BSE and vCJD

The transmissible spongiform encephalopathies (TSEs) constitute a group of uniformly fatal neurological degenerative diseases with the abnormal isoform of the cellular prion protein present. They include Creutzfeldt–Jakob Disease (CJD) and kuru, among others, and now also a new variant Creutzfeldt–Jakob Disease (vCJD, formerly nvCJD) in humans, scrapie in sheep, and “mad cow disease” or bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) in cattle. An initial 10-year history introduces salient biostatistical issues in BSE and vCJD. Thereafter, an account is given of surveillance in the twenty-first century for subclinical TSEs and of UK's at-vCJD-risk networks. Keywords: bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE); variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (vCJD); transmissible spongiform encephalopathies (TSEs); prion disease epidemic projections; dietary BSE exposure; European testing at abattoirs for late-stage TSEs in cattle and sheep; UK testing in human appendix for abnormal prion protein