Mad cow disease kills two in Spain

By CNN Madrid Bureau Chief Al Goodman

MADRID, Spain (CNN) -- Mad cow disease has killed two people since December in the Castilla Leon region north of Madrid, a regional health authority spokeswoman told CNN Monday.

The first death occurred December 28 and the next was February 7, in hospitals at undisclosed locations in the sprawling Castilla Leon region, which encompasses numerous provinces north of Madrid, said the spokeswoman, who asked not to be identified.

Regional health officials reported the findings to Spain's national network that monitors mad cow disease and to a European monitoring network based in Edinburgh, Scotland, she said.

Spain's Ministry of Health did not immediately confirm the deaths.

But the Carlos III Health Institute, which is part of the national monitoring network, on its Web site confirmed the deaths.

It said two Spaniards, aged 41 and 50, had died in the Castilla Leon region, and the last prior fatality in Spain was a Spaniard from the Madrid region, who died in 2005. E-mail to a friend

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