- A cluster of Creutzfeldt Jakob disease cases have been reported out of Hood River County, Ore.
- The disease is caused by misfolded proteins, or prions, which are also the cause of a disease in deer known as chronic wasting disease.
- Chronic wasting disease was discovered in deer last year in California and Washington. There have been no reports of infected deer in Oregon.
Health officials in Hood River County, Ore., are investigating three cases of a rare and fatal brain disease known as Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease.
Two people have died and a third person is showing symptoms consistent with the disease. The disease has been confirmed in one of the deceased through an autopsy; the other two cases are considered probable, according to a statement from the Hood River County Health Department.