§ Mr. Matthew TaylorTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science what research h as been conducted to establish the cause or causes of(a) Kuru and (b) Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease; what results have so far been forthcoming; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. JacksonCreutzfeldt-Jakob Disease and Kuru belong to a family of diseases thought to be caused by "slow viruses" which include scrapie in sheep and bovine spongiform encephalopathy in cattle.
As a result of recommendation 8.5.2 (viii) of the Tyre11 report (report of the working party on bovine spongiform encephalopathy), the Department of Health has commissioned a research project to review the incidence, prevalence and trends of Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease in order to help determine whether there is a link with bovine spongiform encephalopathy.
From 1979 until 1987, the Medical Research Council funded an epidemiological study of Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease. No consistent risk factors were identified. The neuropathogenesis unit in Edinburgh is undertaking a programme of research on scrapie which is also relevant; the unit is jointly funded by the Agricultural and Food Research Council and Medical Research Council.
Research on Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease and Kuru may be being pursued by university departments and medical schools with support from the University Funding Council block grants and by health authorities; but information on this is not collected centrally.