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Bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), commonly known as mad cow disease, is an incurable and invariably fatal neurodegenerative disease of cattle. [2] Symptoms include abnormal behavior, trouble walking, and weight loss. [1] Later in the course of the disease, the cow becomes unable to function normally. [1]
Creutzfeldt–Jakob disease (CJD), also known as subacute spongiform encephalopathy or neurocognitive disorder due to prion disease, is a fatal neurodegenerative disease. [ 4 ] [ 1 ] Early symptoms include memory problems, behavioral changes, poor coordination, and visual disturbances. [ 4 ]
TSEs in non-human mammals include scrapie in sheep, bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) in cattle – popularly known as "mad cow disease" – and chronic wasting disease (CWD) in deer and elk. The variant form of Creutzfeldt–Jakob disease in humans is caused by exposure to bovine spongiform encephalopathy prions. [4] [5] [6]
Nowadays, the epidemic is almost completely under control, despite 37 bovine cases still being diagnosed in the UK in 2008. On 23 March 2016, a new case of mad cow disease was detected in France in the Ardennes department. This is the third isolated case of BSE of this type detected in Europe since 2015. [2]
Kuru, a transmissible spongiform encephalopathy, is a disease of the nervous system that causes physiological and neurological effects which ultimately lead to death. It is characterized by progressive cerebellar ataxia, or loss of coordination and control over muscle movements. [11] [12]
Variant Creutzfeldt–Jakob disease (vCJD), formerly known as New variant Creutzfeldt–Jakob disease (nvCJD) and referred to colloquially as "mad cow disease" or "human mad cow disease" to distinguish it from its BSE counterpart, is a fatal type of brain disease within the transmissible spongiform encephalopathy family. [7]
Following the ongoing eradication effort, only seven cases of bovine spongiform encephalopathy were reported worldwide in 2013: three in the United Kingdom, two in France, one in Ireland and one in Poland. This is the lowest number of cases since at least 1988.
Encephalopathy is a difficult term because it can be used to denote either a disease or finding (i.e., an observable sign in a person). [citation needed] When referring to a finding, encephalopathy refers to permanent (or degenerative) [11] brain injury, or a reversible one. It can be due to direct injury to the brain, or illness remote from ...