How is mad cow disease spread?

•Mad cow disease was first reported in the United Kingdom in 1986, peaking in 1993 with almost 1,000 new cases per week. •In 1996, variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease (vCJD) was detected in humans and linked to the mad cow epidemic. Eating contaminated meat and cattle products is presumed to be the cause. read more

Mad cow disease is caused by an altered protein called a prion, Prions are only found in nervous tissue. The spread off Mad Cow disease in cattle is caused by feeding cows feed that is contaminated by brain or nervous system tissue. read more

Bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), commonly known as mad cow disease, is a transmissible spongiform encephalopathy and fatal neurodegenerative disease in cattle that may be passed to humans who have eaten infected flesh. BSE causes a spongiform degeneration of the brain and spinal cord. read more