The agent causing CJD is unlike traditional infectious agents. It is not a virus, bacteria, fungus, or parasite. It does not even have the DNA or RNA which microorganisms use to reproduce. The agent is made exclusively of protein. These infections develop without the usual inflammatory response involving an elevated temperature and increased white blood cell production.
Prions accumulate in the brain where they trigger symptoms.
Although little is known about the human prion diseases, CJD remains the best studied. CJD CJD is classified into one of three categories depending on the method by which it was acquired. Unlike other infectious diseases, CJD is both an inherited disorder as well as an infectious disease. Therefore, CJD develops in many members of the extended family. The aberrant protein develops spontaneously and teaches normal proteins to mimic it.