Mad cow

da Repubblica.it
Dublino, 138
Mucca pazza, in fin di vita giovane irlandese

Un giovane irlandese è in fin di vita a Dublino dopo aver contratto la variante umana del morbo della mucca pazza. Lo hanno reso noto le autorità sanitarie irlandesi precisando che alla certezza della diagnosi si è arrivati con una biopsia delle tonsille ed una tac del cervello. E' il primo caso accertato della nuova variante della Cjd in Irlanda.
Il paziente non ha ricevuto, nè fatto donazioni di sangue e si esclude che abbia contratto la malattia attraverso interventi chirurgici, si legge nel comunicato diffuso dall'ospedale. Date queste circostanze, i medici stanno investigando la possibilità che sia stato contagiato mangiando carne di bovino infetta.

Irish beef controls adequate, Taoiseach says

10 November 2004 129
The Taoiseach, Bertie Ahern, has told the Dáil he is confident that controls governing beef production in this country are adequate.

Mr Ahern was speaking after medical tests effectively confirmed the first case of the human form of BSE to originate in the Republic.

The patient is a man in his twenties who is being treated for the brain disease, which cannot be cured, in a major Dublin hospital.



In a statement, the hospital said that the result of the latest test made it most unlikely that the illness was anything other than variant CJD, the human form of BSE.

The hospital is not being named to protect the privacy of the patient.

The only previous case here was that of a woman who had been living in England.

A spokesperson for the Tánaiste and Minister for Health, Mary Harney, said she learnt with regret of the announcement.

The spokesperson said her thoughts were with the patient's family at this difficult time.


http://www.rte.ie/news/

Irish vCJD case confirmed

One variant CJD case has previously been diagnosed in Ireland
The first case to originate in the Republic of Ireland of the human form of mad cow disease has been confirmed.
A man believed to be in his early 20s is seriously ill in a Dublin hospital with fatal brain disease variant CJD.

The hospital said in a statement that the result of a specialised test made it "most unlikely" that the diagnosis was anything other than vCJD.

It said: "All of the necessary precautions are being taken and the relevant authorities have been updated.

"In the public interest, the hospital reiterates that the patient never received a blood transfusion or made a blood donation, and that the cause of infection is not linked to an operation."

It is understood the man has not lived in Britain, meaning that this is the first case of variant CJD to originate in Ireland.

Neither he nor the hospital are being named to protect the privacy of the man and his family.

Only one variant CJD case has previously been diagnosed in the Irish Republic - a woman who had lived for some time in England.

The hospital confirmed the conclusive test involved a biopsy of the patient's tonsils.

'Difficult time'

"In the interests of patient confidentiality, further information on the patient's condition will not be issued and we ask that the privacy of the patient and family be respected during this difficult time," the statement added.

Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD) is one of a small group of fatal diseases caused by infectious agents called prions, which attack the brain.

New variant CJD (vCJD) is caused by exposure to bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) and typically affects younger people.

The Republic of Ireland already has strict restrictions on people who lived Britain between 1980 and 1996 from donating blood.

Contaminated beef was the cause of most cases in the UK, but transfusion experts believe there is a potential for vCJD to be transmitted through blood or blood products.

The Irish Blood Transfusion Service (IBTS) recently announced new donor controls to reduce the risk of vCJD transmission in the country.

from BBC