Brain Wasting Disease Suspected In Idaho Man’s Death

(AP) — A 65-year-old central Idaho man died earlier this month after his family said he developed a rare brain-wasting disease.

Kenneth Tedford Wotring of Salmon died on Dec. 17.  His family said he developed Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, according to his obituary.  The case hasn't yet been confirmed by the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare, which tracks instances where Creutzfeldt-Jakob is suspected.

Tom Shanahan, a spokesman at the agency, says an autopsy must be performed first before it confirms the disease.  So far in Idaho, three cases of the disease have been confirmed in 2013.  Two were sporadic, meaning their origin is unclear.  Shanahan says the other case involved somebody with a genetic predisposition.  According to the National Institutes of Health, Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease is a rare, degenerative, invariably fatal brain disorder.