South Florida woman has mad cow disease
NBC6
Tue January 6, 2004
Area: Miami, Ft. Lauderdale
MIAMI - As the federal government continues to assure Americans that there is little risk of mad cow disease spreading to humans after an infected cow was found in Washington state, a South Florida family knows first-hand how devastating the disease can be.
Mad cow disease was first discovered in England in 1986 and a similar disease began showing up in humans 10 years later. To date, there are only about 150 known cases in the world, including one in South Florida.
Charlene Singh is unable to speak, move or eat on her own.
It has been nearly two years since she was diagnosed with Variant Creutzfeldt Jakob Disease. VCJD is the degenerative fatal brain disorder linked with eating meat from cattle infected with mad cow disease.
"Everyone is devastated," Singh's father, Patrick, said. "The whole family is devastated because she was really the star of the family."
Charlene graduated from the University of Miami with a business degree in the spring of 2001. A few months later, her demeanor started changing, her father said.
"The first thing we noticed was that she seemed to be very irritable and (had a) very short memory," Patrick Singh said.
"That's how VCJD usually starts," said Dr. Carol Petito. a neuropatholigst at the University of Miami. "Psychiatric symptoms in the new variant CJD will often be present for four to five months before memory loss and dementia sets in."
Initially, Charlene was diagnosed with depression. But it quickly became apparent it was more than that, her father said.
"After about a couple of weeks we noticed she began to walk and stumble," Patrick Singh said.
Charlene was born and grew up in England. That's where she was likely exposed to mad cow disease, before moving to the United States in 1992.
"In England, the kids' ... diet was basically ... beef burger and ... typically English food," Patrick Singh said. "You assume the meat you buy from the meat shop is safe to feed your family."
Singh said that hearing the news that the disease has now been found in a cow in Washington state has stirred old fears.
"My thought was how long has it been here, and is this the only case? Because you begin to wonder," he said.
Patrick Singh said his family no longer eats meat. His two other children have shown no signs of VCJD.
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