First Dutch case of CJD is identified
21/04/2005 - 15:50:05A Dutch patient has been diagnosed with variant Creutzfeld-Jakob Disease (vCJD), health authorities said today.
It is the first known human case of the fatal disease in the Netherlands.
Seventy-seven cows are known to have been infected since 1997 with bovine spongiform encephalopathy, known as mad cow disease, which is believed to cause vCJD in humans.
The patient, whose name was not released, is believed to have contracted the disease by eating tainted beef, the health ministry said in a statement.
