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The decision of Canada and the US to ban blood donations from people who
spent more than 6 months in Britain in the 1980s will hit blood stocks hard.
Both countries imposed the ban to cut the chance of new-variant CJD being
transmitted via blood donated by people developing the disease as a result of
eating BSE-infected meat. The Canadian health ministry claims the move will
reduce any possible chance of infection being passed on through the blood supply
by 80 to 90 per cent. A spokesman for Canadian Blood Services told New
Scientist that making up for the 3 per cent drop in donations “will pose a
challenge”.