One in 2,000 of UK population carries variant CJD proteins 

One in 2,000 people in the UK are estimated to be carrying variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (vCJD) proteins, according to a study led by Professor Sebastian Brandner (UCL Institute of Neurology). The research, published in this week's BMJ , is based on samples from more than 32,000 people and provides the most robust prevalence measure to date. It identifies abnormal prion protein across a wider age group than found previously and in all genotypes, indicating "infection" may be relatively common and doctors need to understand the public health measures that are in place to protect patients. The research was carried out in collaboration with researchers at the Animal Health and Veterinary Laboratories Agency, Public Health England and the University of Edinburgh. vCJD is a degenerative brain disease - often called the human form of bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) or "mad cow disease". It emerged after widespread exposure to BSE prions in the late 1980s and early 1990s through contaminated meat products in the food chain. 177 clinical cases of vCJD have been diagnosed to date in the UK.