“You really don’t have to go out of your way too much to help your fellow man.”Blood collectors nationwide are tracking down people like Schermerhorn, U.S. citizens who lived, worked or vacationed in the United Kingdom, France, Ireland or served at military bases in Europe during various periods between 1980 and 2001, as well as anyone who received blood transfusions in those three countries anytime since 1980.Symbol of reunion with China, panda Tuan Tuan dies in TaipeiLeak at Pennsylvania gas storage well spewing methaneNew measures for size, as world's people surpass 8 billionUS envoy Kerry positive for COVID as UN climate talks dragThe rare disease is caused by an abnormal form of a protein called a prion, which triggers damaging changes to the brain and central nervous system.The American Red Cross, which provides about 40% of the U.S. supply, last month began accepting donors previously deferred because of the risk of mad cow disease, formally known as variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, or vCJD.Invariably fatal, with an incubation period that can last years or even decades, the emergence of vCJD in humans in the late 1990s alarmed officials responsible for the safety of the blood supply, said Dr. Rita Reik, chief medical officer for OneBlood, a collection center in Florida.“We know there are folks that we haven’t reached yet.”Bans remain in place for people who are suspected of having vCJD or related diseases, those who have a blood relative with a related disease and those who received pituitary human growth hormone or a certain type of brain tissue transplant from cadavers."