ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) – State health officials said Monday an investigation found nothing unusual about the number of people who died of a rare, brain-wasting disorder in the Hudson Valley in the past year.

The state Health Department confirmed three people in two counties tested positive for Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, a rare, brain-destroying disorder that affects one in a million people worldwide.

“Based on our findings, at this point, we see no public health threat to the community,” said William Van Slyke, a department spokesman.

Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease gained national attention in recent years because it has been linked to eating beef tainted with mad cow disease. State health officials said none of the confirmed CJD cases are mad cow-related.

The state investigation comes after reports of five suspected CJD deaths in the mid-Hudson Valley. Two confirmed CJD deaths occurred in Ulster County in 2003 and 2004. The third death happened in Dutchess County in 2004.

One of the suspected deaths in Ulster County was ruled out after further tests. Health officials said another Ulster County death is inconclusive because an autopsy was never performed. Health officials said that victim was already ill before moving to the county.