Went to donate blood last week for the first time ever, and because I had lived in the UK in the 80's, they couldn't take my blood due to the Mad Cow epidemic of those times. Apparently there is no way of checking if someone has the disease until they are dead, when they can look at the brain. Such a shame such a great resource can't be utilised.

Same in Canada too!

I always wonder if they will they accept our organs for transplant purposes?

Yes. Organs are able to be donated. It's been discussed on here a number of times over the years - both the blood donation and organ donation.

Having been a vegetarian all that time it's very annoying I can't donate blood.

Me too - plus I was a UK gold star donor! And plasma and platelets! I offered to get me files sent over ... Nope

I've got an Australian blood donor card but the irony is I too am not allowed to give blood. It's for bone marrow because I was on the UK register and transferred to the Australian one.

Yeah I hear you and I'm a universal donor used to be on call to donate in emergencies sigh

It's heartbreaking when you know they are short of blood

Short of blood and stories that Australia Red Cross were selling Blood Stocks overseas. Does anyone know if that was true?

I understand.

Pity the cows weren't....

I remember though there were some vegetarians who had contracted the disease, but they didn't know how.

It's possible that they might have unwittingly eaten meat products (such as gelatine). Alternatively it is possible that they had received a contaminated blood transfusion themselves.

See this extract from the NHS Blood and Transplant service website - http://www.nhsbt.nhs.uk/current_issu...od_safety.html -

"There have been only three clinical cases of vCJD definitely attributed to blood transfusion, where a donor later developed vCJD. These cases were associated with blood transfusions given in the years 1996 and 1997. A further case of transmission of vCJD infection, without development of clinical vCJD, was associated with a transfusion in 1999. There are a further four clinical cases of vCJD which might be associated with blood transfusion, but where none of the donors has developed clinical vCJD. The latest of these cases was transfused in 2002."

For this reason the UK blood service introduced a ban in 2004 banning blood donations from people who have had blood transfusions anywhere in the world since 1980.

What drives me mad ( no pun intended) is the fact that Australia has a notoriously low donor rate and yet willing donors with a minisucule risk are turned away.
Dr: excuse me sir, would like to bleed to death or have a very miniscule risk of becoming a mad cow.
Me: I'll risk the cow thanks, fill me up!

We can't donate blood here in NZ either