How does mad cow disease threaten human health?
Bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE, also known as mad cow disease) has surfaced in Great Britain, France, Switzerland, Canada, Spain, Germany, Japan, Russia, and, as of December 22, 2003, in the United States. Health authorities consider it to be the most likely cause of a new variant of Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (vCJD), a fatal brain disease that has affected more than 130 people worldwide.
