ROCHESTER, NEW YORK — A hunter in New York died from a rare mad cow-like disease he may have contracted from eating squirrel brains.<br /><br />Miami Herald reports that the 61-year-old man was taken to a hospital in Rochester, New York after suffering from impaired walking and thinking.<br /><br />An MRI revealed that the man's brain looked similar to those with variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, which is caused by infectious proteins called prions and tied to the consumption of contaminated beef.<br /><br />Prion build-up in the cells rapidly deteriorates the brain, causing it to shrink, and tiny holes to appear in the tissues — making it look like a sponge.<br /><br />The disease is fatal, with patients typically dying within a year of showing symptoms.<br /><br />The Rochester patient met a similar fate, and died five months after being diagnosed with the infection in 2015.<br /><br />Doctors found out from his family that the man liked to hunt, and believe he may have contracted Creutzfeldt-Jakob from eating squirrels' brains.<br /><br />Variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease is extremely rare. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, there are only four confirmed cases in the U.S.
