Investigation into vCJD deaths link demanded

Calls are mounting for an investigation into how three people who lived or had family links within five miles of each other near Dublin contracted vCJD.

Two of the three people, who all lived in or had links with south Co Dublin or north Co Wicklow, have since died of vCJD, which is the human form of Mad Cow disease.

Dublin County Coronor Kieran Geraghty told the inquest into the death of Jason Moran (24) from Shankill, Co Dublin yesterday he believed there was a connection between the three cases and called for a State inquiry.

Mr Moran died in Blackrock Hospice last June, ten months after being diagnosed with variant Creutzfeldt Jacob Disease.

The only other person known to have died from vCJD in Ireland in the last decade was 33-year-old Kay Turner from Offally who had close family living near Mr Moran in Ballybrack, Co Dublin.

The third case is a man in his twenties from Bray, Co Wicklow. He is still fighting the disease.

Robert Moran, the father of Jason Moran, today insisted there were questions to be answered about how the clustering of cases happened. "Especially when you see people dying from this in more or less the same area," he said. "This first one would have been a coincidence, the second one no."

Labour Party TD for Dún Laoghaire Eamon Gilmore said today he intends to call for a State investigation into Mr Moran's death.

"Last May I raised Jason Moran's case in the Dáil and having previously brought the circumstances of his death to the attention of the Tánaiste and Minister for Health, Mary Harney, last March.

"At that time, I told the Tánaiste that Jason had never been out of this country and that he must have contracted the disease from meat purchased in Ireland. I said his family was entitled to an explanation as to what happened.

"I pointed out that in the UK, following the Southwood Report in 1990, subsequent regulations were introduced as well as a compensation fund for the family concerned. I believe the same should be done here."

VCJD is normally acquired through eating infected beef contaminated with BSE. However, it can also be transmitted through blood transfusion, growth hormones or exposure to brain or nerve tissue during medical procedures.

It can lie dormant for up to 15 years before symptoms develop. There is no known cure.

Dr Michael Farrell, who performed the autopsy on Mr Moran, said it was likely he contracted vCJD orally, probably by eating infected meat.

Yesterday's inquest heard that local gardai had attempted unsuccessfully to trace the source of the infected meat. They were told information about local meat supplies or slaughterhouses was unavailable due to legal reasons.

Prof Michael Hutchinson, consultant neurologist at St Vincent's Hospital in Dublin, warned more cases were likely to be diagnosed in Ireland.

However, he was uncertain about the possibility of a link between the three cases. "When you have a very low incident disorder, where there are only actually two cases who have occurred in this area south of Dublin. Then, one can't be certain about the clustering effect," he said. "But I agree that it should be investigated."

Prof Hutchinson pointed out that examinations of clusterings of victims in the UK, which has had the highest prevalence of the disease, had shown only one was due to a local practice.