Aviation specialist Lito Sousa, 59, has been diagnosed with Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD), a rare and fatal brain disorder, his wife, businesswoman Mila Seidl, confirmed in August 2026.
According to the family, the content producer has experienced progressive loss of bodily movement, though he has remained lucid. He was discharged from a hospital in São Paulo and is now being cared for at home.
What is CJD and what are its symptoms?
Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease is a rare, neurodegenerative and fatal brain disorder caused by an infectious agent called a prion, an abnormal and highly resistant protein particle that damages brain tissue, giving the organ a spongy appearance.
CJD causes rapid cognitive and psychomotor decline. Its initial clinical picture commonly includes:
- Loss of motor coordination (ataxia) and tremors
- Involuntary muscle spasms (myoclonus) and paralysis
- Memory loss, mental disturbance and dementia
- Language and vision disorders, fatigue and sleep disturbances
What causes Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease?
The vast majority of CJD cases, around 85% of those recorded worldwide, are sporadic, meaning the exact cause is unknown and there is no known pattern of transmission or family history involved.
Other recognized forms include the hereditary type, accounting for between 5% and 15% of cases and linked to familial genetic mutations, and the iatrogenic type, making up less than 1% of cases, associated with accidental contamination through invasive procedures or infected surgical equipment.
In very rare cases, contamination stems from eating beef affected by bovine spongiform encephalopathy, known as mad cow disease. CJD is not spread through everyday social contact or airborne transmission.
Most patients die within a year
There is currently no therapy capable of reversing or halting the progression of Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease. About 90% of those affected die within a year of their first clinical symptoms.
For that reason, medical guidance focuses on multidisciplinary palliative support to ease pain and manage the patient's neurological symptoms.
