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Report says thousands have killer disease

LONDON, May 21 (UPI) -- Thousands of Britons unknowingly are carrying the human equivalent of mad cow disease, research published Friday suggests.

Scientists predict that up to 4,000 people may be infected by the agent that causes the degenerative brain disease, a variant of Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, in the largest study into potential effects of vCJD, the Times of London reports. Most victims are in their 20s.

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Some may be passing the disease on through blood transfusions and contaminated surgical instruments, the report says, possibly enabling it to continue to killing for decades. Experts warned the government-funded study, published in the Journal of Pathology, might even have underestimated the threat.

Pathologists who examined more than 12,500 specimens of tonsils and appendix removed in operations found evidence in three cases of the prion protein responsible for vCJD.

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