IIRC, it was due to an infection by a misfolded protein, known as a prion. It resulted from the practice (widespread at the time in the UK) of feeding meat-and-bone meal to young calves of dairy cows.
From there, the prions spread to humans, resulting in a kind of Creutzfeldt–Jakob disease. No cure, sometimes fatal. And it doesn't manifest until maybe 4-5 years after initial exposure.
Prions. From same-species flesh. Not part of a good, balanced diet.
There is a human variant of prion disease called kuru. It results from eating human flesh. The misfolded prion proteins are concentrated in nervous tissue, especially the brain and spinal cord.
you may be right.
No. You are not correct.
Roger that. A funeral director I know, once had the funeral for a man who died of C-J. The regulations say you don’t embalm or view at the visitation or funeral. The body, which is placed in a sealed bag upon death, is immediately sealed in a casket. I’m not sure, but I don’t think even cremation is allowed, lest biological carriers escape in the transferring around of the cadaver. etc. If the regs have changed; I would not know.