Thread: Mad cow disease-related human death confirmed in Texas

Mad cow disease-related death confirmed in Texas

By Jacque Wilson, CNN
updated 3:19 PM EDT, Thu June 5, 2014


Mad cow disease is officially called bovine spongiform encephalopathy, or BSE.

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

• Patient in Texas who recently died had Variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease
• Variant CJD is brain disorder linked to beef from cattle with mad cow disease
• Texan patient traveled extensively to Europe, Middle East

(CNN) -- Mad cow disease has caused a fourth death in the United States, health officials say.

Lab tests have confirmed that a patient in Texas who recently died had Variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease. Variant CJD is a fatal brain disorder linked to eating beef from cattle with mad cow disease, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said in a press release.

Variant CJD was first identified in the United Kingdom in 1996, according to the CDC. Worldwide more than 220 cases have been reported, the majority in Europe. CDC officials said this is only the fourth case to be reported in the United States, and that each U.S. infection is believed to have happened while the patient was traveling abroad.

The Texan patient traveled "extensively" to Europe and the Middle East, the CDC said.

"There are no Texas public health concerns or threats associated with this case," the Texas Department of State Health Services posted to its website.

Variant CJD is different than what the CDC calls classic CJD, which is not related to mad cow disease. Classic CJD strikes less than 400 Americans each year. It is also fatal.

Case of CJD confirmed in New Hampshire

Mad cow disease is officially called bovine spongiform encephalopathy, or BSE. The infected tissue in animals with BSE is concentrated in the brain, spinal cord and some parts of the central nervous system. It can be spread to humans who eat these parts of the cow. The bacteria can also spread through meat that has come in contact with infected tissue or that has been processed in contaminated machinery.

Eating meat contaminated with the disease is thought to be the cause of Variant CJD in humans. The first case of mad cow disease was confirmed in a cow in the United States in December 2003.

Mad cow disease fast facts

http://www.cnn.com/2014/06/05/health...disease-texas/

4th US Case of Mad Cow-Related Disease Reported

WebMD

- ‎1 hour ago‎

The patient lived in Texas and died recently. Laboratory tests done during an autopsy of the man's brain showed he had variant CJD (Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease), according to the U.S. . . .