2006-12-24 05:59:36 · 2 answers · asked by Mirror 1 in Health ➔ Diseases & Conditions ➔ Infectious Diseases
There hasn't been a real consensus about whether prions can be blood-transmissible. It has not been proven yet, but to err on the side of caution, many blood banking organizations refuse to accept blood from people who have spent significant time in England in the 70's or 80's (iirc) because of bovine spongiform encephalopathy (mad cow).
So in short, the medical community does not have an answer to this question yet.
2006-12-27 08:01:24 · answer #1 · answered by Gumdrop Girl 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
I don't know about detectability in blood, but "kuru" was transmitted by the ancient ritual practice of eating a dead relatives brain (and no, I am NOT making this up!) in certain locations in Africa. It turns out that this is the same thing as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, better known as Lou Gehrig's disease.
2006-12-24 06:06:18 · answer #2 · answered by Paul H 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋