A third person in the Netherlands has died of a variant of Creutzfeldt-Jakob, known as mad cow disease, the public health institute RIVM said on Monday evening.

The patient died in January at a hospital in Rotterdam. New variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob (nCJD) is a brain disease which can be contracted by eating meat infected with BSE, or mad cow disease.
Since 2001, all cattle destined for beef production in the Netherlands is tested for BSE. The most risky organs, such as the brain and spinal cord, have been removed from the food chain since 1997.
Two other people have died of nCJD in the Netherlands, one in 2005 and one in 2006. Worldwide, some 200 people have died of this variant, the RIVM said.