCJD from one human to another may result in a disease in the recipient that is more aggressive, that targets different sites or appears different from the original disease in current laboratory tests. We will also study how the vCJD agent contaminates the blood stream, and which blood cells or components are affected. This programme will provide an important basis for assessing the risk of vCJD transmission via blood transfusion, and for developing accurate diagnostic tests to prevent further human to human transmission of vCJD.