Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy

{
  "id": "MLC-T-ENV-003601",
  "term": "Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy",
  "field": "Environment",
  "definition": "1. A transmissible encephalopathy of cattle characterized by a spongiform structure of the brain tissue, and associated with abnormal prion proteins in the brain.\n\n2. Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE) and Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease (CJD) belong to the unusual group of progressively degenerative neurological diseases known as transmissible spongiform encephalopathies (TSEs). TSE diseases are characterized by long incubation periods ranging from several months for transmissible mink encephalopathy, to several years for BSE. During the incubation period there is no visible indication of the disease.\n\n3. Commonly known as “mad cow disease,” BSE is a slowly progressive, incurable disease affecting the central nervous system of cattle, first diagnosed in the United Kingdom in 1986. BSE belongs to a family of diseases known as the transmissible spongiform encephalopathies (TSEs). Consumption by cattle of animal feed containing TSE-contaminated ruminant protein has been cited as one possible means of transmission. Scientific evidence supports a causal relationship between BSE outbreaks in Europe and more than 120 recent European cases of a human TSE, variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease (vCJD). TSE animal diseases are found in the United States, including scrapie in sheep and goats and chronic wasting disease in deer and elk. Since 1989, USDA has prohibited the importation of live ruminants from countries where BSE is known to exist in native cattle. In 1997, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) prohibited the use of most mammalian protein in ruminant feeds.",
  "abbreviation": "BSE",
  "references": [
    "USDA National Agricultural Library",
    "FDA Bad Bug Book",
    "USDA Food Safety and Inspection Service Glossary"
  ],
  "url": "https://mlchart.com/terminology/environment/bovine-spongiform-encephalopathy/"
}