Aug 08, 2014 05:05 AM EDT By Stephen Adkins, UniversityHerald Reporter
Texas Researchers Develop New Urine Test to Detect ?Mad Cow? Disease in Humans
...
The new test detected misfolded prions in the urine of 13 out of 14 patients with variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, a 93 percent success rate. The test, however, did not give positive results for people with other forms of Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease or with other brain diseases.
The researchers said that as a result, it is now easier to diagnose or screen for variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease using a simple urine test.
...
"If there are many people silently incubating this infectious material, they may be infecting other people and causing many more cases," said study researcher Claudio Soto, a professor of neurology at the Health Science Center at Houston (UTHealth) MEDICAL SCHOOL, cbs local reports.
