Yup, mad squirrel disease. Jacob-Cruetzfield is a form of prion, similar to mad cow disease. Apparently proteins that occur naturally in the brain get mutated or mis-folded somehow. If you ingest them, from tainted cow brains, squirrel brains, or human brains (common in New Guinae) these mis-folded proteins can cause your normal brain proteins to mis-fold and your brain essentially turns into swiss cheese. Some really strange variations occur where folks laugh themselves to death, laughing uncontrollably into a frenzy till death. The other one, the one that scares me, is acute familial insomnia. The victims lose the ability to sleep, eventually going completely mad till death.
Neat stuff. Happy Halloween.
