The UK could be hit by a second wave of cases of variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, the human form of bovine spongiform encephalopathy, BBC Two's Mad Cow Disease: The Great British Beef Scandal has reported. The programme highlighted the potential for the disease to re-emerge in people with a genetic tendency for longer incubation periods. A spokesman from the Department of Health said: "We are aware that there is an outbreak of Variant CJD and we have been working closely with our partners at Public Health England (PHE) on this
The UK could be hit by a second wave of cases of variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, the human form of bovine spongiform encephalopathy, BBC Two's Mad Cow Disease: The Great British Beef Scandal has reported. The programme highlighted the potential for the disease to re-emerge in people with a genetic tendency for longer incubation periods. Half of the UK population has this genetic predisposition and there is currently no test to identify humans that are carrying the disease.