Prevalence of Abnormal Prion Protein Infection in the U.K.

Bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), epizootic in the U.K. during the late 1980s and early 1990s, is caused by prions — unique replicating proteins that lack nucleic acid and are incredibly resistant to many forms of inactivation. Humans have been exposed to BSE prions primarily through ingestion of contaminated meat, but also through transplantation and transfusion. As of June 2013, 177 cases of variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (vCJD) had been reported in the U.K., but subclinical infection is likely in other individuals and would have important implications for the management of blood and blood products and the handling of surgical instruments. Now, researchers have assessed the prevalence of such subclinical infection.

In a study invo…