Overview
What is mad cow disease, and does it infect people?
Mad cow disease is a fatal disease that
slowly destroys the brain and spinal cord (central nervous system) in cattle. It also is known as bovine spongiform encephalopathy,
or BSE.
People cannot get mad cow disease. But in rare cases they
may get a human form of mad cow disease called variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob
disease (vCJD), which is fatal.
This can happen if you eat nerve
tissue (the brain and spinal cord) of cattle that were infected with mad cow
disease. Over time, vCJD destroys the brain and spinal cord.
There
is no evidence that people can get mad cow disease or vCJD from eating muscle
meat-which is used for ground beef, roasts, and steaks-or from consuming milk
or milk products.
People with vCJD cannot spread it to others
through casual contact.
People who have spent a lot of time (at least 3 months) in places where mad cow disease has been found are not
allowed to give blood in the United States or Canada.footnote 2, footnote 1 This is to help prevent vCJD from
spreading.
What causes mad cow disease and variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (vCJD)?
Experts are not sure what causes mad cow disease
or vCJD.
The leading theory is that the disease is caused by infectious
proteins called prions (say "PREE-ons"). In affected cows, these proteins are
found in the brain, spinal cord, and small intestine. There is no proof that
prions are found in muscle meat (such as steak) or in milk.
When a
cow is slaughtered, parts of it are used for human food and other parts are
used in animal feed. If an infected cow is slaughtered and its nerve tissue is
used in cattle feed, other cows can become infected.
People can
get vCJD if they eat the brain or spinal cord tissue of infected cattle.
How common are mad cow disease and vCJD?
The first
case of vCJD was reported in 1996. Since then, there have been a few cases of
vCJD reported in the world. Most of the cases have been in countries that are
part of the United Kingdom (England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern
Ireland).
In December 2003, mad cow disease was discovered in one
cow in the United States. Before this cow was found to have the disease, the
cow was slaughtered and its muscle meat was sent to be sold in grocery stores.
But its organs and nerve tissue were not used for human food. Although mad cow
disease cannot be spread through muscle meat, the United States Department of
Agriculture (USDA) quickly traced the meat and removed it from grocery stores.
Since 2004, only three more cows
in the United States have been found to have mad cow disease. The most recent case of BSE was found in April 2012 in a cow in California.
What are the symptoms of vCJD?
Variant
Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (vCJD) causes the brain to become damaged over time.
It is fatal. Symptoms include:
- Tingling, burning, or prickling in the face,
hands, feet, and legs. But there are much more common illnesses that cause
these same symptoms. Having tingling in parts of your body does not mean you
have vCJD.
- Dementia.
- Psychotic behavior.
- Problems moving parts
of the body. As the disease gets worse, a person is no longer able to
walk.
- Coma.
If a person does eat nerve tissue from an infected
cow, he or she may not feel sick right away. The time it takes for symptoms to
occur after you're exposed to the disease is not known for sure, but experts
think it is years.
How is vCJD diagnosed?
There is no single test to
diagnose vCJD. Doctors may think that a person has vCJD based on where the
person has lived and the person's symptoms and past health. Imaging tests, such
as an
MRI, may be done to check for brain changes caused by
vCJD.
Researchers are now trying to develop a blood test that
looks for vCJD. But no blood test is available at this time.
A
brain biopsy is the only way to confirm a diagnosis of vCJD.
How is vCJD treated?
There is no cure for vCJD.
Treatment includes managing the symptoms that occur as the disease gets worse.