First U.S. Resident Diagnosed With Mad Cow

Officials Believe 22-Year-Old Was Infected in Britain

April 18, 2002

What is believed to be the first case of mad cow disease in a resident of the United States has been diagnosed in a 22-year-old British citizen living in Florida, state and federal officials said today.

The Florida Department of Health and the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are investigating the likely case of the form of mad cow disease that infects humans, called "new variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease."
The diagnosis of the brain-destroying illness was made at a hospital in England, and the woman has since returned to the United States with her family, the CDC said this evening.

The victim, who was raised in England and recently moved to the United States, is believed to have contracted the disease in England at the peak of the mad cow outbreak there, said the CDC's Dr. Steve Ostroff.

"There's every reason to suspect that she acquired her illness there," he said.

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