The recent death of a 56-year-old man from southern Hungary may have been caused by variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (vCJD), according to local health authorities. The unidentified man died on 21 May and while the hospital has not yet confirmed that the he had contracted the human equivalent of the cattle disease BSE (bovine spongiform encephalopathy), an autopsy is expected to confirm the diagnosis.
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Health officials pointed out that the man might have died from another form of the disease that is unrelated to BSE. Sporadic CJD usually occurs later in life.
Hungary has not yet reported a case of BSE, but this news has come only days after the Czech agriculture ministry confirmed that the disease had reached eastern Europe, when a domestically reared cow had contracted BSE.
