France Halts All Prion Research After Reports of Disease Spreading in Laboratories

For at least three months, France has imposed a temporary ban on all prion disease research by public research laboratories. At least two employees are believed to have caught a rare and deadly prion brain illness while working in prions-handling labs, prompting the decision.

Prions

Four out of every five instances of the illness are caused by unknown factors, with the remaining five cases being genetic or caused by the transplantation of contaminated human tissue. The distinction between the ordinary Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease and the variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease can only be determined after death by examining brain tissue after death.

Many microorganisms can cause lab infections. Therefore there are numerous precautions in place while working with hazardous chemicals. On the other hand, Prions are particularly concerning since CJD has an average incubation period of around ten years, meaning that it takes a long time for the infection to manifest itself, which is often too late.

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