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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Neurol.

Sec. Dementia and Neurodegenerative Diseases

Canadian Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease incidence remained stable during the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic

Provisionally accepted
Jessy A. SlotaJessy A. Slota1Dobrila TodoricDobrila Todoric2Vanessa BergeronVanessa Bergeron2Kristen AveryKristen Avery1Clark PhillipsonClark Phillipson1Dominic M. S. KielichDominic M. S. Kielich1Jennifer MyskiwJennifer Myskiw1Lise LamoureuxLise Lamoureux1Kathy FrostKathy Frost1Sharon L. R. SimonSharon L. R. Simon1Ben A. Bailey-ElkinBen A. Bailey-Elkin1Stephanie A. BoothStephanie A. Booth1,3*
  • 1National Microbiology Laboratory, Winnipeg, Canada
  • 2Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC), Ottawa, Canada
  • 3University of Manitoba Faculty of Health Sciences, Winnipeg, Canada

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Introduction: Healthcare disruptions imposed by the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic and possible biological links between SARS-CoV-2 and prion misfolding might influence the prevalence or characteristics of Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease (CJD). This report investigates the potential impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on Canadian CJD diagnostics and surveillance from 2016-2025. Methods: Canada-wide CJD diagnostic findings from end-point quaking induced conversion (EP-QuIC) cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) assays were compared across three periods: pre- (2016-01-29 – 2020-02-28), during (2020-03-01 – 2022-09-30), and post-COVID-19 (2022-10-01 – 2025-09-29). Presented are incidence rates and distributions of biomarker abundances, case demographics, CJD molecular subtypes, and disease durations. Results: While EP-QuIC test submissions increased during the pandemic, CJD incidence was unaltered and not associated with SARS-CoV-2 incidence. Demographics, disease durations, and molecular subtypes of sporadic CJD (sCJD) were largely consistent across periods, although a higher proportion of females were tested during COVID and the prevalence of sCJD MV1 declined post-COVID. Conclusion: CJD prevalence and characteristics remained stable during COVID-19 despite increased EP-QuIC test submissions. These findings verify that CJD surveillance in Canada remained vigilant during the pandemic and highlight the value of EP-QuIC CSF testing for comprehensive CJD monitoring.

Keywords: Coronavirus disease, Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, diagnostics, Prion Disease, SARS-CoV-2, surveillance

Received: 20 Oct 2025; Accepted: 03 Dec 2025.

Copyright: © 2025 Slota, Todoric, Bergeron, Avery, Phillipson, Kielich, Myskiw, Lamoureux, Frost, Simon, Bailey-Elkin and Booth. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

* Correspondence: Stephanie A. Booth

Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.

Supplementary Material