HC Deb 07 February 2000 vol 344 cc71-2W
Mr. Jim Cunningham

To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment he has made of the proliferation of spongiform encephalopathies. [108508]

Yvette Cooper

Sporadic Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease (CJD) is the most common form of spongiform encephalopathy in people, with an incidence in the United Kingdom and world-wide of approximately one per million of the population, per year. For variant CJD—the form of CJD linked to exposure to the BSE agent—a total of 52 definite or probable cases have so far been confirmed in the UK. The Department publish data on the incidence of all types of CJD in a monthly press release. The next one will be issued Monday 7 February. Copies will be available in the Library.

There are on-going assessments of spongiform encephalopathies made by the Spongiform Encephalopathy Advisory Committee and its sub-committees.

Forward to