Tainted blood
The week's news at a glance.
London
British health officials informed 6,000 people this week that they may have once received blood infected with the human form of mad-cow disease. At least nine blood donors developed Creuzfeld-Jakob disease after giving blood in the 1990s; their blood was mingled with that of hundreds of other donors. Doctors say the dilution of the infected blood makes disease transmission through transfusion very unlikely. But after two people who had received transfusions died recently of the brain-wasting disease, officials decided to inform all patients who might be at risk. Since 1999, Britain has imported much of its blood products from the U.S. and claims that the blood supply is now safe.
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
-
How global conflicts are reshaping flight paths
Under the Radar Airlines are having to take longer and convoluted routes to avoid conflict zones
-
Zohran Mamdani: the young progressive likely to be New York City's next mayor
In The Spotlight The policies and experience that led to his meteoric rise
-
The best film reboots of all time
The Week Recommends Creativity and imagination are often required to breathe fresh life into old material