In the UK, Calls for Testing of Blood Supplies After Donor Dies of vCJD
It remains to be seen if variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (vCJD), often referred to as "mad cow disease," will become as much of a problem here in the U.S. that it is in the U.K. The reach of the threat posed by vCJD however is illustrated by this story about possible contamination of public blood supply.
The Daily Echo reports:
A campaign for all donated blood to be screened for the human form of mad cow disease is being led locally by a young woman [Lisa Farrant] from Fordingbridge, after her grandmother, a keen blood donor, died from the disease.
Farrant's grandmother may have been exposed to vCJD as a cafeteria worker where "mechanically recovered meat" was often an ingredient in school meals (editorial note - yuck).
It does not appear that the blood supply in the UK is currently screened for vCJD, nor does it appear that a proper test is imminent:
A spokesperson for the National Blood Service said while there was no approved test of spleens and tonsils as yet, the Advisory Committee on the Safety of Blood, Tissues and Organs (SaBTO) are evaluating the tests and hope to make their recommendations to the government soon.
Let's hope it never comes to this point in the U.S.
