When Buffalo's longest serving Mayor Jimmy Griffin died in May of this year, little detail was released about his cause of death and health condition. It was only known that Griffin died peacefully with his family at his side at Father Baker Manor in Orchard Park.

Nearly six months later, Griffin's family and doctors held a news conference at Dent Neurological Institute in Amherst during Wednesday evening to release the information. Griffin was ill for three months before he passed away on May 25th, 2008. Griffin died from a neurological disease called Creutzfeld-Jakob Disease (CJD). It's a rare, degenerative brain disease that is always fatal. Griffin died of the 'sporadic' form of CJD. Griffin's doctor says this disease is not 'Mad Cow Disease'. "Individuals tend to equate this disease with Mad Cow Disease. Mad Cow Disease, originating from England, is a form of this disease, but this is not Mad Cow Disease," Dr. Laszlo Mechtler said. "This is a sporadic form of CJD. It is a disease that's not infectious, it's not environmental, and it's not related to diet as you know it today."

The family says the cause of death wasn't released sooner because there still needed to be confirmation. Due to the rapid progression of this disease, its rarity, and the diagnostic tests needed to receive confirmation, the family says they could not confirm and therefore did not want to disclose Griffin's suspected cause of death.

Most estimate that CJD affects approximately one in one million people per year. Other researchers believe that many cases of CJD go undetected due to the lack of awareness and the difficulty with diagnosis. Currently there is no accepted treatment available for those with CJD. This disease has very deceptive symptoms and progresses with alarming speed.

The family wants to raise awareness of this deadly, relatively unknown, and devastating disease. The family has established the James D. Griffin Fund for CJD research at the Dent Neuroscience Research Center. If you would like to support this effort you can send a donation to the Dent Neuroscience Research Center, Dent Tower, 3980 Sheridan Drive, Amherst, NY, 14226.

The family greatly thanks Buffalo and Western New York for all the people who supported the family through this difficult time.

The family announced the cause of death on Wednesday, November 12th, which is International CJD Awareness Day.