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Multiple sclerosis in the Faroe Islands.

II. Clinical update, transmission, and the nature of MS

Neuroepidemiology Research Program and the Neurology Service, Veterans Administration Medical Center, and the Departments of Neurology and Community Medicine, Georgetown University School of Medicine, Washington, DC (Dr. Kurtzke); and the Department of Neurology, Roskilde County Hospital, Roskilde, and the Danish MS Registry, Copenhagen, Denmark (Dr. Hyllested).

In this century, 41 Faroese with MS were ascertained. One subset, after living in Denmark for 2 years between ages 11 and 31, had MS onset an average of 6 years later. In the Faroes, MS occurred as three separate and decreasing epidemics beginning in 1943 and ending in 1973. We believe that asymptomatic British troops introduced the first epidemic during 1941 to 1942, with the later epidemics resulting from transmission by affected but asymptomatic Faroese. We conclude that "MS" is a widespread, systemic, specific infectious disease only rarely causing neurologic symptoms and transmissible at most from ages 13 to 26.

Address correspondence and reprint requests to Dr. Kurtzke, Neurology 127, VA Medical Center, 50 Irving Street, NW, Washington, DC 20422.

Presented in part at the 1981 Asian Multiple Sclerosis Workshop, Kyoto, Japan, September 1981; the annual meeting of the American Epidemiological Society, Kansas City, MO, April 1982; the Silver Jubilee Conference on Multiple Sclerosis, Copenhagen, Denmark, June 1982; and the meeting of the WFN Research Committee on Neuroepidemiology, Dallas, TX, May 1985.

Supported by the National Multiple Sclerosis Society (New York), the Veterans Administration (Neuroepidemiology Research Program), and the Danish MS Society.

Accepted for publication June 21, 1985.

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