D Churchill, D J Churchill, R G Will

There is a hypothesis that exposure to organophosphate insecticides (such as malathion) was the trigger that initiated the epidemic of bovine spongiform encephalopathy (mad cow disease) and the possibility that variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD) might be caused by exposure to head-lice treatment containing organophosphates has been raised.  We obtained information on the use of head-lice shampoos and potential exposure to organophosphates in agriculture in 22 cases of variant CJD by asking the families to complete a standardized questionnaire.