UK sets up £55m vCJD trust

Microscope view of human brain tissue affected by Creutzfeldt Jakob disease with spongiform change outlined in red

LONDON, England -- The British government has announced it is setting up a £55 million ($80 million) trust fund for victims of the human form of mad cow disease.

The scheme was designed to provide compensation for up to 250 cases.

The toll of those believed to have died from variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease (vCJD) stands at 101, according to the Department of Health.

"I hope these payments go some way towards recognising the pain and trauma experienced by victims and families," the Health Secretary Alan Milburn said in a statement on Saturday.

"vCJD is a personal and national tragedy for those affected."

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Families of the victims have welcomed the move.

David Churchill, whose 19-year-old Stephen son was the first person to die of vCJD in 1995, said the Government was at last trying to put a wrong right.

He told the Press Association: "For my family the amount of compensation is not the issue -- but the recognition that the compensation payment represents is very welcome.

"For many families the amount of compensation is very important. This has been a long time coming and the process has dragged on since the initial offer of compensation was first made last October."

In addition to the fund, the government said it would also pay an extra £50,000 ($75,000) to victims or their families in the first 250 cases.

This was to recognise the exceptional circumstances such as "the legal and other difficulties the first families have had to encounter and the additional pressures they have had to bear," the Department of Health said in a statement.

The trust fund was established in consultation with victims' families, the government said.

"I am pleased we have reached agreement on the terms of the vCJD compensation package," Milburn said.

On Thursday, the European Union refused to lift a ban on Italy's Florentine steak despite a request from Rome to exempt it from a European Union-wide T-bone embargo over fears of mad cow disease.

The disease, also known as Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE), has been linked to vCJD in humans.

The condition causes degeneration of the victim's brain tissue and eventual death.

The Department of Health has said so far there have been 101 deaths from vCJD and there are five people with the disease who are still alive.