Florida - Naples woman suffering from Mad Cow Disease (Creutzfeldt-Jakob)

[Pathfinder]

Naples woman suffering from Mad Cow Disease

Posted: Jul 20, 2012 2:49 PM CDT<NOSCRIPT orgfontsize="10.8px"></NOSCRIPT><!--END wnDate-->Updated: Jul 20, 2012 5:33 PM CDT<NOSCRIPT orgfontsize="10.8px"></NOSCRIPT><!--END wnDate-->By Gaby Fleischman, Collier County Reporter

NAPLES, FL - A Naples woman is suffering from a rare and incurable disease and her 24-year-old son is struggling to keep her comfortable in her final months.

Stephanie Bryant, 58, was diagnosed with Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease (CJD), also known as the human form of mad cow disease. Within months, Stephanie's health quickly deteriorated. She has memory loss, constant tremors, can't walk and can barely talk.

More...
http://www.nbc-2.com/story/19076026/naples-woman-suffering-from-mad-cow-disease

 

[Emily]

Re: Florida - Naples woman suffering from Mad Cow Disease (Creutzfeldt-Jakob)

I think if this is genetic, the family usually is aware of that. So far there is a scarcity of information about this situation.

CJD only affect about one in one-million people each year in the US. The disease isn't contagious through human-to-human contact. It's either hereditary or transmitted through contaminated meat or medical procedures.

 

[alert]

Re: Florida - Naples woman suffering from Mad Cow Disease (Creutzfeldt-Jakob)

Could very well be a genetic (familiar) case of CJD. Without siginficant travel history, true human "mad cow" (variant, vCJD) is unlikely.

The reference to medical procedures in the last line of the article might also indicate a rare iatrogenic exposure.

 

[Emily]

Re: Florida - Naples woman suffering from Mad Cow Disease (Creutzfeldt-Jakob)

South Florida is where a woman who they think caught BSE while in Great Britain lived:
South Florida mad cow victim is undergoing new treatment
By Associated Press
Published January 12, 2004

In May of this year, someone stole equipment from a Florida hospital that was used to biopsy a brain that turned out to be prion positive:

Mad-cow Testing Equipment Nabbed by Thieves

May 16, 2012
Marni Jameson
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Medical equipment used to detect a brain disease similar to mad cow has been stolen from Florida Hospital's main campus in Orlando, Fla., and the equipment may pose a public health risk...

The woman in the case in the first post lives in Naples so possibly this is another case, but this indicates the Orlando hospital was unsure if they were dealing with CJD or BSE at the point the story ran.

The tissue sample from the Florida Hospital patient has been sent to a lab that specializes in prion disease testing.

The chances of this being mad cow in humans "are unlikely," said Mirna Chamorro, spokeswoman for the county health department.

They really should have better security for medical devices. Besides the contamination issue, there might be radioisotopes in scanning equipment.

 

[jflorida]

Re: Florida - Naples woman suffering from Mad Cow Disease (Creutzfeldt-Jakob)

I think around 1 in a million get the disease under "normal" circumstances.

There was a elevated number of cases in the early 2000's in Florida (I think) - there is also this:

Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease and eating squirrel brains ( http://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(05)63333-8/fulltext#bib2 )

Spongiform encephalopathies have been reported in a variety of large and small mammals. 1 While conducting a study of Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD) in south Florida, one of us (JRB) observed an affected patient who was originally a native of Kentucky and had a history of eating squirrel brains.


1997 Kentucky Doctors Warn Against a Regional Dish: Squirrels' Brains ( http://www.nytimes.com/1997/08/29/u...against-a-regional-dish-squirrels-brains.html )

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Now I guess we know why squirrel brain snack bars never caught on.