Her diagnosis deepens suspicion that a new form of CJD may have begun to infect humans. 1995 Three more British teenagers are stricken, along with six other people whose profiles differ from traditional victims of the disease. All of the victims are young, averaging 29 years in age. Fears rise when former government health advisor Sir Bernard Tomlinson, a leading neuropathologist, announces that he has stopped eating hamburgers because he fears a link between human and bovine diseases. The issue is hotly debated in the November British Medical Journal .
Panic follows, devastating the British beef industry.
We have interfered with the whole process of nature and what is now happening is one of our worst nightmares. . . . This is a tragedy on a massive scale. The Government has been so totally stupid. Even now they are still employing crisis management techniques and damage limitation exercises. A great deal of work remains to be done. . . .