Mad Cow Disease

Mad cow disease also called Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy. The scary part about this disease is that it cannot be detected easily. This disease would not be destroyed by any forms of heat treatments, ultraviolet light, ionizing radiation, normal sterilization processes, and common disinfectants that normally inactivate viruses and bacteria. Thus, it is very important to identify this disease before the beef are distributed for exports and for consumption. Tests are usually conducted using the brain/spinal tissues using postmortem microscopic examination of brain tissue using sophisticated laboratory techniques, such as a histopathological examination to detect sponge-like changes in the brain tissue and immunohistochemistry to examine the BSE fibrils. This test would take more than one week to collect the results, thus, there are more rapid tests to detect the abnormal prion in brain or spinal cord tissue of dead animals. Rapid tests can be used to determine if BSE exists in a population and to obtain an indication of its prevalence or detect animals with the disease which are not yet showing clinical signs. The behavioral changes of the cattles also could be monitored to provide early diagnose of cattles that are probably with MCD to prevent the disease from being transmitted, infecting the whole farm. Cattle affected by BSE experience progressive degeneration of the nervous system. Affected animals might display changes in temperament, such as nervousness or aggression, abnormal posture, incoordination and difficulty in rising, decreased milk production, or loss of body weight despite continued appetite.

If beef with MCD is consumed by human, it could cause fatility. There is strong epidemiologic and laboratory data linking a rare, degenerative, fatal brain disorder in humans called variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease (vCJD) to the consumption of BSE-contaminated product. This type of disease begins primarily with psychiatric symptoms and affects younger patients (median age, 28 years).

http://www.fsis.usda.gov/FactSheets/Bovine_Spongiform_Encephalopathy_Mad_Cow_Disease/index.asp