How many cases of variant CJD have occurred?
Cases of variant CJD are very rare, and most have occurred in the United Kingdom. Information provided by the UK Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease Surveillance Unit (February, 2004, www.cjd.ed.ac.uk/figures.htm) indicates that there have been 146 cases of definite and probable vCJD in the United Kingdom. These cases have all been diagnosed since 1995. France has reported six cases. The Republic of Ireland, Italy, Canada and the US have each reported one case. The cases in Ireland, Canada and the US each occurred in individuals who had spent several years in the UK.
