At least 200 cases of variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease have been reported worldwide since 1996. Three cases have been reported in U.S. residents, and they were all exposed outside the country, Remley said...
I'm not even certain that statistic (3 in US) is accurate, as I only recall the one person, the lady in FL that had eaten the British BSE meat. However, it is quite premature at this point to conclude that she developed vCJD. Much more likely she developed CJD.
A neighbor of ours developed CJD and of course died from it. She was elderly and they had just finished building a beautiful house which her husband subsequently sold and moved away.
The reason they suspect vCJD is due to her age. Most people who die of CJD are older while vCJD strikes the young harder.