Cayman lifts ‘mad cow’ blood donation ban

The Cayman Islands government has lifted a decades-old ban on blood donations from former residents of countries affected by bovine spongiform encephalopathy, commonly known as ‘mad cow disease’.

Previously, anyone who had lived in the United Kingdom between 1980 to 2001 for a period of three months or more, or who had received a blood transfusion whilst in the UK from 1980 onwards, was not allowed to donate blood at Cayman’s blood bank.