Catalog
Variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease
Link to WHO Definition
Variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease – http://id.who.int/icd/entity/378572696
A disease of the brain, that is suspected to be caused by a prion associated with Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy. This disease is characterised by a long incubation period, psychiatric symptoms followed by neurological deficits, and is fatal. Transmission may be by ingestion of food (with a bovine origin) contaminated with infected brain or spinal cord from an infected cow, or blood transfusion. Confirmation is by pathological examination of the brain.