The Hong Kong Centre for Health Protection (CHP) recorded a probable case of sporadic Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD) on February 13, 2015, affecting a 65-year-old man with unremarkable past health.

Hong Kong/CIA
Hong Kong/CIA

He presented with dizziness since August 2014 and developed onset of cognitive decline since September 21, 2014. He was admitted to a public hospital on September 22, 2014. Subsequently, he developed rapidly progressive dementia, cerebellar disturbance and extrapyramidal dysfunction.

Findings from magnetic resonance imaging of the brain and electroencephalography were suggestive of CJD. He was classified as a probable case of sporadic CJD. He had no known family history of CJD. No risk factors for iatrogenic or variant CJD were identified.

His condition continued to deteriorate and he succumbed on January 5, 2015.

According to the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD) is a rare, degenerative, invariably fatal brain disorder.

CJD usually appears in later life and runs a rapid course. Typically, onset of symptoms occurs about age 60, and about 90 percent of individuals die within 1 year.

In the early stages of disease, people may have failing memory, behavioral changes, lack of coordination and visual disturbances. As the illness progresses, mental deterioration becomes pronounced and involuntary movements, blindness, weakness of extremities, and coma may occur.

In sporadic CJD, the disease appears even though the person has no known risk factors for the disease. This is by far the most common type of CJD and accounts for at least 85 percent of cases.

CJD belongs to a family of human and animal diseases known as the transmissible spongiform encephalopathies (TSEs). Other human TSEs include kuru, fatal familial insomnia (FFI), and Gerstmann-Straussler-Scheinker disease (GSS).