Public health issues and clinical and neurological characteristics of the new variant of Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease and other human and animal transmissible spongiform encephalopathies: memorandum from two WHO meetings.

The transmissible spongiform encephalopathies (TSEs) include bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), which was first described in 1986 in cattle in the United Kingdom, but has occurred subsequently also in other countries, and Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD) in humans, which is rare but with a worldwide distribution. Recently a new variant form of CJD, with a characteristic clinical and pathological phenotype, has been identified in the United Kingdom in a series of 11 young patients. This Memorandum reports the findings of two WHO Consultations. The first, held on 2-3 April 1996, issued conclusions and recommendations on certain animal products in order to protect the health of consumers. The second, held on 14-16 May 1996, examined, inter alia, the findings associated with the new variant of CJD, compared these findings with those for other TSEs, and proposed a protocol for the diagnosis and surveillance of CJD and related diseases.