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SUMMARY:Transmission of prion diseases by blood transfusion. - Dr Fiona Ho
 uston\, Institute for Animal Health\, Compton\, Berkshire
DTSTART:20070124T163000Z
DTEND:20070124T173000Z
UID:TALK6272@talks.cam.ac.uk
CONTACT:4872
DESCRIPTION:Fiona Houston\, IAH Compton.\n\nSince the discovery of a link 
 between bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) and new variant Creutzfeld-
 Jakob disease in the late 1990s (vCJD)\, there have been concerns about th
 e possibility of transmission of vCJD by blood products.\nApproximately 40
 00 people in the UK have been estimated to harbour vCJD\, so the potential
  for transmission between people is an extremely important factor in deter
 mining the risk of the human epidemic becoming self-sustaining as the inci
 dence of BSE declines. In the past 2 years\, there have been 3 cases of vC
 JD transmission attributable to blood transfusion\, indicating that this i
 s not merely a theoretical risk. As a result\, millions of pounds are bein
 g spent in the UK alone on leucodepletion and importation of blood compone
 nts\, to minimise the possible risks associated with clinical use of these
  products. However\, to assess the effectiveness of these measures\, an ex
 perimental model is required. We have demonstrated that sheep infected wit
 h BSE by the oral route provide a suitable model: the distribution of PrPS
 c and/or infectivity in lymphoid tissues closely resembles that of vCJD pa
 tients\, and the infection can be transmitted by transfusion of volumes of
  blood similar to those collected from humans. The results of these studie
 s and plans for future work will be presented and discussed.\n
LOCATION:Lecture Theatre 1\, Department of Veterinary Medicine
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