Mad Cow Disease Essay
Bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) is commonly known as mad cow disease. This is a neurodegenerative disease that causes spongy deterioration of the brain and spinal cord in cattle. The neurodegeneration is slow, progressive and fatal. The ultimate fate of a cow infected with this disease is most likely death. This disease is easily transmitted and is spread through ingesting an infected cow’s nervous tissue. When cows are slaughtered portions of the meat are used for either people food or for cow food. The infected meat carries the disease and because many cows can be slaughtered at a time, the infection can easily be spread from one cow to hundreds in a matter of days. Prions which cause the disease are only found in live nervous tissues,
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This variant is very fatal and can cause the deterioration of the brain and spinal cord in humans. The chance of getting this disease now is very uncommon as people who work with cows frequently, properly dispose of infected cow tissue. People who work with cows are also not allowed to donate blood in the U.S because the blood can potentially spread the disease into the nervous system and cause a new pandemic. The first reported cause of vCJD was in 1996 and hasn’t really been a problem throughout the years. There was one case in 2012 but the meat was properly disposed of by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). Testing for the disease can be difficult because there are only small traces of prion protein in the blood or urine so the only reliable test comes from a necropsy. However, with newer technology, detecting the disease has come a little be easier because technology has become more developed and sensitive when it comes to detecting the disease. Prevention is the best chance at keeping the disease at bay, countries place a ban on feeding meat and bone to cattle to greatly reduce the chances of spreading infected meat. In disease free countries, controlling the imports and feeding regulations are the best ways at reducing the spread of this
This variant is very fatal and can cause the deterioration of the brain and spinal cord in humans. The chance of getting this disease now is very uncommon as people who work with cows frequently, properly dispose of infected cow tissue. People who work with cows are also not allowed to donate blood in the U.S because the blood can potentially spread the disease into the nervous system and cause a new pandemic. The first reported cause of vCJD was in 1996 and hasn’t really been a problem throughout the years. There was one case in 2012 but the meat was properly disposed of by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). Testing for the disease can be difficult because there are only small traces of prion protein in the blood or urine so the only reliable test comes from a necropsy. However, with newer technology, detecting the disease has come a little be easier because technology has become more developed and sensitive when it comes to detecting the disease. Prevention is the best chance at keeping the disease at bay, countries place a ban on feeding meat and bone to cattle to greatly reduce the chances of spreading infected meat. In disease free countries, controlling the imports and feeding regulations are the best ways at reducing the spread of this