THE population in general is not at risk from Creutzfeldt-Jakob, more commonly known as Mad Cow Disease, stresses the central government’s ministry of health.

Following the news that the cause of death of a man who died in a Cantabria hospital was in fact CJD, health authorities are anxious to avoid widespread panic.

They say the ‘appearance of sporadic cases’ of the disease does not indicate new risks for the population’s health, nor are people in danger from eating beef.

This new case ‘finds itself within the estimations possible for Spain’, says the ministry of health and consumerism, following the first appearance of the disease in the 1990s.

It is the fifth case of CJD to be reported in Spain.

Three were recorded in Castilla y León, and another in the Comunidad de Madrid.

The incubation period for the disease is between five and ten years, before symptoms begin to appear, the ministry stresses.

They believe that the Santander case could have been contracted before Spain established exhaustive control measures after the disease was first detected in the UK.