'Mad Cow' Infects Dutch Woman

(Amsterdam, Netherlands) A 26-year-old woman in Utrecht has been diagnosed with the human form of bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), also called variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease (vCJD). It's the first reported human case of the disease in The Netherlands.

According to Health Ministry spokesman Bas Kuik, the woman has never lived outside The Netherlands and must have become infected before 1997 when the government imposed strict controls on testing Dutch beef. It's believed she acquired the disease from eating tainted beef.

Testing performed in Scotland and the Netherlands confirmed that the woman has vCJD and her "prognosis is poor," said Health Ministry Inspector Jan van Wijngaarde. The disease is fatal and incurable.