Lyodura was a medical product used in neurosurgery that has been shown to transmit Creutzfeldt–Jakob disease, a degenerative neurological disorder that is incurable, from affected donor cadavers to surgical recipients.
It was a section of freeze-dried tissue which could be stored for extended periods on hospital shelves and could be made ready for use simply by soaking it in water for a few minutes.
[4] In 1987, after the first deaths linked to Lyodura, the manufacturer began processing tissue from each individual donor separately to prevent cross-contamination and rinsing it with sodium hydroxide, a proven means of deactivating prions, afterwards.
The World Health Organization recommended in 1997 that the medical field move away from cadaver-sourced dura mater grafts due to the risk of transmitting Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease highlighted by Lyodura-related cases.
The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation's The Fifth Estate segment, "Deadly Harvest", dealt with the product's history, sale in Canada, and health effects worldwide.