First mad cow disease victim dies in Italy

Daily Times Monitor

ROME: A twenty-seven-year-old woman died on Wednesday of the human form of mad cow disease, marking the first Italian death blamed on the illness that has claimed more than 100 lives in other parts of Europe, the CNN reported Thursday.

Besta Hospital spokesman Dr Enrica Alessi said the woman had been sick for a year and a half, but the illness may have incubated in her body for years.

Tests showed she got the disease from eating contaminated beef, Dr Alessi said.

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