Test devised to detect mad cow disease

Scientists have developed a test to detect the human form of mad cow disease.

This could revolutionize the early detection of the disease in patients, as well as prevent the transfer of infected blood.

The prototype test for variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease was developed by researchers at University College London and is 100,000 times more sensitive than any other method developed so far.

Variant CJD first emerged in 1995. The disease is believed to have passed from cattle to humans through infected food. It affects the brain, causing personality changes, loss of body function, and eventually leads to death.

The development of this test is important because it will enable early screening for the disease. The infectious proteins that cause vCJD can inhabit a body for up to 50 years before the person presents symptoms of the disease, and there is a chance the person could pass the infection to others through a blood transfusion.

Lead researcher Dr Graham Jackson said: "Although further larger studies are needed to confirm its effectiveness, it’s the best hope yet of a successful early diagnostic test for the disease. This test could potentially go on to allow blood services to screen the population for vCJD infection, assess how many people in the UK are silent carriers and prevent onward transmission of the disease.”

The study is published today in the journal The Lancet.

This article was published on Thu 3 February 2011