In the UK, however, the epidemic of variant CJD seems to have peaked in 2000 and is now in decline, with 156 cases being identified so far. However, a retrospective study of abnormal prion protein accumulation in appendix and tonsil samples from over 12,600 people in the UK has yielded three more cases, which suggests that the level of BSE infection in the UK population is much higher than the actual number of confirmed variant CJD cases indicates.
但在英国，变异型克雅氏病的感染似乎在2000年到达了顶峰，而目前却有所下降，到现在发现的病例总共有156起。但对异常朊蛋白在12，600名英国人阑尾和扁桃体样本中的累积所进行的追溯性研究又查出了三起病例，表明英国人口中牛海绵状脑病的实际感染水平比确认为变异型克雅氏病例的数字要高得多。