ProMED-mail

Most Recent Alert

View printable version   Share this post:

Published Date: 2013-05-22 17:57:57
Subject: PRO/AH/EDR> Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease - Colombia (02): variant CJD, NOT
Archive Number: 20130522.1731493

CREUTZFELDT-JAKOB DISEASE - COLOMBIA (02): VARIANT CJD, NOT
***********************************************************
A ProMED-mail post
http://www.promedmail.org
ProMED-mail is a program of the
International Society for Infectious Diseases
http://www.isid.org

Date: Tue 21 May 2013
Source: Radio Santa Fe [in Spanish, trans. Sr.Tech.Ed.MJ, edited]
http://www.radiosantafe.com/2013/05/21/descartan-dos-casos-de-enfermedad-de-las-vacas-locas-en-valle-del-cauca/


The Ministry of Health and Welfare reports that the diagnosis of [variant] Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease [vCJD], also known as "mad cow disease," was discarded after results of an autopsy and laboratory and diagnostic imaging tests from a 73-year-old man who died in April 2013.

According to information from the National Institute of Health, the tests concluded that this person did not meet the criteria for the new variant of the disease. The findings point to a progressive neurological deterioration, commonly known as senile dementia, a diagnosis supported by the patient's medical history.

The NIH also ruled out [vCJD] in a patient from Caqueta [department] who was hospitalized in the city of Cali [Valle del Cauca department]. The results of laboratory tests to determine whether this patient had the disease indicate that she does not meet the criteria [for this diagnosis].

It is worth noting that Colombia has not reported confirmed cases of [vCJD] in humans, the transmissible form of [bovine spongiform encephalopathy], or cases of bovine spongiform encephalopathy [BSE]. In Colombia, BSE is considered an exotic disease, or one that might occur in species suitable for human consumption very rarely. These diseases are not easily acquired. Human-to-human transmission of spongiform encephalopathies has not been demonstrated, and to date there are no confirmed cases of a person acquiring the disease through an occupational incident.

--
Communicated by:
ProMED-mail
<promed@promedmail.org>

[Not surprisingly, the provisional diagnosis of variant Creutzfeldt -Jakob disease has been discarded. No cases of vCJD have been diagnosed anywhere since 2010. Prior to that, 176 cases had been diagnosed in the UK, where the disease was 1st recognised, and additionally 27 in France, 5 in Spain, 4 in Ireland, 3 each in the USA and the Netherlands, 2 each in Portugal, Italy and Canada, one each in Japan, Taiwan and Saudi Arabia, and none anywhere in South America. - Mod.CP

A HealthMap/ProMED-mail map can be accessed at: http://healthmap.org/r/1l0z.]

See Also

Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease - Colombia: variant CJD suspected 20130521.1729226
2012
----
Prion disease update 2012 (10) 20121105.1392691
Prion disease update 2012 (09) 20120906.1284090
Prion disease update 2012 (08) 20120809.1236446
Prion disease update 2012 (07) 20120706.1191393
Prion disease update 2012 (06) 20120612.1164648
Prion disease update 2012 (05) 20120508.1126526
Prion Disease update 2012 (04) 20120407.1093352
Prion disease update 2012 (03) 20120309.1065897
Prion disease update 2012 (02) 20120216.1043716
Prion Disease update 2012 (01) 20120104.0027
2011
----
Prion disease update 2011 (11) 20111207.3543
Prion disease update 2011 (10) 20111107.3317
Prion disease update 2011 (09) 20111003.2983
Prion disease update 2011 (08) 20110905.2710
Prion disease update 2011 (07) 20110810.2423
Prion disease update 2011 (06) 20110607.1736
Prion disease update 2011 (05) 20110505.1393
Prion disease update 2011 (4) 20110406.1066
Prion disease update 2011 (03) 20110309.0764
Prion disease update 2011 (02) 20110211.0473
Prion disease update 2011 (01) 20110110.0119
.................................................mj/cp/msp/jw