Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease and sheep brain. A report from central and Southern Italy.

The places of origin of 7 out of 8 patients with CJD coincide with the distribution of sheep-rearing in central and southern Italy, confirming the suggested link between this disease and eating and-or handling sheep CNS tissue. Since 6 of the 8 cases were women, it seems more likely that the virus responsible for CJD enters the body through a break in the skin of the hands and forearms in the process of foodhandling rather than via the Digestive tract. This aspect should be borne in mind when investigating the problems of CJD transmission.