The Centers for Disease Control has confirmed the death of a Texas patient who contracted a disease connected to Mad Cow Disease.

The patient died from Variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease.  The disease is a rare, degenerative and fatal brain disorder that is caused by the consumption of meat and other products from cows suffering from bovine spongiform encephalopathy or “Mad Cow Disease.”

The CDC said this is the fourth time Variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease has been found in the United States.  The first three cases were confirmed to have contracted the virus outside the USA where the variant is more prevalent and the most recent patient had extensively traveled to Europe and the Middle East.  Most of the world’s cases have been in the United Kingdom and France.

Classic CJD is not caused by the Mad Cow Disease related agent.  In the United States, classic CJD is found in one person per 1 million residents each year.