An elderly man being treated for CJD-like symptoms in Co Donegal has died, it emerged this evening.
The HSE North Western Area last week confirmed that a man at an undisclosed location was being treated in line with national guidelines on suspected variant CJD.
The man was confirmed locally as being treated at Falcarragh nursing home where he was a resident.
His details have not been released at the family's request.
A HSE spokeswoman confirmed that the man died last night and said it would take several weeks to test for vCJD so it cannot yet be confirmed if the was man had contracted the disease.
If confirmed attempts will then be made to trace where he contracted disease. The illness is contracted by eating beef from an animal infected by Mad Cow disease.
A 24-year-old man is still being treated in Dublin in a confirmed case of vCJD. The issue has become a hot topic politically with questions being asked about the controls in place to prevent infected cattle entering the State.
It is not known how the 24-year-old contracted the illness but he did not travel to Britain and has not had a blood transfusion or invasive medical therapy.
Labour's Eamon Gilmore said in the Dail last week that the young man had contracted the disease in Ireland.
The Minister of State for Health Brian Lenihan said it was "virtually impossible to identify a specific source of infection" because the incubation period for vCJD is several years.
The Food Safety Authority of Ireland stressed that BSE controls have been strict since 1996.