Have we gotten ahead of the game on prion diseases? or are prion diseases likely to be major social/public health problems down the road?

Hard to say: The mad cow epidemic and subsequent outbreak of vcjd was brought to the surface by feeding animal proteins to herbavores. Science has quite a lot more to learn about prions. They are likely to be involved in other processes and not all related to disease states.

Agree with Dr, L: It is unlikely that prion disease would reach the same problem status as HIV or tuberculosis.