A panel of the Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry said it is unlikely that a teenage girl in a Tokyo area hospital has contracted new variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (nvCJD), a fatal brain-wasting illness linked to mad cow disease.
Last week, hospital reports surfaced that the girls' symptoms are consistent with nvCJD.
The panel said Thursday it made a provisional judgment based on the account of a doctor in charge of the girl.