Mad Cow Disease: Mad Cow Disease

637 Words2 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Mad cow disease in 1985

Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy is more commonly known to humans as Mad Cow Disease or BSE. BSE originated from scrapie or Endemic Spongiform Encephalopathy, which is a disease that has affected mostly sheep and goats. BSE is an illness that attacks the brain and spinal cord of adult cattle due to an infection by a transmissible agent known as a prion. Once affected by BSE cattle began to develop strange behavior such as aggression, lack of coordination with the inability to stand or walk, and abnormal posture; hence the name Mad Cow Disease (1).
Why BSE Should Be Eradicated-
-BSE is a fatal disease-
BSE has been seen to progress very slowly in relation to other diseases, however is very contagious and fatal for not only cattle, but humans as well. While many diseases that are transmittable from animals to humans will affect the young or older humans, the median age of those infected with Mad Cow Disease is 26 (2). BSE has been linked to a fatal brain disease in humans referred to as variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease or vCJD. Eating meat from an infected cow is what many presume to be the cause of vCJD in humans (3). Symptoms include movement deficits, memory disturbances and cognitive impairments, all of which lead to an eventual death. The majority of the BSE cases reported have primarily been outside of the United States; from 2003 to 2012 23 cases were identified in North America, 4 of which in the United States (1). This may seem to be a small amount, however because it is believed to be transmitted through the meat of cattle it can be extremely dangerous and be shipped all over the United States before it is ever identified.
-BSE Symptoms Progress very Rapidly-
Rapid symptom progression is one of the most important clues ...

... middle of paper ...

...animal feed. These high risk substances come from the brains and spinal cords of cattle that are at least 30 months of age or older. Since the feed ban in 1988 the amount of reported cases has significantly dropped. In 1998, it came down to 1,567 reported cases. Last year, 4,454 new cases had been reported, compared to 37,301 new cases at the peak of the BSE disease in 1992. BSE can eventually be eradicated if there is no other significant source of infection (6).
In Conclusion-
-The Future Looks Bright-
With the current steps to prevent a BSE outbreak and control the spread of such a fatal disease, only case has been reported in the United States, which did not have an affect on the food supply or cause a human to receive the vCJD. These current steps with the continued research will eradicate Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy and variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease.

Show More
Related

  • Beef's Argument Over Grain-Fed Cattle

    1665 Words  | 4 Pages

    Makousky, David Tangley, Laura Loeb, Penny Holstein, William J. Thorton, Jeannye, "Hay feed might stop infections from meat." U.S. News & World Report 125.11(1998): middlesearchplus. EBSCO.web.27.Oct.2011

    Read More

  • Essay On Corn Subsidies

    669 Words  | 2 Pages

    ...in the market. Diversified mid-sized family farms used to produce most of our meat, but now, only a few companies control the livestock industry. This has resulted in driving family farmers out of the market and replacing them with massive confined feeding operations that subject the animals to terrible living conditions that subject our food to contamination. Major food corporations are only concerned with minimizing overhead in order to deliver the consumer cheap food, regardless of the health implications.

    Read More

  • Errors In The Hot Zone

    1067 Words  | 3 Pages

    The medical field is a vast land of beauty, but with great beauty comes immense horror. There are many deadly viruses and diseases found in the medical field. In the novel, The Hot Zone by Richard Preston, the author discusses the many deadly viruses found in the field. The viruses are widespread due to the errors that occur when the viruses are in the presence of human beings. The effects of the errors performed by the human race include a decrease in population and wildlife.

    Read More

  • The Horrifying Details of Mad Cow Disease

    2561 Words  | 6 Pages

    Mad Cow Disease, scientifically referred to as (BSE) Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy, is a disease that affects those humans who eat the meat from infected cows. Mad Cow Disease is one of several fatal brain diseases called (TSE) Transmissible Spongiform Encephalopathy. (USDA) There was evidence of a new illness resembling the sheep disease scrapie. It was technically named BSE but quickly acquired the mad cow tag because of the way infected cattle behave. (CNN) In 1997, there was an award given to Stanley Prusiner, for concluding that a distorted protein called a prion was responsible for Mad Cow Disease, noted the long incubation period made it difficult to distinguish (Bryant). Another name for Mad Cow Disease is the new variant Cruetzfeldt-Jakob Disease (vCJD), similar to the Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease, which is a deadly brain illness that strikes about one per million per year (USDA) due to genetic or unknown causes while the vCJD is contracted from eating infected cows (USDA). Both CJD and vCJD are so similarly named because of the similar effects from the illness.

    Read More

  • Mad Cow Disease: Eradicating A Cow Killer

    517 Words  | 2 Pages

    Mad cow disease is caused by prions, "weird mutant proteins that are found in brain and spinal tissue"1. Another name for mad cow disease is called bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) and the definition is "a progressive neurological disorder of cattle that results from infection by an unusual transmissible agent called a prion"2. It started from what is called a prion protein then it turned into a pathogenic, and then it starts to damaged the brain of a cattle. There's another name for this disease and it's called Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease "a form of progressive dementia characterized by loss of nerve cells and degeneration of nerve cell membranes leading to the production of small holes in the brain. It is rare, degenerative, and invariably fatal"3. This disease happen in human causing lapses in the memory, mood swings similar to depression, lack of interest and social withdrawal3. It is said that this disease has no tr...

    Read More

  • Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD)

    1090 Words  | 3 Pages

    Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD) is a fatal neuro-degenerative, transmissible spongiform encephalopathy (TSE) of the family Cervidae (Hamir, et.al., 2006). The family Cervidae includes mule deer, Odocolileus hemionus, white-tailed deer, Odocolileus virginianus, Rocky Mountain elk, Cervus elaphus nelsoni, and moose, Alces alces shirasi, among others (Sigurdon & Aguzzi, 2007). CWD is a prion disease, meaning it is a protein caused infection, that occurs naturally in the deer family (Song & Lawson, 2009). This protein is suspected to be an abnormal isoform (PrPSc) of the naturally occurring host prion protein (PrPC) (Blanchong, et. Al., 2009). Bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), mad cow disease, is a similar prion effecting cattle as CWD affects Cervidae. Although, scientists are not sure of transmission route it is suspected that CWD is transmissible and infectious through direct contact with infected individuals or through environmental contamination (Song & Lawson, 2009). Tests have been performed showing susceptibility of altered mice to oral transmission, mimicking the suspected route of entry, and the incubation appears slower but lasts longer with oral infection (Trifilo, et.al., 2007). The approximate time from the initial infection to death is three years.

    Read More

  • Is it Ethical to Use Growth Hormones on Cattle?

    2433 Words  | 5 Pages

    A growing issue in the world today is the use of antibiotics and growth hormones in the animal production industry. However, for over sixty years, Americans have been exposed to hormones on a regular basis when they consume beef. Organic Consumer Association: On average, eighty percent of all feedlot cattle are given hormones to help them grow at an increased rate. (Communication Foundation) “In 1988 the European Union banned the use of all hormone growth promoters.” (Organic Consumer Association)

    Read More

  • Effects of the Bluetongue Virus on Cattle

    872 Words  | 2 Pages

    Normally, cows in Northern Europe in places such as Denmark live normal lives simply grazing on grass, and existing. However, there have been recent changes that have disrupted this normal activity. Generally the bluetongue virus (spread by Culicoides imicola, a biting midge) has been confined to Southern Europe and other places around the Mediterranean. But with the increase in temperature throughout the area, the midge has been allowed to migrate northward. This new pest is a nuisance and causes lots of difficulties to farmers in the area. When a cow contracts this disease, they usually also receive oral ulcers, salivation, stiffness, fever and eventually the inevitable- death (Merck Veterinary Manual NP). Because of the increase in temperature, midges have spread around the globe infecting livestock and creating terrible trouble for many farmers.

    Read More

  • Yellow Fever and its Impact on the Spanish-Cuban-American War

    1843 Words  | 4 Pages

    Yellow fever is a horrible disease for those who begin to show symptoms, and while that number is low, of those who do become ill 50% die; only after having two rounds ...

    Read More

  • Mad Cow Disease

    854 Words  | 2 Pages

    Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy or Mad Cow Disease (BSE), degenerative brain disorder of cattle. Symptoms in cows include loss of coordination and a typical staggering gait. Affected animals also show signs of senility, for example, lack of interest in their surroundings, the abandonment of routine habits, disinterest in feed and water, or unpredictable behavior. Affected cattle show symptoms when they are three to ten years old.

    Read More

  • Chronic Wasting Disease

    1491 Words  | 3 Pages

    Chronic Wasting Disease is a highly transmissible, deadly neurodegenerative disease that affects cervids in North America (Belay et al., 2004; Saunders et al., 2012). There are only four types of cervid that are known to get this disease which include elk, mule deer, white-tailed deer, and moose (Chronic Wasting Disease Alliance). It has been classified has a transmissible spongiform encephalopathy (TSE), otherwise known as a prion disease (Belay et al., 2004). A prion is an irregular, pathogenic agent that causes abnormal folding of specific proteins called prion proteins. These proteins are mostly located in the brain (Chronic Wasting Disease Alliance). The abnormal folding of this protein causes neurodegenerative diseases in a variety of species including humans, sheep, cattle, and deer (Abrams et al., 2011).

    Read More

  • Bacteria, Viruses, and Prions

    758 Words  | 2 Pages

    Prions are pathogens, and cause infections, like viruses. Prions cause many neurodegenerative diseases, but are made up of harmless proteins found in mammals and birds. The proteins are not in their normal form though, and once they enter the human brain, can cause severe brain infections. One thing that makes them different from viruses, is the lack of nucleic acids, which means they have no genetic code. Once in the brain, they make normal proteins turn into abnormal ones, which then multiply, causing severe infection. Soon, holes appear in the brain that can only be treated by incineration. An example of a disease caused by a prion would be the Mad Cow Disease, or the human equivalent Creutzfeldt–Jakob disease. Prions are very dangerous. While some people can confuse prions and viruses, there are some ways to tell the difference.

    Read More

  • Food Deserves Labels

    1489 Words  | 3 Pages

    Center for food Safety. “New peer reviewed study on gmo pig feed reveals adverse effects.” N.P., 11 June 2013

    Read More

  • Healthier being a meat-eater or a vegetarian

    726 Words  | 2 Pages

    What the American culture is used to is eating three meals with a few snacks in between a day, and two out of the three meals usually involve eating meat. Most people don’t realize the risks of eating meat. Today’s medical experts say that avoiding meat helps you avoid saturated fat. They have found out from studies that women who eat meat daily have a fifty percent greater risk of developing heart disease than vegetarian women and a sixty-eight percent greater risk in men (staff writer). People may not know about serious diseases meat can obtain such as, mad cow disease and foot-and-mouth disease. In the September 1999 issue of the Emerging Infectious Diseases, approximately 76 million food borne illnesses- resulting in 325,000 hospitalizations and 5,000 deaths occur in the United States each year from improperly cooked or diseased meat (Licher). That is a lot! You can also get salmonella poisoning from meat. People think that the problems come from eating red meat and are opting for fish over steak, but new evidence proves that fish can cause health problems too, risks that can’t be cooked away. This is a growing problem called histamine poisoning (Peck). Children are learning at a younger age that they don’t like meat, maybe because they don’t like the taste, or maybe it’s because they have a fear of eating their favorite cartoon or movie hero. For example, the pig from the movie “babe”.

    Read More

  • Argument Against Eating Meat

    436 Words  | 1 Pages

    Cows are naturally very gentle and calm creatures. These smart and sweet natured animals have been known to go to great lengths to escape slaughterhouses. More than forty-one million of these sensitive animals suffer and die a painful death each year in the United States. When cows are still very young they are burned with hot irons, there testicles are torn or cut off, all without painkillers. Most beef cattle are born in one state, live in another, and are slaughtered in another. The cows who survive the gruesome transportation process are shot in the head with a bolt gun, hung upside down by there legs, and taken onto the killing floor where there throats

    Read More

More about Mad Cow Disease: Mad Cow Disease

Open Document