Woman did not die of mad cow disease

Chester-East Lincoln learning disabilities teacher Connie Albert, 57, died Saturday from a form of Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease that should not be confused with the human form of mad cow disease, health and animal experts say. Earlier reports had been ambiguous as to what she had and where it could have been contracted. Tests performed by a lab in Columbus, Ohio, provided a diagnosis for Albert of "sporadic Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease." The diagnosis was made after Albert's vision blurred some three months before her death. Samples of her spinal fluid were sent to the lab. The human form of mad cow disease is called "variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease." The diseases are in the same family of diseases; both attack the brain, and both are always f