title: Transmission of BSE by blood transfusion in sheep.
abstract: We have shown that it is possible to transmit bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) to a sheep by transfusion with whole blood taken from another sheep during the symptom-free phase of an experimental BSE infection. BSE and variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (vCJD) In human beings are caused by the same infectious agent, and the sheep-BSE experimental model has a similar pathogenesis to that of human vCJD. Although UK blood transfusions are leucodepleted--a possible protective measure against any risk from blood transmission--this report suggests that blood donated by symptom-free vCJD-infected human beings may represent a risk of spread of vCJD infection among the human population of the UK.
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Houston
authors.forename: J D
authors.initials: JD
authors.lastname: Foster
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Chong
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Hunter
authors.forename: C J
authors.initials: CJ
authors.lastname: Bostock
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D007562:Creutzfeldt-Jakob Syndrome / Q000097:blood / Q000635:transmission*; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D004591:Electrophoresis, Polyacrylamide Gel; D016643:Encephalopathy, Bovine Spongiform / Q000097:blood / Q000235:genetics / Q000635:transmission*; D006801:Humans; D018620:PrPSc Proteins / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D012756:Sheep; D065227:Transfusion Reaction
chemical_list: D018620:PrPSc Proteins