Mad Cow Disease

Mad Cow Disease

News: Brazil has halted its beef exports to China after a case of mad cow disease was confirmed in the northern state of Para.

About:
 It is also known as bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE).
 It is a transmissible, slowly progressive, degenerative, and fatal disease which affects the central nervous system of adult cattle.
 It is caused by a protein called a prion. When this protein gets altered, it destroys the nervous system tissue- the brain and spinal cord.
 A cow gets BSE by eating feed contaminated with parts that came from another cow that was sick with BSE.

Symptoms:
 A common sign of BSE in cows is incoordination. A sick cow has trouble walking and getting up. It usually takes four to six years from the time a cow is infected with the abnormal prion to when it first shows symptoms of BSE.
 There are no vaccines available for this disease.