Idaho probes possible outbreak of rare brain-wasting disease

[Celebration]

http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/nation/3308577

SAN FRANCISCO - Idaho officials said Friday an initial test has indicated one case of naturally occurring Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease and they are investigating five other suspected cases, but said none is believed to have been caused by eating infected animals.

Tom Shanahan, a spokesman for the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare, said five of the cases involve people who have already died, lived in neighboring counties and were over the age of 60. The sixth case centered on a man, also over the age of 60, who lived 90 miles away and was still alive.

CJD is a rare brain-wasting disease in humans that usually affects people in their 60s or 70s...........

Yet in a state with only 1.4 million people, the fact that Idaho has so many suspected cases of the rare disease has sparked concern.

[Firenze777]

1. Frightening

naturally occurring? sure. The fact that they announced it on a Friday only adds to the scariness of it. The US Govt really is our biggest terror threat....between abandoning all commitment to a safe food supply, poisoning our water and land, ignoring the autism link in vaccines....and then taking away any legal redress....why isn't it glaringly obvious to everyone? These are not blue state/red state issues. This is ruling class abuse of the proletariat.

[Liberal Veteran]

2. And before anybody panics...this is supposedly non-mad cow CJD

vCJD and CJD are a little different.

[opihimoimoi]

4. Its all Bushies Fault..... America needs more money for research

not bombs.....

[KellyW]

5. What ?

What causes it ? The only cases of CJD that I thought they new the cause of was and epidemic among cannibals in New Guinea, which was caused by eating infected brains. I understood, that there was no direct "proof" that eating BSE (mad cow)infectied meat (or nervous tissue) caused CJD in humans ?

Is there a doctor in the DU house ?

[hallc]

14. Thats not CJD

Thats called Kuru...it is a prion disease as well
CJD is thought to have genetic causes...i.e. one protein in the brain is misfolded...cause a domino effect among the other proteins turning them into prions as well. CJD has also been linked to Fatal Familial Insomnia

vCJD usually infects YOUNGER individuals and *usually* comes on very quickly (within a few years) and is the type caused by infected meat. It is possible that the disease takes a little while to cause symptoms, but this type is more aggressive and kills quickly.

[livetohike]

6. My husband's aunt passed away from CJD

in 1994 and the doctor gave the family a recent article from a medical journal regarding CJD. At that time, they did not know where the disease comes from but they suspected it was from eating infected meat (beef and sheep specifically) and oysters.

I still have that article.

The article also stated that the disease could lay dormant in the body for twenty years before showing symptoms.

Edit: added the last line.

[Lost4words]

3. How would it even be noticed in Idaho?

Better look in Kansas also.

[hobbit709]

7. From the headline

I thought it was something that turned you into a republican,

[Lost4words]

8. LOL!

better than my attempt at humor, thanks for the laugh!

:hi:

[ChairmanAgnostic]

9. I wanted to ask if Bush had visited recently and if its contagious

But that would be rude.

[IDemo]

10. He will be here Aug. 22-24

Chimpy is already a carrier of brain-wasting disease.:crazy:

[niallmac]

17. Really!? Speaking in the band shell at noon

for all the common folk just like Dean? Or at a $1000 a plate suare? Can you sense the sarcasm?

[niallmac]

16. Damn! You beat me to it.

Being a Red redder that red 'can you stand it yet?' red red state...abberant behavior becomes somewhat lost in the crowd until the lab results get back.
But seriously, I have been involved peripherally with the phenom here in Idaho.
You know. the doubtful physician rolling his/her eyes when hearing a medical Resident suggest CJD in a patients diff and voila! CJD it is.
I for one need for convincing that this is NOT from our elk and deer population. Everyone hunts here. Even PETA members shoot Elk when its' their time to bring the refreshments. (bad joke) but people here do eat a lot of the wild critters.

[Deja Q]

11. You mean it's not "television"?

Oh well.

That, peak oil, bird flu, swine flu, any number of viruses, somebody who kills you just to take your billfold or other possessions deemed valuable to sell...

ENJOY LIFE. That's all we can do.

[R Hickey]

12. Mad-cow like outbreaks plagued Idaho game-farms a few years ago

Then those game farms exported their sick animals to other game farms around the country.

[goforit]

15. Yep!!....These are the symptoms of Mad c0w.

I just hope these cow ranchers eat every bit
of their own Karma.

[Kipling]

13. Scientists dub it "SRAS": Severe Republican Asshole Syndrome

[niallmac]

18. OMG! It's epidemic!

:rofl: :rofl: