There has been a second confirmed case of a patient contracting the human form of mad cow disease from donated blood, the Department of Health said today.

The rules governing who can give blood will be tightened again as result, the department added.

In the latest case, the patient received a transfusion of infected blood in 1999, from a donor who later went on to develop vCJD.

The patient died of causes unrelated to vCJD, but a post-mortem showed traces of vCJD in their spleen, according to the National CJD Surveillance Unit.

The first reported case of a patient getting vCJD from a blood transfusion was announced by John Reid, the Health Secretary, last December.

That patient, who received donor blood during an operation in 1997, developed vCJD and died six years later. In response to the case, thought to be the first of its type in the world, the Government banned anyone who had received a blood transfusion since January 1980 from donating blood in the future.

The DoH said today that it was now extending measures to cover a larger group of transfusion recipients. From August 2, donors who are unsure if they have previously had a blood transfusion, will be banned from giving blood.

In addition, a group known as apheresis donors - who donate only certain components of their blood, and have the rest returned to them - will be banned if they have had a transfusion.

When the first measures came into force in April, neither of these groups was excluded until the potential impact on the blood supply became clearer.

The DoH said it had now become apparent that the impact on supplies of blood was small.

Dr Reid said today: "We are continuing to follow a highly precautionary approach.

"Although people may have concerns about the implications of this announcement, I would emphasise again that the exclusion criteria are being tightened because of a small but unquantifiable risk.

"People should continue to have a blood transfusion when it is really necessary.

"Any slight risk associated with receiving blood must be balanced against the significant risk of not receiving that blood when it is most needed."

A detailed account of the case is expected to appear soon in the medical journal The Lancet.

There have been around 141 definite or probable deaths from vCJD since monitoring of the disease began, according to official figures.

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