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IF THERE is one categorical pronouncement you can safely make about prion
diseases like BSE or CJD, it is that one should not make categorical
pronouncements. “British beef is safe” and “there is no BSE in Germany” come to
mind. Now there are two more: “scrapie is safe”, and “people don’t catch
sporadic CJD”. Scrapie is the most widespread prion disease, infecting untold
numbers of sheep worldwide. Sporadic CJD is the old-fashioned pre-BSE kind that
is supposed to happen spontaneously in unlucky people. But a surprise
observation in France suggests some sCJD cases—though by no means
all—may be linked…