Types of Prion diseases
The most media attention to prions has been due to the "mad cow disease" in animals, and the subsequent "variant CJD" that occurs in humans. However, there are numerous prion diseases believed to be related.
Types list: The list of types of Prion diseases mentioned in various sources includes:
- Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease
- Variant CJD
- Kuru
- Fatal familial insomnia
- Gerstmann-Straussler-Scheinker disease
- Bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) - mad cow disease, animal-only
- Scrapie - sheep and goats, animal-only
- Mink encephalopathy - in minks, animal-only
- Feline encephalopathy - in cats, animal-only
- Feline spongiform encephalopathy - affecting cats.
- Chronic wasting disease (CWD) - affecting mule deer and elk (i.e. animals only)
- Bovine spongiform encephalopathy
- Chronic wasting disease (CWD) of mule deer and elk
- Transmissible mink encephalopathy (TME)
Types discussion:
Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD) is the most well-known of the human
TSEs. It is a rare type of dementia that affects about one in every one
million people each year. Other human TSEs include kuru, fatal familial
insomnia (FFI), and Gerstmann-Straussler-Scheinker disease (GSS). Kuru was
identified in people of an isolated tribe in Papua New Guinea and has now
almost disappeared. FFI and GSS are extremely rare hereditary diseases,
found in just a few families around the world. A new type of CJD, called
variant CJD (vCJD), was first described in 1996 and has been found in
Great Britain and several other European countries. The initial symptoms
of vCJD are different from those of classic CJD and the disorder typically
occurs in younger patients. Research suggests that vCJD may have resulted
from human consumption of beef from cattle with a TSE disease called
bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), also known as "mad cow disease."
Other TSEs found in animals include scrapie, which affects sheep and
goats; chronic wasting disease, which affects elk and deer; and
transmissible mink encephalopathy. In a few rare cases, TSEs have occurred
in other mammals such as zoo animals. These cases are probably caused by
contaminated feed. CJD and other TSEs also can be transmitted
experimentally to mice and other animals in the laboratory.
1
Footnotes:
1. excerpt from NINDS Transmissible Spongiform Encephalopathies Information Page: NINDS
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