Two humans tested for mad-cow illness (Saguenay, Québec)

[Animal 0]

Two humans tested for mad-cow illness


Died of Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease; Would be first Canadian deaths from variant

JAN RAVENSBERGEN
The Gazette


Friday, March 14, 2008


Federal medical authorities will determine only "in coming months" whether two recent deaths in the Saguenay region attributed to Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease can be pinned to the rare variant linked with mad-cow disease, a geneticist with the Canadian Public Health Agency said yesterday.

One death, of a man in his 60s, took place about Christmas.

The other victim, a woman in her 50s, died Feb. 11.
For both deaths, brain-autopsy results aren't likely to be available before May or June, said Michael Coulthart, director of the health agency's division of host genetics and prion diseases.

Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, known as CJD, has killed a total of 359 Canadians since 1994.

One of those deaths, in 2002, was from the mad-cow variant, known as vCJD, the public health agency says. That victim was a Canadian resident who had lived in the United Kingdom for several years.

There has never been any death from mad-cow disease among lifetime residents of Canada, Coulthart noted.
Mad cow is a progressive, fatal disease of the nervous system of cattle. It is believed to be transmissible to humans who eat infected beef products.

No definitive diagnosis of any form of CJD can be made, Coulthart said, except by examination of human brain tissue following death.

Thus, the scientist added, he can't definitively rule out mad cow in the two Saguenay deaths until those autopsy results become available.

Citing privacy law, Coulthart wouldn't confirm any detail of the two Saguenay cases, which were reported by local media.

Worldwide, 202 human mad-cow deaths had been registered as of April 3, according to the health agency's website.

"If the disease comes from exposure to infected beef products prior to the ban on specified offal in human food in 1989, as is now widely accepted, then there could be more cases if the incubation period is very long," the agency said."However, it is currently impossible to predict how many more cases of vCJD there will be," the website added.

Officials at l'Hôpital de Chicoutimi would not answer questions on the two deaths until this morning, said a hospital official responsible for communications.




The Gazette (Montreal) 2008

[animo-aequoanimo 0]

On n'en a pas trop entendu parler. Et en anglais ! Pour une nouvelle qui concerne les gens du Saguenay, on dirait que c'est presque gardé sous silence.

[Animal 0]

On l'a entendu quand les personnes sont décédées Cé. Il me semble même que j'en avais parlé dans les nouvelles de notre dernier bulletin...

[animo-aequoanimo 0]

Ah merci, Do ! Je ne me souvenais vraiment pas que des personnes du Saguenay étaient concernées. Je dois avoir un blanc de mémoire, alors.