5 Mad-Cow Deaths Spur Texas Probe

Texas health officials are investigating whether an unusually high number of people in northeast Texas have recently died from Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, better known as “mad-cow disease.”

Since April 1996, five cases of Creutzfeldt-Jakob have been diagnosed in a 22-county area in the state’s northeast corner. Normally, health officials would expect to see only one or two cases a year in that region.

However, the jump may be a statistical blip and not necessarily a signal of anything wrong, said Julie Rawlings of the Texas Department of Health in Austin.

Creutzfeldt-Jakob usually strikes about one person per million in the United States. But that number is an average; some years may be higher or lower. For example, in 1990, only one person in the state reportedly died from the disease. But the year before, 13 cases were diagnosed.

Five cases may simply be the high point of a bell curve, Rawlings said. Also, with more awareness of the disease recently, doctors may be more inclined to make the diagnosis.