Around 100 people who donated blood to three patients who later developed the human form of mad cow disease are to be warned they may carry the deadly agent, the Department of Health said on Wednesday. Britain first announced in 2003 what was thought to be the world's first case of transmission of variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (vCJD) via transfusion. On Wednesday, health officials said the 100-odd people concerned, who have a greater chance of carrying the vCJD compared with the general population, will be told not to donate any more blood, tissue or organs, according to Reuters. They will also be asked to inform health care professionals so that extra precautions can be taken in case of surgery or other invasive procedures. "When a recipient of a blood transfusion goes on to develop vCJD, we have to consider the possibility that the infection could have been passed on through the transfusion," Britain's chief medical officer said. "Until a reliable blood screening test becomes available, it is sensible to proceed with highly precautionary measures such as this," Liam Donaldson said in a statement. Researchers at Imperial College London said about 70 future cases of vCJD will be diagnosed.
