Written question asked by Patsy Calton (Liberal Democrat) on Thursday, 18 December 2003, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Tuesday, 13 January 2004. It was answered by Melanie Johnson (Labour) on Tuesday, 13 January 2004 on behalf of the Department of Health.

Dept of Health

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to his oral statement of 17th December 2003, 415 c1571, what assessment he has made of the likelihood of the donor and the recipient of variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease infected blood having independently contracted variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease.

Answer: Mrs. Calton: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to his oral statement of 17 December 2003, Official Report, column 1571, what assessment he has made of the likelihood of the donor and the recipient of variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease infected blood having independently contracted variant Creutzfeldt- Jakob Disease. [145454] Miss Melanie Johnson: It is possible that both individuals acquired variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease by eating infected meat products. While it is impossible to be certain how the patient who received a blood donation from a person who went on to develop variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease (vCJD) contracted vCJD, in the light of the case history and the research evidence, the possibility of the route of transmission eing transfusion-related cannot be discounted.

Secondary information