Human prion disease may present in a non-specific way and is often diagnosed at a relatively late stage of the illness. Until recently, clinical diagnosis has been supported by tests that are mostly non-specific and, sometimes, insensitive. Recent laboratory developments have led to a variety of tests that rely on a disease-specific mechanism. One test, the CSF RT-QuIC (Real-Time Quaking-Induced Conversion) test is very sensitive and specific for sporadic CJD and is now used in routine clinical practice. Other tests, based on other tissues, including blood and urine, have been developed and potentially could improve both clinical diagnostic accuracy and lead to earlier diagnosis. While there are yet no proven treatments for prion disease, any treatment to be developed will almost certainly require earlier diagnosis if therapeutic success is to be realized.

人病毒疾病可能以非特异性方式出现，通常在疾病的相对晚期被诊断出来。直到最近，临床诊断仍受到大多数非特异性且有时不敏感的测试的支持。最近实验室的发展导致了依赖于疾病特定机制的各种测试。一种测试，即CSF RT-QuIC（实时Quaking诱导转换）测试对偶发性CJD非常敏感且特异，目前已用于常规临床实践中。已经开发了基于其他组织（包括血液和尿液）的其他测试，并且可能会提高临床诊断的准确性并导致早期诊断。尽管尚无针对proven病毒疾病的可靠疗法，