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SCARY NEWS Houston F et al;Lancet, 16 September 2000:999, 955: Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease, a very rare but nearly always fatal disease having onset symptoms easily mistaken for those of PD, (CSR DEC 98) is thought to be caused by an agent similar if not identical to the cause of Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE or Mad Cow Disease) in cattle and Scrapie in sheep. Some human cases seem connected with the farming or meat-packing industry, so have been labeled as a variant (vCJD). The agent seems to be extremely contagious as well as extremely hard to neutralize, so an epidemic of BSE in Britain a couple of years ago led to slaughter and burning of a million cattle and near destruction of the British beef industry. It also appears that the disease(s) may have a symptomless incubation period of up to several years following initial infection, making it very hard to trace either in livestock or humans. Now in a careful experiment, researchers have proven that BSE can be transmitted by simple blood transfusion from an infected but symptomless sheep to a healthy one. Despite precautionary rules for human transfusions in the UK, this suggests the gloomy possibility that vCJD may eventually spread to tens of thousands of human blood recipients. Dissenting commentary cites evidence that the risk may not be all that bad, and perhaps it was premature to scare the public with such a report. Cheers, Joe -- J. R. Bruman (818) 789-3694 3527 Cody Road Sherman Oaks, CA 91403-5013