Bovine spongiform encephalitis

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Bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), commonly known as mad cow disease, is a neurodegenerative disease of cattle. Symptoms include abnormal behavior, trouble walking, and weight loss. Later in the course of the disease, the cow becomes unable to function normally. The time between infection and onset of symptoms is generally four to five years. Time from onset of symptoms to death is generally weeks to months. Spread to humans is believed to result in variant Creutzfeldt–Jakob disease (vCJD). As of 2018, a total of 231 cases of vCJD had been reported globally.

BSE is caused by an infection by abnormal proteins known as prions. Prions are able to reproduce themselves even though they do not contain nucleic acids. The underlying mechanism is believed to involve a normal protein that the prion comes into contact with and changes into a prion. Transmission between cows is by eating feed contaminated with tissues, such as brain and spinal cord, from those that are infected. The infectious agent is resistant to heat, radiation, and disinfectants. Diagnosis is generally based on symptoms and confirmed by examination of the brain. Cases are classified as classic or atypical, with the latter divided into H- and L-types. It is a type of transmissible spongiform encephalopathy (TSE). Other TSEs include Creutzfeldt–Jakob disease and kuru in humans, and scrapie in sheep.

Prevention is by banning feed containing meat and bone meal to cattle and improved testing before food distribution. Cases have been significantly reduced by these measures. There is no known treatment. It is not a common cause of disease in cattle. It has, however, had a large effect on the cattle industry in the United Kingdom (UK), where 180,000 cattle were infected and 4.4 million killed as a preventative measure. It has been mainly a problem in the UK, although cases have been reported in other countries. The disease was first identified in the UK in 1986.


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