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Mad cow disease is a livestock disease that attacks the central nervous system and can be transmitted to humans who eat contaminated meat. It is caused by a misshapen protein called a prion and has been controlled by eliminating nervous system tissue in cattle feed. There is no treatment for the disease or human nvCJD.
Mad cow disease, officially known as bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), is a disease of livestock that attacks the central nervous system. That is, it moves through the spinal cord and brain, literally killing brain cells and leaving holes in the brain. The visible effects of this disease are erratic, or insane, behavior in the infected cow, hence the name mad cow disease. Mad cow disease can be transmitted to humans who eat contaminated meat from an infected cow. This makes the disease doubly threatening: it endangers food supplies and individual human lives.
In the late 1980s, BSE was first found in British cattle. It is thought to have entered the cattle population via a similar disease affecting sheep. At the time, the byproducts of slaughtered sheep and cows were added to livestock feed to increase the amount of protein they consumed, and this practice is believed to have led to disease in cattle.
Humans who eat contaminated meat acquire a related disease called new variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (nvCJD), a neurological disease with similar progression and effects in humans to mad cow disease in cattle. Over 150 people in Europe, mostly in Britain, have been infected and died from the human form of the disease. Because the infectious agent that causes BSE can lie dormant for a number of years, putting the pieces of the puzzle together took some time, but the disease is now believed to be transmitted via a misshapen protein called a prion. This agent exists in nervous system tissues, so meat that does not come from these tissues, i.e., animal brain and spinal tissue, is likely safe.
Mad cow disease has been controlled in recent decades by eliminating the use of nervous system tissue in cattle feed and ground meat products such as hamburgers and sausages. There have been several cases of mad cow disease in the United States recently, but they have been isolated and are thought to have been contained. There is currently no treatment for the disease or human nvCJD. In areas where the food chain is suspect, avoid eating ground beef or dishes that include animal brains.
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