Zebra of the Week: Variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease

Variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (vCJD) is a type of Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD) characterized by early psychiatric symptoms and cognitive decline. All forms of CJD belong to a rare family of progressive neurodegenerative disorders that affect both humans and animals, called prion diseases, so named for abnormal proteins within the brain. Variant CJD results when an individual is exposed to contaminated products. The infection responsible for the disease in cows (bovine spongiform encephalitis) is believed to be the same one responsible for vCJD in humans.