New details have been released in the death of former Bakersfield mayor Harvey Hall.
A press conference was held at Hall Ambulance Tuesday morning by Dr. Ron Ostrom, Hall Ambulance medical director and Harvey Hall's personal physician.
Dr. Ostrom opened and closed the press conference confirming that Hall, who died on May 19, did not contract mad cow disease.
Hall had Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, or Prion Disease Spongiform Encephalopathy. CJD is an incredibly rare disease, with only about 300 cases nationwide per year, according to Dr. Ostrom.
Hall had a sporadic form of the disease and was doing well until April 24 when he had an episode of confusion, Dr. Ostrom said.
According to the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, there are three major categories of CJD. Hall's sporadic CJD classifies as the most common type of the disease.
Sporadic CJD accounts for at least 85 percent of cases. Hereditary CJD accounts for about 10 to 15 percent followed by acquired CJD, which affects about 1 to 10 percent of cases. Acquired CJD is transmitted by exposure to brain or nervous system tissue, usually through medical procedures. A type of CJD called variant CJD can be acquired by eating meat from cattle affected by a disease similar to CJD, commonly known as "mad cow" disease.
Hall got a second opinion on his condition on May 7, the same day he stepped down as president of Hall Ambulance. Hall previously had hypertension and diabetes, Dr. Ostrom said.
On June 2, thousands remembered Hall at a celebration of life at Rabobank Arena.
Hall was laid to rest in Cayucos, according to his death certificate obtained by 23ABC.
