In the UK the majority of cases of vCJD were born before 1980, and it is very unlikely that they received vaccines contaminated with the BSE agent (Vaccine 2000; 19:409-410). Surveillance of vCJD in the UK has identified three "risk factors," or characteristics common to most if not all of the people who had vCJD: i) residence in the UK; ii) a particular genetic susceptibility (met/met homozygosity at codon 129 of the PrP gene); and iii) age. Epidemiological evidence to date suggests that these cases of vCJD acquired the disease from eating beef products containing the BSE agent after 1980. To date (February 2004) there have been 156 reported cases of vCJD. Of these, 146 have occurred in the UK. Six cases of vCJD have been diagnosed in France, and one each in Canada, Ireland, Italy and the US. The cases in Canada, Ireland and the US each occurred in individuals who had spent several years in the UK. | 
