Mad Cow Disease: Documented Cases in North America

摘要

Bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), commonly called "mad cow disease," is a progressive neurologic disorder of cattle. It is classified as a transmissible spongiform encephalopathy and prion that induces abnormal folding of normal cellular prion proteins in the brain. This leads to brain damage that quickly progresses and is always fatal. There are long incubation periods (averaging five to six years), spongiform changes associated with neuronal loss, and a failure to induce inflammatory response.