The first indigenous Irish victim of the deadly brain disease variant CJD may have caught it from eating hamburgers, a newspaper reported today.
Investigators at the Department of Health are believed to be examining the meat products, including hamburgers, which the young man may have consumed as far back as a decade ago, according to the report in today's Irish Independent.
The patient, believed to be in his early 20s, has never received a blood transfusion or made a blood donation.
The condition of the man, who is being looked after in a Dublin hospital, first emerged on October 21 when the Minister for Health Ms Harney was briefed by the chairman of the national vCJD advisory committee, Prof William Hall.
It is believed that investigators immediately began probing the man's diet over a period of years after blood transfusions and operations were ruled out.
The Taoiseach, Mr Ahern moved to quiet fears, stating he was confident that rigorous State controls on Irish beef met international standards. Department of Agriculture officials said their officials had made no suggestion as to the origin of the beef, refuting claims in the paper that the young man had contracted the condition from imported beef.
However, the Minister of State at the Department of Health Mr Brian Lenihan told the Dail this week that there was a "strong possibility" that the young man was infected by beef imported from Britain, where the numbers infected have been high.
He said the current case of vCJD was probably contracted before strict controls were brought in by the Government in 1996.
Mr Ahern has already said Ireland's controls to eradicate BSE were deemed to be "optimum stable from 1998 onwards". Variant CJD (Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease) emerged from the cattle disease BSE (Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy), spreading to humans via infected beef.
The Taoiseach has stated that one of the worrying issues was that, even though all precautions have been taken, the incubation period for the disease is not yet known.
He admitted: "There is a possibility that the man became infected prior to the introduction of the more rigorous food safety controls." The Government said the Food Safety Authority and the national CJD advisory committee said people should not have concerns about Irish beef.
The hospital confirmed the conclusive vCJD tests on the young man involved a tonsillar biopsy of the patient. This is the first indigenous case of vCJD in the Republic. A previous case
diagnosed in the Republic involved a woman who had lived for several years in
the UK.
The vCJD advisory committee, which includes officials from state agencies and the Health Department, is monitoring the case. The Irish Blood Transfusion Service, which has been operating strict controls for a lengthy period, is not accepting blood from people who have spent one year or more in the UK between January 1st, 1980 and December 1st, 1996.
It has also barred people who have had certain operations in the UK on or after January 1st, 1980.
However, there are fears that there could be a rise in the numbers contracting the disease in the future as the incubation period for vCJD is believed to be lengthy.
It has been linked to 146 deaths in Britain, and causes a specific set of deadly symptoms and changes in the brain.