Fears over fresh 'mad cow' disease

Anna Davis @_annadavis13 April 2012

A LONDON patient has been diagnosed with a new form of "mad cow disease" which experts fear could kill hundreds.

The male patient has been clinically diagnosed with the new form, although further tests need to be carried out before it can be officially confirmed.

The Government's chief adviser on variant CJD claimed the new strain could kill twice as many people as its predecessor, which has caused 164 deaths.

Experts are worried because the London patient has a different genetic make-up to previous sufferers. Until now all victims had a genetic make-up known as MM.

Victims who could be hit by the "second wave" would have been infected after eating BSE-infected meat in the Eighties or Nineties.

Experts have warned that thousands could still go on to develop CJD because of the length of time it can remain in the body with no symptoms. Research shows that an individual's DNA controls whether the disease will manifest itself.

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