How is it related to mad cow disease?
Both are in a family of diseases called transmissible spongiform encephalopathies (TSE). Mad cow disease is the common name for bovine spongiform encephalopathy or BSE, which affects cattle. Other TSEs in animals are scrapie in sheep, transmissible mink encephalopathy, and feline spongiform encephalopathy in cats. There are several human TSEs: classic Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, new variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, fatal familial insomnia, Gertstmass-Straussler-Scheinker disease, and kuru.
