An elderly woman hospitalized at the Cape Cod Hospital in Massachusetts has tested positive for Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, (the human form of mad cow disease), after running some tests, state public officials announced on Monday.

Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease is a very rare and incurable degenerative neurological disorder (brain disease) that is ultimately fatal. Among the types of transmissible spongiform encephalopathy found in humans, it is the most common. Early symptoms include depression, memory lapses and in some cases unusual fatigue.

It is unclear if the disease is transmitted to humans through consumption of infected meat, but this is the most likely path. The disease occurs in about one out of every one million people. In more than 85 percent of cases, the duration of the disease between onset of symptoms and death is less than 1 year (median: 4 months).

There are six to seven cases a year in Massachusetts and about 200 a year in the United States.

Dr. Alfred DeMaria, the top epidemiologist at Massachusetts’ Department of Health said there is no risk to the public, as the disease is not communicable.

“There is nothing about this case that would lead us to suspect or think that it has anything to do with the form of CJD that is associated with mad cow disease or bovine spongiform encephalopathy that happens in the United Kingdom in the past 20 years,” Dr. DeMaria said, according to local SouthCoastToday.com.