Health minister Chikara Sakaguchi on Thursday downplayed concerns over media reports that a teenage girl in a Tokyo hospital has new variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (vCJD), a fatal brain-wasting illness linked to mad cow disease.

"Some of her symptoms are similar (to those of the disease) but there are also some symptoms that are different, so it cannot be fully determined," Sakaguchi told the health, labor and welfare committee of the Diet's House of Councilors. "Presently, the implication that it is not vCJD is strong."

Sakaguchi was responding to a question by an Upper House member about a report that the girl showed symptoms of vCJD.

If confirmed, it would be the first case of the disease in Japan, following on the heels of last month's discovery of the first case of bovine spongiform encephalopathy, or mad cow disease.

The hospital contacted the ministry about the girl on Sept. 20 -- two days before a cow in Chiba Prefecture was confirmed as having contracted BSE.

The girl was then examined by CJD specialists, Sakaguchi said, adding that the specialists are expected to soon convene a committee. Hospital sources said Wednesday that the girl appears to have vCJD, though it is expected to take more than three months to confirm.

According to the sources, the girl was first admitted to a neurology hospital in the summer and was transferred to the general hospital last month after showing similar symptoms to CJD sufferers -- staggering, memory loss and dementia.

Classic CJD is a fatal brain disorder that causes rapid, progressive dementia and associated neuromuscular problems and usually affects older people. New variant CJD, however, hits younger people and is believed to be caused by eating food containing a protein linked to mad cow disease.

There are four main types of CJD -- one caused by hereditary transmission; one by transplants of dura mater, the fibrous membrane surrounding the brain and spinal cord; a variety without a known cause that sporadically occurs; and the new variant.

In the girl's case, the hospital ruled out the first two and, since the patient does not show the typical brain waves seen in the third variety, it believes she might be suffering from the new variant, the sources said.