Variant Creutzfeldt–Jakob disease, or vCJD, is a rare type of central nervous system disease within the transmissible spongiform encephalopathy family, caused by a prion. First identified in 1996, vCJD is now distinguished from classic CJD. The incubation period is believed to be years, possibly over 50 years. Prion protein can be detected in appendix and lymphoid tissue (pictured) up to two years before the onset of neurological symptoms, which include psychiatric problems, behavioural changes and painful sensations. Abnormal prion proteins build up as amyloid deposits in the brain, which acquires a characteristic spongiform appearance, with many round vacuoles in the cerebellum and cerebrum. The average life expectancy after symptoms start is 13 months.

About 170 cases have been recorded in the UK, and 50 cases in the rest of the world. The estimated prevalence in the UK is about 1 in 2000, higher than the reported cases. Transmission is believed to be mainly from consuming beef contaminated with the bovine spongiform encephalopathy prion, but may potentially also occur via blood products or contaminated surgical equipment. Infection is also believed to require a specific genetic susceptibility in the PRNP-encoding gene. Human PRNP protein can have either methionine or valine at position 129; nearly all of those affected had two copies of the methionine-containing form, found in 40% of Caucasians.

Respiratory failure in bulbar and bulbospinal polio condemned many patients to one or two weeks in an " iron lung" or negative-pressure ventilator. The first ventilator designed for polio patients appeared in 1918; this model dates from the 1950s.

Credit: Hewa (December 2011)

Map showing the prevalence of SARS-CoV-2 cases; black: highest prevalence; dark red to pink: decreasing prevalence; grey: no recorded cases or no data

26 February: In the ongoing pandemic of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), more than 110 million confirmed cases, including 2.5 million deaths, have been documented globally since the outbreak began in December 2019. WHO

18 February: Seven asymptomatic cases of avian influenza A subtype H5N8, the first documented H5N8 cases in humans, are reported in Astrakhan Oblast, Russia, after more than 100,0000 hens died on a poultry farm in December. WHO

14 February: Seven cases of Ebola virus disease are reported in Gouécké, south-east Guinea. WHO

7 February: A case of Ebola virus disease is detected in North Kivu Province of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. WHO

4 February: An outbreak of Rift Valley fever is ongoing in Kenya, with 32 human cases, including 11 deaths, since the outbreak started in November. WHO

21 November: The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) gives emergency-use authorisation to casirivimab/imdevimab, a combination monoclonal antibody (mAb) therapy for non-hospitalised people twelve years and over with mild-to-moderate COVID-19, after granting emergency-use authorisation to the single mAb bamlanivimab earlier in the month. FDA 1, 2

18 November: The outbreak of Ebola virus disease in Équateur Province, Democratic Republic of the Congo, which started in June, has been declared over; a total of 130 cases were recorded, with 55 deaths. UN

A prion is an infectious agent hypothesised to consist of protein. This is in contrast to viruses and other known infectious agents, which all contain one or both of the nucleic acids, DNA and RNA. Prions propagate by transmitting a misfolded protein state. The prion induces existing, properly folded proteins in the host to convert into the misfolded prion form. Abnormal protein aggregates called amyloids accumulate in infected tissue and are associated with tissue damage and cell death.

Prion variants of PrP are associated with the transmissible spongiform encephalopathies in mammals. Human prion diseases include Creutzfeldt–Jakob disease, Gerstmann–Sträussler–Scheinker syndrome, fatal familial insomnia, kuru and variably protease-sensitive prionopathy. Prion diseases of other mammals include bovine spongiform encephalopathy ("mad cow disease") in cattle, scrapie in sheep, and chronic wasting disease in deer. All known mammalian prion diseases affect the structure of the brain or other neural tissue. All are progressive, lack an effective treatment and are inevitably fatal. Proteins showing prion-type behaviour are also found in some fungi. Fungal prions do not appear to cause disease in their hosts.

The 2001 foot-and-mouth outbreak included 2,000 cases of the disease in cattle and sheep across the UK. The source was a Northumberland farm where pigs had been fed infected meat that had not been adequately sterilised. The initial cases were reported in February. The disease was concentrated in western and northern England, southern Scotland and Wales, with Cumbria being the worst-affected area. A small outbreak occurred in the Netherlands, and there were a few cases elsewhere in Europe.

The UK outbreak was controlled by the beginning of October. Control measures included stopping livestock movement and slaughtering over 6 million cows and sheep. Public access to farmland and moorland was also restricted (pictured), greatly reducing tourism in affected areas, particularly in the Lake District. Vaccination was used in the Netherlands, but not in the UK due to concerns that vaccinated livestock could not be exported. The outbreak cost an estimated £8 billion in the UK.

Viruses & Subviral agents: bat virome • elephant endotheliotropic herpesvirus • HIV • introduction to viruses  • Playa de Oro virus • poliovirus • prion • rotavirus  • virus

Diseases: colony collapse disorder • common cold • croup • dengue fever  • gastroenteritis • Guillain–Barré syndrome • hepatitis B • hepatitis C • hepatitis E • herpes simplex • HIV/AIDS • influenza  • meningitis  • myxomatosis • polio  • pneumonia • shingles • smallpox

Epidemiology & Interventions: 2007 Bernard Matthews H5N1 outbreak • Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations • Disease X • 2009 flu pandemic • HIV/AIDS in Malawi • polio vaccine • Spanish flu • West African Ebola virus epidemic

Virus–Host interactions: antibody • host • immune system  • parasitism • RNA interference

Methodology: metagenomics

Social & Media: And the Band Played On • Contagion • "Flu Season" • Frank's Cock  • Race Against Time: Searching for Hope in AIDS-Ravaged Africa  • social history of viruses  • " Steve Burdick" • "The Time Is Now" • " What Lies Below"

People: Brownie Mary • Macfarlane Burnet  • Bobbi Campbell • Aniru Conteh • people with hepatitis C  • HIV-positive people  • Bette Korber • Henrietta Lacks • Linda Laubenstein • Barbara McClintock  • poliomyelitis survivors  • Joseph Sonnabend • Eli Todd • Ryan White