Thanks to bd476 for starting this thread:
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2000709/posts
“State tests will seek cause of Portsmouth woman’s death (Possibly variant CJD or Mad Cow Disease)”
The Virginia-Pilot and Hampton Roads.com ^ | April 11, 2008 | By Nancy Young
Posted on April 12, 2008 5:06:36 PM PDT by bd476
“State tests will seek cause of Portsmouth woman’s death”
By Nancy Young
The Virginian-Pilot
April 11, 2008
PORTSMOUTH
ARTICLE SNIPPET: “The Virginia Department of Health should have test results back in several months that will determine whether a young woman who died Wednesday had a rare brain disorder that has been linked to mad cow disease.
Health department officials stressed again Thursday that they were looking into a range of disorders.
The 22-year-old woman, identified in media reports as Aretha Vinson, died at Bon Secours Maryview Medical Center. She had been suffering from encephalopathy, a degenerative brain condition that can be caused by “infections, lack of oxygen to the brain, liver failure, kidney failure, toxic exposures, metabolic diseases, brain tumors, increased intracranial pressure and poor nutrition,” said Dr. Karen Remley, state health commissioner, in a written statement Thursday.
“Further testing is the only way to know what caused this illness,” Remley added.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the University of Virginia will be among those analyzing test results.
One possibility is a variant of Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, known as vCJD, a rare degenerative brain disorder that has been linked to consumption of contaminated beef. The disease is not spread through casual contact from person to person and is thought to have an incubation period of 10 years or more.
There are also other forms of Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, known as CJD, that are unrelated to beef consumption. State officials will look into those as well.”
Thanks Cindy. Looks like our posts passed each other on the way. :-)