The network provides advanced diagnostic services for those Member States that lack diagnostic capability for transmissible encephalopathies and carries out surveillance of variant Creutzfeldt Jakob disease (vCJD) in the EU/EEA.
The EuroCJD meetings are held annually/biannually and constitute a valuable platform for: 1) the assessment of the latest scientific and diagnostic findings and developments in the field of CJD; 2) the assessment of their impact on the needs of future surveillance; and 3) sharing country-specific experience, case studies and public health activities.
Two developments in the field of variant Creutzfeldt–Jakob disease (vCJD) occurred in 2009. In order to address a number of questions that were raised, ECDC internal and external experts prepared this risk assessment. The document focuses on how these new facts affect the current assumptions regarding transmissibility of the disease through blood transfusion and tissue/cells transplantation.