new variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease

new variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease A human disease that is thought to be due to the same infectious agent as bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), or mad cow disease. Abbreviated nvCJD, this disease represents a new variant of CreutzfeldJakob disease. Both the human and bovine disorders are invariably fatal brain diseases with unusually long incubation periods and are due to an unconventional transmissible agent, a prion. Deposition of myloid (a glassy-looking substance) in the brain causes the breakdown of brain tissue, leaving the brain with a “spongy” (spongiform) appearance. See also Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease; prion; mad cow disease