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Online Conference MCW

Mad cow disease or bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) is a progressive, neurodegenerative disease in cattle. In 1996, British scientists determined that BSE was a threat to the human food supply when individuals suspected of having eaten BSEtainted beef developed a similar fatal disease called "new variant CruetzfeldJacob disease" (nvCJD). No treatment or protective vaccine exists for BSE and, historically, it has only been diagnosable after death. Once suspected BSE animals are destroyed, their brains are examined for the architectural destruction (i.e., vacuolation and fibril formation) seen in the disease. Some agencies and research facilities also test for the presence of an abnormal protein associated with BSE, the prion PrP(res) protein.

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