Bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), commonly known as "mad cow disease," is a fatal disease that strikes the nervous system of cattle.
BSE is part of a group of diseases called prion diseases that occur in both animals and humans. The main animal forms are chronic wasting disease in deer, scrapie in sheep, and mad cow disease. In humans, there are three different prion diseases: Creutzfeldt-Jacob disease (CJD), also named sporadic CJD (sCJD), Gerstmann-Straussler-Scheinker disease, and fatal familial insomnia. In 1996, another form of CJD was identified; it has since been named "variant CJD" (vCJD). This variant form of CJD has been linked to the consumption of meat products infected with BSE.
Currently, no vaccine or treatment exists to treat BSE, and affected animals display a variety of neurological symptoms before they die (think of television reports showing cows having trouble standing up).
An animal with outward symptoms of BSE may survive for 2 weeks to 6 months, though it may have carried the disease for up to 8 years. BSE has an incubation period (the time between infection and development of symptoms) ranging from ranging from 4 to 6 years, which is a long time for a disease to remain undetected.
Scientists believe that BSE is most often spread through the practice of feeding cattle various meats (rendered material) from slaughtered animals such as sheep, goats, and other cattle.
During this process, an abnormal protein that is linked to BSE can spread from a slaughtered diseased animal to a healthy one. This abnormal protein, called a prion, can withstand high temperatures and does not get destroyed during the rendering procedure. Since the incubation period for BSE is so long, it is possible for an infected animal to enter the food chain before the symptoms appear.
Proteins are long molecules that are folded up into particular shapes. A prion is folded differently from a normal protein, and it can cause normal proteins to change and fold abnormally. When this happens, the proteins (normally found in liquid form in cells) begin to solidify.
The cells most often infected are the brain cells. The resulting solidification of the proteins causes the infected brain tissues to look like a sponge with several tiny holes, hence the name "spongiform encephalopathy."
There is no cure, treatment, or vaccine for BSE, CJD, or vCJD.
The best way to prevent the disease is to avoid feeding cattle rendered material from slaughtered animals, and to isolate and destroy all infected animals. Most countries have developed policies for monitoring BSE in their cattle herds and procedures for dealing promptly and thoroughly with BSE cases when they do arise.
Canada is continuing to work to prevent and control BSE:
All material copyright MediResource Inc. 1996 – 2025. Terms and conditions of use. The contents herein are for informational purposes only. Always seek the advice of your physician or other qualified health provider with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition. Source: www.medbroadcast.com/condition/getcondition/Bovine-Spongiform-Encephalopathy
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