Debunking the Cluster

Mad Cow debunker Steven Milloy weighs in against amateur public health sleuth Janet Skarbek’s claim of having discovered the first cluster of medical cases in the United States associated with the human equivalent of BSE. Thirteen deaths form the brain disease occurred among people who either worked at or visited Cherry Hill, New Jersey’s Garden State Race Track, from 1988 to 1992, Skarbek (pictured left) contends.

As further proof, she claims that the recent death of an elderly man brings the total number of CJD-related deaths in the two-county area of northern New Jersey (where the track was located) to five in only the past 15 months.

There are several major flaws in Skarbek’s claim, Milloy argues. First, none of the deaths even involve the type of Cruetzfeldt-Jakob disease associated with BSE. Rather, the cases appear to be another form of the disease, known as sporadic CJD, which results in distinctly different brain abnormalities than those associated with BSE-related variant CJD.

Furthermore, Skarbek has failed to come up with any hard evidence that any of the victims actually ate meat at the race track restaurant.

Finally, while the five CJD deaths within the two counties during the last 15 months vastly exceed the rate at which they should have occurred, statewide numbers have not been affected. Bottom line: The five deaths in the two-county area may simply be a fluke, Milloy argues.

Posted by Jim Langcuster at April 22, 2004 09:43 AM | TrackBack