Madrid - Two people have died in Spain of the human variant of bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), commonly known as mad cow disease, sources of the Health Ministry said Monday.

The two victims, aged 26 and 50 years old, died in December and February in the northern region of Castile and Leon, according to local officials.

The deaths brought the death toll to 3 in Spain, where a 26-year-old woman also died of the mad cow disease, the human version of which is known as the Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, in 2005.

Agriculture Minister Elena Espinosa said the victims had probably caught the disease from beef they had eaten before 2001, and that Spaniards could safely continue eating beef.

The Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease is an incurable degenerative neurological disorder that is ultimately fatal. (dpa)