Elderly Cape Cod Woman Suffers From CJD: Did Texas Man Die From nvCJD?

Posted on July 26, 2008 by Mad Cow
Straight Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease usually affects older people and quickly progresses through dementia, movement disorders and ultimately death.   About 300 Americans die from CJD each year.

So-called new variant (nv) Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease can affect people of all ages and can be caused by eating meat from cows who ate "slaughterhouse waste" like brains or spinal cords--cows infected with mad cow disease.

Only three nvCJD cases have ever been diagnosed in the United States,  each patient was found to be infected outside the country.

So when you read about post death brain biopsies being ordered, its worth keeping in mind the differences between CJD and nvCJD.  So for example, its was a good bet that the elderly Cap Cod woman we reported about earlier here  did  turn out to be one of the 300 CJD cases we see each year.

While no age was given, the profile of a Texas man who was called a world traveler might fit that of a possible nvCJD victim.  The Waxahachie Daily Light had this to report on the deceased man:

Annette Rodriguez, interim director of the Corpus Christi-Nueces County Health District, said the district was notified in early July by officials from a Corpus Christi hospital that a patient may have had Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease. Results of a brain biopsy are expected in two months to confirm whether the man had the disease and if it is the variant linked to mad cow.
Go here for more on the Texas case, and here for Cape Cod.  We be on the lookout for the results on the Texas man.
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Cape Cod, Massachusetts May Have Case of Mad Cow

Posted on July 20, 2008 by Mad Cow
Boston television stations tonight are reporting that a Cape Cod hospital is testing a patient for Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, the human form of Mad Cow disease.

Dr. Alfred DeMaria, the Massachusetts director of communicable disease control, said the tests are being done to see if the patient has Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, and whether it's the variant attributed to mad cow.

There have only been three cases of the human form of mad cow disease reported in the United States in the last several years, and public heath officials say it's extremely unlikely the patient in Cape Cod.

They also said there was no cause for concern and that the illness was not contagious.


Go here for the Fox network affiliate report.
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CJD-Like Form Of Fatal Dementia Discovered By Prion Center

Posted on July 10, 2008 by Mad Cow
We have to admit we do not see much of the New Scientist.

Since this article is sourced back to The National Prion Disease Pathology Surveillance Center (NPDPSC), we are going with it.   We'll report, but let you decide!

A NEW form of fatal dementia has been discovered in 16 Americans, ten of whom have already died of the condition. It resembles Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease - with patients gradually losing their ability to think, speak and move - but has features that make it distinct from known forms of CJD.
No one yet knows how the disease originates, or under what conditions it might spread. Nor is it clear how many people have the condition. "I believe the disease has been around for many years, unnoticed," says Pierluigi Gambetti, director of the US National Prion Disease Pathology Surveillance Center at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio. Cases may previously have been mistaken for other forms of dementia.
Since Gambetti's team wrote a paper describing an initial 11 cases referred to his centre between 2002 and 2006 (Annals of Neurology, vol 63, p 697), another five have come to light. "So it is possible that it could be just the tip of the iceberg," Gambetti says.
As in other spongiform encephalopathies, such as CJD and mad cow disease (BSE), the brain tissue of victims is full of tiny holes. This damage is thought to be caused by the accumulation of prions, misfolded versions of a brain protein called PrP that can convert normal PrP molecules into their own misshapen form.

Go here for the rest of the report.

According to its website, the Prion Center has examined only two CJD cases since 1997, one originated in Saudi Arabia and the other in the United Kingdom. 
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BSE Regulations Brings Recalls Of Fresh Cow Heads

Posted on July 7, 2008 by Mad Cow
In what may be a sign of the level of policing the U.S. Department of Agriclture will do to keep American beef's nose clean in South Korea, there are two small recalls of "fresh cattle heads" underway.

The concern, said to be a low health risk, is the cattle heads may contain "specified risk materials" (SRM) meaning tissue known to contain the infective agent in cattle infected with Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE) or Mad Cow Disease.

About 2,850 pounds of fresh cattle heads are in recall by Beltex Corp., a Fort Worth, TX concern doing business as Frontier Meats.

The other is a recall of just 120 pounds of fresh cattle heads with tonsils not completely removed by Trimble, MO-based Paradise Locker Meats.  Food Safety & Inspection Service (FSIS) regulations require removal of tonsils from cattle of all ages due to BSE concerns.


SRMs are tissues that are known to contain the infective agent in cattle infected with BSE, as well as materials that are closely associated with these potentially infective tissues. Therefore, FSIS prohibits SRMs from use as human food to minimize potential human exposure to the BSE agent.
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More Protests And Changes in Government As Mad Cow Circus Still In Seoul

Posted on July 7, 2008 by Mad Cow
The English web site of The Chosun says its time for the protests against importing American beef to end...

People in around a hundred countries eat U.S. beef every day, including Americans and Europeans. Most people around the world consume U.S. beef from cattle aged 30 months or older, but nowhere do you see mad cow hysteria or protests. If you ask people in other countries right now whether they believe eating American beef will cause them to come down with vCJD (Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease), they will say you must be out of your mind.

Yet only this past weekend there was another protest in downtown Seoul, which attracted 50,000 people.  It was another production of the People’s Association for Measures Against Mad Cow Disease and brought out  religious groups including Catholics, Protestants, Buddhists and Won Buddhists, as well as the opposition United Democratic Party, Democratic Labor Party, New Progressive Party and the Renewal of Korea Party.  The Korean Confederation of Trade Unions and university students also participated.

According to The Chosun:

Protests have been going on for two months now, with participants claiming that eating U.S. beef leads to death by variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (vCJD), or the human form of mad cow disease. Over the last two months, anybody who is anybody has joined in the protests, and just about every imaginable act of violence has been committed.

Meanwhile, President  Lee Myung-bak of South Korea dismissed his agriculture, health and education ministers in an attempt to reduce some of the heat on the four-month old government, which agreed to allow American beef imports to resume.   They were halt back in 2003 after a single "Mad Cow" was found in Washington State.

The New York Times story on the changes in the South Korean government can be found here.

And, go here for the full Chosen editorial.


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