public . Her son , 41 , died in February from the same disease , Badiola said . The latest confirmed case makes a total of four deaths in Spain from mad cow disease since 2005 . Three of these cases in Spain were in the same northern province , Leon , which is another unusual aspect that will be studied , Badiola said . Ten years can pass between eating contaminated tissue and the appearance of the human form of the disease , called variant Creutzfeldt Jakob disease , health officials say . The health ministry said there is no danger from eating meat in Spain , because of existing controls . The steps to avoid the disease , taken after the first cases of mad cow disease appeared in the United Kingdom , included isolating infected animals and prohibiting cattle feed of animal origin or with animal proteins , the ministry said . `` The appearance of these sporadic cases is within the predictions that were made at the European level more than eight years ago , '' the ministry statement said . Badiola said that it 's likely the mother and son contracted the disease before stricter
MADRID , Spain -LRB- CNN -RRB- -- The mother of a Spanish man who died from the human form of mad cow disease has also died from the illness , Spain 's Ministry of Health said Wednesday . Spain has taken steps to avoid mad cow disease , and there is no danger from eating meat , officials said . It is believed to be the first case in the world where two members of the same family have died from mad cow disease , said Juan Jose Badiola , director of Spain 's national research center for mad cow disease . `` It 's noteworthy that there 's a double case in the same family , '' Badiola said . Until now , Badiola added , clinical evidence that he 's seen from the United Kingdom and France -- which have had the most deaths due to the human form of mad cow disease -- have not recorded two cases in a single family . The mother , in her early 60s , died last month . The government confirmed Wednesday that it was because of mad cow disease but did not , by custom , make her name