[Human spongiform encephalopathies in the Netherlands].

Cases of Creutzfeldt Jakob disease (CJD) have been centrally registered in the Netherlands since 1997. Each year about 35 cases are reported. All patients with a possible, probable or definite diagnosis are registered in a European database. Recently, patients with a transfusion-transmitted form of CJD have been diagnosed in the United Kingdom. Such cases have not yet occurred in the Netherlands. It is important to continue to detect and centrally register patients with CJD.