Internal investigation launched into death of scientist studying Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease

The University of Barcelona (UB), Spain's Biomedical Research Center Network (CIBER) and Bellvitge Biomedical Research Institute (IDIBELL) have opened an investigation into the death of a scientist studying Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD), a rare brain disorder, in a university laboratory. 

Sources from UB and IDIBELL confirmed to the Catalan News Agency (ACN) that the investigation was underway after a report published by Spanish newspaper El País. 

UB discovered thousands of unauthorized and potentially dangerous samples in a freezer of the laboratory where the victim worked, which he may have come into contact with. 

The three institutions are studying how and why these samples ended up in the laboratory. 

Silent incubation

The biochemist started working in Barcelona in 2018 and developed symptoms compatible with Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, a neurodegenerative disease that incubates silently for years. 

Once the first symptoms appear, which include dementia and muscle stiffness, CJD can result in death in less than six months. 

The scientist, an expert in neurodegenerative diseases, died of a possible prion disease, said IDIBELL, where he was an affiliated researcher. He had an employment contract with CIBER and the facilities where he worked belonged to UB.  

As explained by IDIBELL, the laboratory was closed a few hours after they were notified of the existence of the samples. Four weeks later, a specialist company decontaminated the lab. 

At that time, the people working there were identified and informed about the potential risk which they may have been exposed to. They were also offered medical tests and psychological support. 

The unauthorized samples were sent to maximum security facilities for analysis and investigation. 

In March 2023, the results arrived, confirming suspicions that they were positive CJD samples. This was then communicated to the other researchers. 

IDIBELL said that the campus does not have the necessary facilities to perform experiments with prion samples and that the institute's Biosafety Committee has never authorized any study with such samples.