A man in a critical condition in Prince of Wales Hospital possibly with the human form of mad cow disease displayed 'odd behaviour' even before he came to Hong Kong, according to the Centre for Health Protection.
On April 6, two days after he arrived in Hong Kong, the man, 23, was taken to Kwong Wah Hospital complaining of fever, dizziness and odd behaviour, the centre's principal medical and health officer, Chuang Shuk-Kwan, said.
'He was just like any normal adolescent or teenager, but relatives recalled that he became rebellious. He did eat beef,' Dr Chuang said yesterday.
The man's case has been classified as a 'possible' variant Creutzfeldt Jakob Disease (vCJD), the human equivalent of bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), or mad cow disease.
All three possible tests - an EEG to analyse brain function, an MRI brain scan, and a tonsil biopsy, the samples for which were sent to a British laboratory - were negative, Dr Chuang said. But the clinical diagnosis by doctors treating the patient all pointed to possible vCJD, she added.
Dr Chuang, who heads the centre's epidemiology unit of the communicable diseases section, said a team had investigated the case since the Hospital Authority reported it to the Department of Health on May 23.
