Possible case of CJD investigated.Byline: Elizabeth Cooney WORCESTER - Public health specialists are investigating a possible case of Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease: see prion. Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease or CJD Rare fatal disease of the central nervous system. It destroys brain tissue, making it spongy and causing progressive loss of mental functioning and motor control. , a rare degenerative brain disorder that may have led to the death of a Shrewsbury woman. The 57-year-old woman died last week at St. Vincent Hospital in Worcester of "organic brain disease," according to according to prep. 1. As stated or indicated by; on the authority of: according to historians. 2. In keeping with: according to instructions. 3. her death certificate. After Worcester public health commissioner Dr. Leonard J. Morse pressed for more information, the certificate was amended to "Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (presumed)," he said Thursday. The patient's identity is not being released. Six or seven cases of the disease occur every year in Massachusetts, Dr. Alfred DeMaria of the state Department of Public Health, said yesterday that level has been consistent since the state started tracking incidents in 1992. The disease is usually confirmed by a brain biopsy Brain Biopsy Definition A brain biopsy is the removal of a small piece of brain tissue for the diagnosis of abnormalities of the brain, such as Alzheimer's disease, tumors, infection, or inflammation. , but one was not performed in this recent case. A laboratory test to detect a protein found in the spinal fluid spinal fluid n. See cerebrospinal fluid. of CJD CJD abbr. Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease CJD Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, see there patients is not yet complete. Without a brain tissue test, the diagnosis will still be presumed even if the test result is positive, Dr. DeMaria said. Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease gained wide attention in the 1980s when a strain of the disease sickened cows in Great Britain Great Britain, officially United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, constitutional monarchy (2005 est. pop. 60,441,000), 94,226 sq mi (244,044 sq km), on the British Isles, off W Europe. The country is often referred to simply as Britain. and people became ill after eating beef contaminated contaminated, v 1. made radioactive by the addition of small quantities of radioactive material. 2. made contaminated by adding infective or radiographic materials. 3. an infective surface or object. with that strain. Only three people in the United States have contracted that variant form of CJD, commonly called mad-cow disease; they all were exposed in Great Britain. "There's no reason to think this had anything to do with the variant," Dr. DeMaria said. "It's such a different form of the disease. Variant CJD is a different clinical entity and has a different type of spread." Because CJD is both rare and serious, an epidemiologic study epidemiologic study A study that compares 2 groups of people who are alike except for one factor, such as exposure to a chemical or the presence of a health effect; the investigators try to determine if any factor is associated with the health effect is appropriate when it is suspected, both doctors said. About 85 percent of cases are classified as sporadic, with no known cause, while the other 15 percent come from eating infected beef, being contaminated with infected tissue through a medical procedure, or carrying a genetic mutation that increases susceptibility. "Our public health nurses will do an epidemiological study of where she lived, where she traveled, where she worked," Dr. Morse said. "They are already working on it." People should not be alarmed, both doctors said. "The public should feel reassured this is not contagious," Dr. Morse said. |
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