The British government's announcement on mad cow disease came on the day the husband of one victim received proof that CJD had killed his wife
AT the inquest in York of Mr Leonard Franklin (53), an abattoir worker, who died last month after being taken ill with the suspected human form of mad cow disease in September last year, the coroner said the post mortem examination revealed the cause of death was, provisionally, Creutzfeldt Jakob Disease.
He said confirmation would take some time and adjourned the inquest to a date to be fixed.
The post mortem was carried out by a neuro pathologist, Dr Leslie Bridges, at Leeds General Infirmary and the coroner said at the time: "The history of the matter is that Mr Franklin had been fit and well until September last year when he was clinically believed to be suffering from CJD."
He added: "His condition deteriorated and he died at his home in York. Until a few years ago, he had worked in an abattoir and had been involved in the care and transport of cattle."
Mr Franklin has been admitted to York District Hospital last September after referral by his family doctor who thought he needed neurological tests. His symptoms included loss of balance and limb co ordination.
The CJD unit in Edinburgh was alerted after tests originally failed to find any explanation for Mr Franklin's illness. The unit was set up to investigate the possibility that mad cow disease (Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy) can be transmitted to humans in the form of CJD.
The medical director at the hospital, Dr Ray Marks, said: "It is only now the patient is dead that an exact diagnosis can be determined. Mr Franklin was determined as having CJD and now we await official confirmation." It should take another month before this is achieved.
One victim of CJD was Jean Wake (38), a housewife and mother from Washington, Tyne and Wear, who died last November, years after working as a meat chopper in a pie factory.
Her mother, Mrs Nora Greenhalgh (75), wrote to the government demanding answers on the issue after her daughter died. She received a letter from the Prime Minister, Mr John Major, saying there was no evidence that eating meat caused the illness in people and that the public were properly protected.
After yesterday's announcements, Mrs Greenhalgh, of Lakeside Village, Sunderland, said: "I didn't believe Mr Major then and I don't believe him now."
The British government's announcement on mad cow disease came on the day Mr Ronny Richardson (30), from Huton, Merseyside, received medical proof that CJD killed his wife, Ann.
After detailed tests on her brain, experts at the Edinburgh unit confirmed she had been a victim of the disease.
The government climb down has outraged Mr Richardson who has always believed eating beef was directly responsible for his wife's death.
In a letter from the unit yesterday, Mr Richardson was informed that his wife had contracted the disease during her lifetime.
"My wife died from CJD and medical evidence proves she was not born with it, so where did she get it from?" he asked.