A teenager from Norfolk has died from the human form of mad cow disease.
Matthew Stubbs, 17, from Caister, is thought to have died from new variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease (vCJD) it was revealed on Wednesday.
He had recently completed his first year at Great Yarmouth College.
The former Caister High School pupil died four weeks ago, but the cause of his death has only just been revealed.
Young people
It is believed that Mr Stubbs was diagnosed as having vCJD only shortly before he died.
A spokesman for the James Paget Hospital in Gorleston confirmed that a teenager had died from the condition.
New variant CJD is diagnosed in most cases involving young people and is thought to have been caused by exposure to BSE-infected meat during the 1980s and early 1990s.
Mr Stubbs is the second victim to die from the condition in Norfolk.
Twelve years ago 60-year-old Olive Burnham died nine weeks after being diagnosed.
There have been 119 cases of vCJD in the UK since the first cases were recorded in this country in 1995.
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