Posted on 04/12/2008 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
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.
According to the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease strikes about 200 people a year in the United States. The most common forms of the disease have no known cause or are linked to a genetic mutation. Fewer than 1 percent of cases are linked to medical procedures.
To date, the CDC has recorded three cases in the United States of the variant that has been linked to mad cow disease. In two of the cases, the people were born and raised in Great Britain - which has seen the most cases - before moving to this country. The third person had recently moved from Saudi Arabia.
Mostly Angus!
I keep eating beef and don’t worry about it...I do worry about consuming anything from China however..
I do the same thing!!!
The reason they suspect vCJD is due to her age. Most people who die of CJD are older while vCJD strikes the young harder.
Neural tissues end up in ground meat all the time. That’s why they suspect that the young Brits who died of vCJD got it from hamburger.
Regular CJD is rare in young people however it has been diagnosed. In the US the chance of neural contamination into ground meat is infantesimally small. Never has a case of vCJD been attributed to US processed beef.
I cannot speak to methods used in Britain for their meat grinding practices, especially prior to the wide spread BSE problems of the 90’s which included the poor practice of animal by-products being ground into cattle feed. That practice both overseas and the US has been banned for several years pertaining to cattle.
Did she eat any venison?
Org.whodat, without any provocation, again you have lashed out at me, someone you don't know, nor had any reason to name-call nor make false accusations against.
Org.whodat, it sounds as if your need to call other people names and make false accusations is done in order to make you feel better about yourself. Yet, over the years, you may have noticed that your rage and hostility against strangers has done little to improve your sense of self esteem and personal happiness.
Think about attending services at a local Church or Temple. You'll probably meet some very nice people. You might also look for a local group where members get together regularly to share common interests and hobbies.
Striking out at anonymous people for no reason other than that they are within your range on the Internet has a tendency to hurt most the ones doing the striking out. During quiet times thoughtful people often reflect upon how they've been treated and then recall how they've themselves have treated others.
It's a beautiful world we live in. Enjoy everyday.
God Bless you.
Again, Org.whodat, you have felt the compulsion to make another unfounded personal attack.
Go take a walk, get some fresh air, and do not post to me again.
Well, since Portsmouth is close to Canada, I wonder if they ruled out Canadian beef as a potential culprit (since the deseased was not a world traveler).
Well, since Portsmouth is close to Canada,...oops...I need to dust off the geography book...I was think of Portsmouth NH, not Virginia....LOL!
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