The Spanish government Monday called on citizens to remain calm after two people were confirmed to have died of Creutzfeldt-Jakob brain disease, the human variation of "mad cow" disease.
"These cases have no epidemiological consequences, that is to say, they do not put citizens' health at risk," Spain's Health Ministry said Monday in a statement, referring to the first deaths in the country since 2005.
Agriculture Minister Elena Espinosa said the meat "was consumed years ago before any type of control was established in Spain or in the European Union," reported Cadena Ser Radio.
Earlier Monday, the Health Ministry confirmed two people aged 41 and 50 from Castilla and Leon region died of the Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, but it did not reveal their identities.
Public health officials from Castilla and Leon region said the pair were infected by meat eaten before 2001 and died on December 2007 and on Feb. 7 this year, adding that nowadays safe bovine meat consumption is "totally guaranteed."
The Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease is incurable and is caused by abnormal prions, a type of protein, that attack the victim's brain leaving it with a sponge-like consistency. A 26 year-old Spanish woman died of the disease in 2005 in Madrid.
Source: Xinhua
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