People in New Zealand who were restricted from giving blood or plasma if they’d lived in the United Kingdom will soon be able to donate.

New Zealand has excluded potential donors who lived in the UK, Ireland or France for six months or more between 1980 and 1996​, due to the potential for these people to be infected with Variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (vCJD).

The BBC reported 4.4 million cattle were slaughtered to try and stop the disease.

vCJD is a very rare, deadly degenerative brain disorder caused by an infectious prion picked up from eating contaminated beef and beef products.

In August, the New Zealand Blood Service made a submission to medical regulator Medsafe, recommending the restriction be removed.

Medsafe has now approved the application for removal

Medsafe group manager Chris James told Stuff that while its approval process is complete, the New Zealand Blood Service advises it will take some time for any changes to be operationalised.

It may be six to eight weeks before those affected are able to book, says Chris.

At present, less than 4%​ of the eligible population donate blood in New Zealand.

On its website, the New Zealand Blood Service said the approval was “bloody good news”.

New Zealand Blood Service’s national marking and communications manager Asuka Burge​ told Stuff the approval from Medsafe is just the first step.

There’s lots of work to be done before the service can make the “significant” change live, and therefore there’s no set start date at this stage, she says.

This work involved updating its systems and processes, and preparing its teams to support the change.

Asuka says NZBS is “very excited” about the prospect of being able to welcome new donors, and is “working hard” to get the service ready.

In the meantime, those affected by the ‘mad cow’ restriction can visit the NZBS website for more information and pre-register their interest in donating, for when it is ready.

Part of the process would also involve directing people to the online eligibility quiz, as there are other reasons – such as age, weight, or medical conditions – which mean people may not be able to donate.

As such, it’s hard to know how many people living in New Zealand may be eligible when the restriction is removed, Burge said.

It’s thought the restriction led to 10 per cent​ of New Zealand’s active blood donors in 2000​ being excluded.

The blood service’s clinical team worked with epidemiology and infectious disease experts at University of New South Wales’ Kirby Institute for more than a year to research the risk of vCJD among New Zealand’s blood donor population.

It used New Zealand data around transfusions and migration, and findings from research previously done in the UK, US and Australia to complete a detailed risk assessment.

“That work has given us the confidence that the risk of acquiring vCJD from a blood transfusion is negligible, and we can now lift the restriction without compromising the safety of blood and blood products in New Zealand,” the NZBS website states.

Research published in the New Zealand Medical Journal in August found that the risk of vCJD being transmitted through donated blood if restrictions were removed would be about one in one billion annually.

Ireland lifted its vCJD deferral in 2019​, and Australia in July 2022​.

-Hannah Martin/Stuff.