Mad cow disease blood test a step closer

http://au.news.yahoo.com/latest/a/-/latest/14830998/mad-cow-disease-blood-test-a-step-closer/

Medical researchers say they are a step closer to developing a blood test for mad cow disease.

The University of Melbourne team has used newly-available genetic sequencing to identify a signature for the infectious agent that is responsible for Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease and the human form of mad cow disease, Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy.

They say the breakthrough confirms a diagnostic blood test is possible and could also lead to tests for other human neuro-degenerative diseases, such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s.

Mad cow disease was linked to the deaths of nearly 200 people in Great Britain who consumed meat from infected animals in the late 1980s.

Associate Professor Andrew Hill says the discovery means there could be a diagnostic blood test within five years.