§ Miss Emma NicholsonTo ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) how many suspected cases of Creutzfeld-Jakob disease have been(a) identified and (b) confirmed as actually suffering from this disease in the past two months;
(2) how many people have been identified as having contracted Creutzfeld-Jakob disease from the most recently available figures.
§ Mr. YeoFigures are produced on a yearly basis by Dr. R. G. Wills, consultant neurologist at the national Creutzfeld-Jakob disease surveillance unit, Edinburgh. Copies of his latest report "Creutzfeld-Jakob Disease surveillance in the United Kingdom" have been placed in the Library. Dr. Wills has confirmed that there has been no change in the incidence or distribution of CJD, and no evidence to show that it is increasing. The study into the incidence of CJD will continue for a decade or more to monitor any change in the pattern of the disease.
CJD can be confirmed only by post mortem. Between 1 April 1992 and 31 May 1992 four suspect cases of CJD were identified. One of the patients has been confirmed as suffering from the disease; two other patients remain alive and a post mortem result on the fourth patient is awaited.