Steep rise in CJD cases

CJD causes a "sponge-like" degeneration of brain tissue. www.jhu-prion.org

The Swiss health ministry confirmed reports that the number of deaths from Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease (CJD) in Switzerland has increased dramatically this year.

Over the past decade, between eight to 10 cases of the brain wasting disease have been recorded. The figure jumped to 19 in 2001 alone.

The Swiss health ministry suspects CJD was the cause of five other deaths, spokesman Lorenz Hess said, confirming Sunday newspaper reports. He added that the situation was not a cause for alarm.

All of the confirmed CJD deaths showed typical symptoms of the illness. Researchers are currently investigating the link between CJD and Mad Cow Disease, or BSE.

No explanations

An expert with the health ministry, Lorenz Amsler said the exponential rise in the number of CJD cases could not be explained. Investigating why the number of cases has risen is now the priority, he continued.

Contamination by BSE prions “is the most improbable of all the possible explanations,” he said in an interview with the “SonntagsZeitung” newspaper.

Blood transfusions can be excluded as a possible means of transmitting the illness and there is no evidence to suggest that contamination resulted from surgical operations.

“We have compared this year’s cases with previous ones and we have not found a difference,” Amsler said. Those who died were not operated on more or less than the others during the past few years.

No cure

Doctors have yet to find a cure for CJD. In Britain and France, a variation of the disease has emerged which strikes much younger victims.

This strain has been linked with BSE. It is a rare form of the disease which has not been diagnosed in Switzerland.

swissinfo with agencies