Second NI man dies from CJD

CJD is an incurable form of 'mad cow disease'

A councillor in Northern Ireland has died of Cuetzfeldt-Jakob Disease, the human form of "mad cow disease".

DUP councillor Andrew Hunter died peacefully in his sleep on Friday night.

The Newtownabbey Borough Council representative was diagnosed with having variant CJD in January.

He is the second person in Northern Ireland to die from the brain condition.

Ian Paisley: Death is a terrible blow

The 27-year-old was tipped as a rising star within his party and had helped North Belfast MP Nigel Dodds to victory in the General Election last year.

Terrible blow

Party leader Ian Paisley said although his death was expected, it came as a shock.

"This has been a terrible blow to his wife and family and to his friends and to the party and we are all just heartbroken about this matter."

Northern Ireland's first victim of new variant CJD, Maurice Callaghan, died in 1995.

His widow, Clare, has campaigned for a care package for the families of sufferers.

Last year, researchers in Israel claimed to have developed a simple diagnostic test for variant Creutzfeldt Jakob disease (vCJD).

Variant CJD - a fatal degenerative disease affecting the brain - is hard to distinguish from other degenerative diseases like Alzheimer's.

Doctors often cannot be sure that a person has vCJD until after a post mortem examination.