There are two main forms of Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD). The disease develops differently in each variant.
Classic form
The classic form can be contracted in different ways. Firstly, and most commonly, it can develop spontaneously. It can also occur in families, so it can be hereditary. Another possibility is transmission by transplantation of the meninx (cerebral membrane) or the cornea from the eye. Finally, classic CJD could be transmitted by treatment with human growth hormones from the brain. The use of human growth hormone has now been discontinued in the Netherlands.
Variant form
The variant form can be contracted by eating meat from cattle with BSE, a disease that was particularly common in cows in the United Kingdom during the BSE epidemic of the 1990s.
It is very likely that the proteins that cause CJD can be transmitted via blood or plasma. This means that both the classic form and the variant form can be transmitted by transfusion or transplantation, or via contaminated medical instruments.
The disease is very rare, so the chance of contracting it is extremely small.
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