Written question asked by Jim Cunningham (Labour) on Tuesday, 1 February 2000, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Monday, 7 February 2000. It was answered by Yvette Cooper (Labour) on Monday, 7 February 2000 on behalf of the Department of Health.

Dept of Health

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment he has made of the proliferation of spongiform encephalopathies. - Includes figure.

Answer: 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.

Secondary information