CJD

CJD Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD) originates from an infectious agent that infected sheep, which crossed the species barrier to bovines to cause bovine spongiform encephalopathy, then eventually was acquired by humans. Changes in the rendering of livestock carcasses allowed the pathogen to survive and contaminate meat and bone meal in livestock feed, amplifying infection to epidemic proportions. Export of contaminated meat and bone meal and live cattle incubating the disease caused the spread of bovine spongiform encephalopathy to other countries. Bovine spongiform encephalopathy caused variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease that entered into the human food chain. CJD is a disease primarily affecting the nervous system. Worldwide it affects one out of 1 million people, most between 50 and 70 years of age. A marker of the disease is an abnormal protein called a prion that accumulates in the brain of people who have CJD. Transmission of CJD between people is rare, and the agent that causes th e disease is thought not to be highly contagious.Variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (vCJD), typical ...