Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD)
Page content: Victorian statutory requirement | Infectious agent | Identification | Incubation period | Public health significance & occurrence | Reservoir | Mode of transmission | Period of communicability | Susceptibility & resistance | Control measures | Outbreak measures | International measures | Additional sources of information
Victorian statutory requirement
CJD (Group B disease) must be notified in writing within five days of diagnosis.
School exclusion is not applicable.
Infectious agent
The infectious agent is a unique abnormal prion protein, designated as PrP. This protein is an insoluble, protease-resistant amyloid form of a normal cellular protein designated PrPc. PrP acts on normal prions, causing them to change into the abnormal infectious form in a cascade like manner.
Identification
Clinical features
CJD belongs to a group of rare diseases known to affect humans and animals called transmissible spongiform encephalopathies (TSE). CJD presents in humans in either a classical or a variant form.
Classical CJD
Classical CJD (cCJD) is one of four rare prion diseases that affect humans. The others are Kuru, Gerstmann-Straussler-Scheinker disease and fatal familial insomnia.
Classical CJD occurs in sporadic, familial and iatrogenic forms. Sporadic cases account for 85–90% of CJD cases and have an unknown cause. Familial cases make up 5–10% and are associated with a genetic mutation. Less than 5% are iatrogenic.
The symptom
Related information