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Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy Fact Sheet - Pennsylvania Department Of Health - 2013 Page 3

contaminated food (1984-1986) and onset of initial vCJD cases (1994-1996) is consistent

with the incubation periods for the typical form of CJD.

b. Recent declines in the occurrence of vCJD human disease in the U.K. coincide with

declines in the incidence of BSE in cattle.

6. Are increased surveillance efforts in place to determine whether vCJD occurs in the

United States?

a. Yes. In addition to ongoing review of national CJD mortality data, the Centers for

Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is conducting active CJD surveillance at its

Emerging Infections Program Monitoring Sites.

b. In 1997, CDC, in collaboration with the American Association of Neuropathologists,

established the National Prion Disease Pathology Surveillance Center at Case Western

Reserve University, Cleveland, Ohio. This pathology center provides free, state-of-the-art

diagnostic services to United States physicians. It also helps to monitor the possible

occurrence of emerging forms of prion diseases, such as vCJD, in the United States. See

its website at:

7. Has there ever been a human vCJD case in the United States?

a. In 2002, CDC reported a case of vCJD in a Florida resident who was born in and grew up

in the United Kingdom during the BSE epidemic.

b. Another human case of vCJD was reported in 2005 in a man originally from the U.K.

who lived in Texas for 4 years.

c. A third patient with vCJD was reported in 2006. The patient was born and raised in

Saudi Arabia and had only permanently moved to the US a year earlier. The patient was

likely infected as a child while living in Saudi Arabia.

d. In all three cases, none are thought to have any health implications for the United States.

8. Is BSE a food borne hazard for travelers to Europe? - The current risk for infection with

the BSE agent among travelers to Europe is extremely small, if it exists any longer at all.

9. For more information:

This fact sheet provides general information. Please contact your physician and/or veterinarian

for specific clinical information related to you or your animal.

Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy Fact Sheet - Pennsylvania Department Of Health - 2013 Page 3