Caused by misfolded proteins that then collect in the brain of the patients, CJD is at exponentially greater risk of transmission if brain surgery is performed without proper precautions. "These proteins will adhere to the surgical instruments," explains Florence Kranitz, President of the CJD Foundation. "Unfortunately, standard sterilization procedures will not render the instruments safe for reuse, so they then become agents of transmission." The specific surgical instrument sterilization guidelines are readily available to surgeons and hospitals on the websites for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention website www.cdc.gov/ncidod/dvrd/cjd/qa_cjd_infection_control.htm#reprocessed which includes the World Health Organization guidelines.

According to Pierluigi Gambetti, M.D., neuropathology professor at Cleveland's Case Western Reserve University and Director of the National Prion Disease Pathology Surveillance Center, "To prevent the unnecessary spread of CJD, it is imperative that all medical professionals and medical centers be aware of the symptoms of CJD, and that they assess the inherent risks of operating on a suspected CJD patient." The lapse of infection control and subsequent exposure of 18 other patients at Forsyth Medical Center was avoidable.

The Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease FoundationFlorence Kranitz, PresidentFlorence@cjdfoundation.org Ph: 212-719-5900Fax: 212 256-0359341 W. 38th Street, Suite 501New York, NY 10018