Politics: Bid to calm fears over CJD in blood

The Government yesterday tried to allay fears about Creutzfeldt- Jakob Disease contaminating blood supplies by announcing that it will launch research to see whether blood products should be treated to eliminate the risk.

The announcement by Frank Dobson, Secretary of State for Health, follows advice from the Government's expert committee, Seac, which advises on measures against CJD and BSE, and especially v-CJD, the human form of BSE.

The announcement came as figures showed that in October 11 meat-processing plants failed to meet all the controls put in place to stop the spread of BSE-infected materials. Though officials called the numbers covering inspections of nearly 700 premises "disappointing", the infringements did not constitute a serious health risk. Six of the "unsatisfactory" places visited were knackers yards or hunt kennels where meat is fed to animals and not intended for human consumption.

The Government has struggled to counter growing fears that blood donors already incubating v-CJD might pass it on to recipients.

Now Mr Dobson has asked for an assessment of risks. There is no proof that people receiving transfusions can be infected by blood from someone with any form of CJD. But there is no commercially available method to test for the malformed protein which causes v-CJD. Charles Arthur, Science Editor