What is Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE)?
BSE is a chronic degenerative disease that affects the central nervous system (brain & spinal cord) of cattle, first diagnosed in cattle in Great Britain in 1986. BSE belongs to a family of diseases known as Transmissible Spongiform Encephalopathies (TSEs) These TSEs include scrapie (sheep & goats), transmissible mink encephalopathy, feline spongiform encephalopathy (cats), chronic wasting disease of elk and mule deer, and BSE in cattle. Humans have a number of TSEs also and these include kuru, Creutzfeldt Jakob Disease (CJD), Fatal Familial Insomnia, Gerstmann Straussler syndrome (in humans). The clinical signs or symptoms in cattle appear as nervousness or aggression, abnormal posture, incoordination, weight loss, difficulty rising, progressing to death. There is no treatment for these conditions and currently there are no vaccines available for prevention. How is BSE recognized or diagnosed? BSE cannot be confirmed in the live animal it has signs similar to rabies, polioencephalomal
