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Standing Cow

The give-and-take BSE is short but it stands for a disease with a long name, bovine spongiform encephalopathy.  "Bovine" means that the illness affects cows, "spongiform" refers to the mode the brain from a sick cow looks spongy nether a microscope, and "encephalopathy" indicates that it is a disease of the brain. BSE is unremarkably chosen "mad cow disease."

What is BSE?

BSE is a progressive neurologic disease of cows.  Progressive means that it gets worse over fourth dimension.  Neurologic means that it amercement a cow's central nervous organization (brain and spinal cord).

What Causes BSE?

Nearly scientists think that BSE is caused by a poly peptide called a prion.  For reasons that are not completely understood, the normal prion protein changes into an abnormal prion poly peptide that is harmful.  The trunk of a sick moo-cow does not even know the abnormal prion is in that location.  Without knowing information technology is there, the moo-cow's body cannot fight off the illness.

What are the Signs of BSE in Cows?

A mutual sign of BSE in cows is incoordination. A ill moo-cow has trouble walking and getting up.  A sick cow may likewise act very nervous or violent, which is why BSE is often called "mad moo-cow disease."

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.  This is chosen the incubation catamenia.  During the incubation period, there is no way to tell that a cow has BSE by looking at it.  Once a cow starts to show symptoms, it gets sicker and sicker until it dies, usually inside ii weeks to half dozen months.  In that location is no handling for BSE and no vaccine to prevent it.

Currently, in that location is no reliable manner to test for BSE in a live cow.  After a cow dies, scientists can tell if it had BSE by looking at its brain tissue under a microscope and seeing the spongy appearance.  Scientists can also tell if a cow had BSE past using test kits that can notice the abnormal prion in the brain.

slide of cow brain - healthy cow

Slide of brain tissue - cow with BSE

Encephalon from a salubrious cow, as seen under a microscope using special stains.

Photograph courtesy of Dr. Katie Kelly, Johns Hopkins University

Encephalon from a moo-cow sick with BSE, as seen under a microscope using special stains. The large white spaces are similar the "holes" of a sponge.

Photo courtesy of the late Dr. Al Jenny, USDA

How Does a Cow Become BSE?

baby calf lying down

The parts of a cow that are not eaten by people are cooked, dried, and ground into a powder. The powder is then used for a variety of purposes, including as an ingredient in animal feed. A cow gets BSE by eating feed contaminated with parts that came from another cow that was sick with BSE. The contaminated feed contains the abnormal prion, and a cow becomes infected with the abnormal prion when it eats the feed.  If a cow gets BSE, it most probable ate the contaminated feed during its beginning year of life.  Remember, if a cow becomes infected with the aberrant prion when information technology is one-year-old, it usually volition non show signs of BSE until it is 5-years-old or older.

Can People Get BSE?

People can get a version of BSE called variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (vCJD).  As of 2019, 232 people worldwide are known to have become ill with vCJD, and unfortunately, they all take died. It is thought that they got the illness from eating nutrient made from cows sick with BSE. Almost of the people who have become sick with vCJD lived in the Uk at some bespeak in their lives. Only four lived in the U.Southward., and most probable, these four people became infected when they were living or traveling overseas.

Neither vCJD nor BSE is contagious. This means that it is non like catching a common cold.  A person (or a cow) cannot catch information technology from existence near a ill person or cow.  Also, research studies take shown that people cannot get BSE from drinking milk or eating dairy products, even if the milk came from a sick cow.

What is the FDA Doing to Proceed Your Food Prophylactic?

The U.South. Food and Drug Assistants (FDA) is doing many things to keep the nutrient in the U.South. safe for both people and cows.  Since August 1997, the FDA has not allowed virtually parts from cows and sure other animals to exist used to make food that is fed to cows.  This protects healthy cows from getting BSE by making sure that the food they consume is not contaminated with the abnormal prion.

cows at feed trough

boxer eating from a pet dish

In April 2009, the FDA took additional steps to brand sure the food in the U.S. stays rubber.  Sure high-chance moo-cow parts are non allowed to be used to make any animal feed, including pet food.  This prevents all fauna feed from existence accidentally contaminated with the abnormal prion.  High-hazard cow parts are those parts of the moo-cow that accept the highest chance of existence infected with the aberrant prion, such equally the brains and spinal cords from cows that are 30 months of age or older.

By keeping the nutrient that is fed to cows safe, the FDA is protecting people by making certain that the food they swallow comes from healthy cows.

meat

The FDA too works with the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) to keep cows in the U.S. healthy and costless of BSE. The USDA prevents high-adventure cows and cow products from entering the U.Southward. from other countries.  The USDA also makes sure that high-chance cow parts, such as the brains and spinal cords, and cows that are unable to walk or that evidence other signs of illness are not used to make nutrient for people.

The steps the FDA and USDA have taken to preclude cows in the U.S. from getting BSE are working very well.  Merely six cows with BSE have been found in the U.S. The kickoff instance was reported in 2003 and the most contempo instance was found in August 2018.

It is worth noting that there are two types of BSE, classical and atypical. Classical is caused past contaminated feed fed to cows. Singular is rarer and happens spontaneously, usually in cows viii-years-one-time or older. Of the six U.S. cows found with BSE, five were singular. The only example of classical BSE in the U.S. was the first one, in 2003, in a cow imported from Canada.

Tin can Other Animals Go BSE?

cat standing next to food dish

Sheep, goats, mink, deer, and elk can get sick with their own versions of BSE.  Cats are the only mutual household pet known to have a version of BSE.  It is called feline spongiform encephalopathy, and the same things that are beingness done to protect people and cows are also protecting cats. No cat in the U.S. has ever been found to have this affliction.

How Can I Get More than Information?

  • Contact the FDA's Middle for Veterinary Medicine at 240-402-7002 or AskCVM@fda.hhs.gov.
  • U.S. Section of Agriculture, BSE Often Asked Questions
  • Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob Illness (vCJD)
  • Centers for Affliction Control and Prevention, BSE Cases Identified in the U.s.
  • University of Edinburgh, The National CJD Research & Surveillance Unit (NCJDRSU)