dj6372

You old hands here probably know this

Went to donate blood today, but they refused donation on the grounds I lived in the UK between 1980 and 1996

Reason being the old mad cow disease, I tried to explain my wife was Murican

Went down like a lead balloon

So anyway people keep your Brit blood, its only good in the UK lol

kimilseung

This was understandable at one time, but we are more or less at peak levels for human infection (is infection the right word?) but the cases over the decades are in single figures or just over it.

Well this got me to Google, it seems 1 in 2,000 Ukers are carriers on the dodgy protein.

Pulaski

Yup. It's later than 1996 too, I think, unless that has changed.

Have you seen the mortality rates for vCJD (the medical name for the disease in humans purportedly caused by BSE in cows)? The death rate peaked at 28 in 2000, and declined steadily until IIRC around 2008 by which time it had reached 5, since then it has been between 0 and 5. It is, by any measure, an extraordinarily rare disease.
I think less than 200 fatalities, certainly less than 250.

thinbrit

Kinda disheartening when my cats and dogs will occasionally give blood, but nobody wants the Brits blood

Pollyana

Its the same here in Australia, and I believ in Canada. They send out regular email at work making us feel guilty for not donating, I send back responses just as regularly pointing out the daft rule, but to no avail.

kimilseung

I look forward to the British Jihadi nose bleed attacks.

sir_eccles

Maybe one day they will change their minds. They did just drop the ban on gay men donating.

Worth noting you can still donate organs and bone marrow.

scrubbedexpat091

This is for Canada.

Anyone who:

Spent a cumulative total of three months or more in the United Kingdom (UK) between January 1980 and December 31, 1996

Spent a cumulative total of three months or more in France between January 1980 and December 31, 1996

Spent a cumulative total of five years or more in Western Europe outside the U.K. or France from January 1, 1980 through December 31, 2007

Spent a cumulative total of six months or more in Saudi Arabia from January 1, 1980 through December 31, 1996



I've never donated, they won't take my blood as I have chronic fatigue.

Ash UK/US

When I was pregnant with my oldest (now 12) I looked into stem cell donation.... it was refused on the same grounds as blood donation.

joto

Don't US cattle get mad cow disease or whatever the official name is, or is that covered up.

Pulaski

US cows didn't get it, it was almost entirely a British phenomenon caused by someone at ain the UK deciding they could save a few quid by turning down the temperature in the rendering plants that turned animal carcasses into high-protein cattle feed.

It is likely that the carcasses of sheep infected with scrapie (sheep equivalent of BSE) were "undercooked", so the prion proteins were not entirely denatured, leading to the disease being passed on to cows.

kimilseung

I think America had one or two cases in their cows (edit:4), but low numbers. They have also had a few cases of CJD, often from reuse of surgical equipment.

Jerseygirl

When we moved to the US 20 years ago I used to be a blood donor. Then suddenly I was told I could no longer give blood because of Mad Cow Disease...although for several years they still sent me reminders.

When my daughter was in high school her best friend had cancer and she was looking for a suitable stem cell donor. Kids throughout the school where tested...my daughter couldn't donate.

sir_eccles

Odd, the travel related deferrals do not apply to marrow and stem cell donation.

See for example

ASBP: Can I Donate? - General guidelines and restrictions

https://www.psbc.org/programs/marrow_guidelines.htm

scrubbedexpat091

4 cases according to the CDC.

BSE Cases Identified in the United States BSE (Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy) | Prion Diseases | CDC

Most recent in a dairy cow in California in 2012.