RARE DISEASE NOT A PUBLIC THREAT

Released on August 8, 2002

A confirmed case of variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease (vCJD) in

Saskatchewan, the first in Canada, does not present a threat to the general

public or the Canadian food supply, according to health officials.



Laboratory tests were performed in Canada and the United Kingdom. Final

confirmation was received this week that a Saskatchewan resident who died

early this summer, had vCJD, a rare and incurable neurological disease.



Dr. Ross Findlater, Saskatchewan Chief Medical Health Officer, said the

disease was likely acquired in the United Kingdom, where the deceased lived

and visited during the 1980s and 1990s. Variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease

has been linked to the consumption of beef products from cattle infected

with Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE), also known as Mad Cow Disease.



BSE was widespread in cattle herds in the United Kingdom during that

period, and there have been 125 cases of vCJD in the U.K. since the disease

was first diagnosed in the mid-1990s. Findlater said Canada has been BSE-

free except for a single case in 1993 in a cow imported from the United

Kingdom, and which was destroyed. Until now, there have been no cases of

vCJD in Canada.



"It is highly unlikely that the case originated in Canada and just as

unlikely that it was passed on to anyone in Canada,'' said Findlater.



"Based on our current knowledge of this case, there is no reason to believe

it is connected to Canadian livestock or the Canadian food supply.''



Findlater noted that the first case in the United States, announced in

April 2002, similarly involved an individual who died in that country after

acquiring vCJD in the United Kingdom.



Dr. Steven Whitehead, deputy Medical Health Officer of the Regional Health

Authority #6 (Saskatoon area), said there are no known cases of vCJD being

transmitted from person to person.



While there is a theoretical risk of transferring vCJD through the blood

system, the deceased was not a blood donor. Whitehead said there is a

theoretical risk that the disease could be spread by medical equipment –

even after it has been thoroughly disinfected. So out of an abundance of

caution, Regional Health Authority #6 (Saskatoon area) is contacting 71

people who may have been exposed to the same piece of equipment as the

deceased while at the hospital.



"The chances of vCJD being spread by a piece of medical equipment is

extremely minute,'' said Whitehead. "However, as long as there is even a

theoretical risk, we believe we have an ethical obligation to inform the

patients as they have a right to know. Many of these patients have already

been contacted and we expect to reach the others in the next few days."



Whitehead said a final diagnosis of vCJD can only take place after death,

by performing laboratory tests on brain tissue. Whitehead said initial

testing was performed at the University of Toronto and final diagnosis was

provided earlier this week by leading vCJD experts in the United Kingdom.



A second type of CJD, known as classical Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease, occurs

naturally in the population at a rate of one person in a million per year.

Classical CJD is not linked to the consumption of beef products.



Whitehead said that, for privacy reasons, the identity of the deceased will

not be disclosed and family members have indicated they do not wish to be

contacted by members of the media.



For additional information about variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease, media

backgrounders and frequently asked questions and answers may be found by

referring to the following web site: www.hc-sc.gc.ca/cjd



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For more information, contact:



Marielle Gauthier Peter Mayne

Regional Health Authority Health

Saskatoon Regina

Phone: (306) 655-1028 Phone: (306) 787-7296



Andrew Swift Canadian Food Inspection Agency

Health Canada Phone: (613) 228-6682

Phone: (613) 957-2988