Health officials have confirmed that a Texas patient recently died from a brain disorder linked to mad cow disease, the fourth death caused by the disease in the U.S.
The cause of death was a fatal brain disorder called Variant Creutzfeldt-Jacob Disease. It was most likely contracted from eating beef from a cow infected with mad cow disease, according to a Monday press release from the Center for Disease Control and Prevention.
"The confirmation was made when laboratory results from an autopsy of the patient's brain tested positive for variant CJD," according to the press release.
Mad cow disease, officially known as bovine spongiform encephalopathy, is said to transfer to humans though consumption of beef from cattle sick with the disease. In humans it is believed to manifest as variant CJD.
Cases of variant CJD are usually reported overseas. Over 220 people have been infected with the brain disorder after it was first reported in the UK in 1996, according to the CDC. Most of those cases have been in the UK.
The Texas patient traveled "extensively" to Europe and the Middle East, which means the disease was most likely contracted outside the U.S., according to the CDC.
"There are no Texas public health concerns or threats associated with the case," the Texas Department of State Health Services said according to CNN.
The other U.S. cases of variant CJD are also believed to have started overseas, including one in Saudi Arabia and the other two in the UK.
Variant CJD, however, is not the same as classic CJD, a related brain disease that's also fatal. Less than 400 Americans contract classic CJD a year, which is not caused by mad cow disease, CNN reported.
The Texas DSHS has launched an investigation to find out more about how the patient contracted the disease.
