Prion diseases and the Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease Foundation

Prion diseases or transmissible spongiform encephalopathies (TSEs) are a family of rare progressive neurodegenerative disorders that affect both humans and animals. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the causative agents of TSEs are believed to be prions. The term “prions” refers to abnormal, pathogenic agents that are transmissible and are able to induce abnormal folding of specific normal cellular proteins called prion proteins that are found most abundantly in the brain.

On Sunday, March 8 on the Outbreak News This Week Radio Show, host Robert Herriman was joined by two great guests to discuss these relatively rare, always fatal and somewhat misunderstood diseases.

Ryan Maddox, PhD, Epidemiologist with the National Center for Emerging and Zoonotic InfectiousDiseases at the CDC came on first to go over the nuts and bolts of prion diseases with some emphasis on Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease (CJD).

In addition, the President of the CJD Foundation, Debbie Yobs enlightened the radio audience with the great work of the support organization.