Variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease In humans, the most common
transmissible spongiform encephalopathy (TSE) is called
Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD). CJD is rare with a worldwide
incidence of 1 case per million. Humans who develop this disease
will slowly lose the ability to think and to move properly and
will suffer from memory loss and progressive brain damage until
they can no longer see, speak or feed themselves. First
described in 1996, Variant CJD (vCJD) is similar to CJD as it
too is a TSE, yet there are notable differences. First, young
people are affected, with an average age of death under 30
years. Second, the disease has a relatively longer duration of
illness. Finally, it is strongly linked to exposure, probably
through food, to BSE. Other human TSEs have not been linked to
food exposure. The route of transmission of vCJD is not yet
fully proven but it is generally accepted that it is transmitted
through exposure to food contaminated by BSE. For more
information Variant CJD was first recognized i