|
||||||||||||||||||
 |
From: TSS ()
Mad cow burgers ‘killed my son’ Margaret Marshall was speaking after an inquest into the death of her 30-year-old son Stephen which concluded he contracted variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease (vCJD) through eating contaminated beef. Mrs Marshall, from Richmond, North Yorkshire, said the father of one had probably become infected 10 years before, when he used to eat burgers regularly. She said: “I think it was from when he was about 18 or 19, when he was travelling about a lot. He used to live on burgers.” She added: “It’s a devastating illness, I would not wish it on anybody” Mr Marshall was diagnosed with vCJD last December. He died in March. Teesside coroner Michael Sheffield recorded a misadventure verdict in Middlesbrough yesterday. He said he was satisfied Mr Marshall, who left a two-year-old daughter, died through his “unknowing” consumption of infected beef. Doctors believe exposure to mad cow disease (BSE) could be widespread in the UK despite there being only 160 vCJD cases so far identified. Earlier this year, British scientists said the number of people infected could be far higher than originally thought because of a longer incubation period. They believe the time between infection with BSE and developing vCJD could be more than 50 years. According to figures from the CJD surveillance unit in Edinburgh, 2,079 suspected cases of all types of CJD have been referred to them since 1990. Of those, 111 people have definitely died from vCJD, with a further 45 probable deaths from vCJD. There are currently five people in the UK known to be living with vCJD. http://www.thesun.co.uk/article/0,,2-2006450354,00.html Young dad developed vCJD after eating beef Margaret Marshall believes burgers are the most likely reason her son, Stephen, 30, contracted variant Creutz-feldt-Jacob Disease (vCJD). The father-of-one, who died in March, was the fifth person from the North-East and North Yorkshire to lose his life to the illness. Speaking after the hearing in Middlesbrough, his mother spoke of the family's devastation over his untimely death. "You are angry to begin with, but you learn to accept it," she said. "It's a devastating illness, I would not wish it on anybody." Mrs Marshall said she was convinced her son contracted vCJD more than ten years before the illness took hold She said: "I think it was from when he was about 18 or 19, when he was travelling about a lot. He used to live on burgers." Mr Marshall, of Olav Road, Richmond, was diagnosed last December. He died on March 16 in Middlesbrough's James Cook University Hospital. The inquest heard that Mr Marshall, who had a two-year-old daughter, was admitted to the Friarage Hospital, in Northallerton, on October 18 last year, and later moved to the James Cook University Hospital. Consultant neurologist Dr Gavin Young told the inquest his condition deteriorated over several weeks. The case was referred to the CJD Surveillance Unit, in Edinburgh, where tests confirmed the presence of the disease. Consultant neuro-pathologist Dr David Scoones confirmed Mr Marshall died of bronchial pneumonia, due to CJD. He said: "On the balance of all probability, the vCJD would have been caused by the consumption of beef contaminated with BSE." In recording his verdict, Teesside Coroner Michael Sheffield said: "It is quite clear that Stephen Marshall has been desperately unlucky. "I am also satisfied that his death occurred through his unknowing consumption of infected beef a few years previously. "It is not natural causes - he died through misadventure." Previously, four people in the region have died from vCJD, including Peter Hall, 20, from Chester-le-Street, County Durham, whose mother, Frances, is secretary of the Human BSE Association. Last night, Mrs Hall said: "This is the first death from vCJD in the North-East for quite a while. "It just shows that this terrible disease still has a lot of years to run." The number of vCJD deaths has gradually fallen since reaching a peak of 28 cases in 2000. Last year, there were five confirmed deaths from the disease, making a total of 156 since records began in 1990. http://www.thisisthenortheast.co.uk/display.var.945022.0.young_dad_developed_vcjd_after_eating_beef.php
|
