Wow, what a scary realization that our once-thought-safe sterilization techniques were inadequate. This article is a bit more optimistic that a combination of

Wow, what a scary realization that our once-thought-safe sterilization techniques were inadequate. This article is a bit more optimistic that a combination of screening and better sterilization techniques has reduced the risk to more acceptable levels: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3358170/ http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3358170/ "Fragile instruments such as endoscopes and electrodes remain a challenge, but new and gentler methods— alkaline cleaning solutions, phenolics, and gaseous hydrogen peroxide—have proven harmless to instruments and give a high, if not always complete, degree of prion inactivation (24–26)."