Prion diseases belong to subacute degenerative diseases of the brain, they are fatal and incurable. They are caused by prions, tiny particles made of amino acids and are responsible for transmissible spongiform encephalopathies in humans and animals. They most often cause Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, and it can have a classic or a newer variant of the disease. It is characterized by an extremely long incubation period, and the changes affect the central nervous system along with the presence of neurological symptoms. A diagnosis is made based on epidemiological data, laboratory and clinical examination of the patient. Unfortunately, there is no specific treatment, antiviral drugs have no effect. The emphasis is on prevention; strict supervision of foods of beef origin is carried out. During the writing of the paper, an anonymous survey was conducted through the GoogleForms application. The goal was to examine the knowledge of nursing students of the University North in Varaždin about prion diseases. The questionnaire consisted of 16 questions, and a total of 207 undergraduate and graduate students participated in it. The results at the end of the research and data processing were positive. Nursing students of the University North are very well informed about prion diseases, the incubation period, the symptoms and signs of the disease and the method of treatment. Thanks to the courses they have taken since the first year of undergraduate studies, such as neurology, infectology, microbiology and parasitology, as well as hygiene and epidemiology, the respondents successfully solved the questionnaire.