Mad Cow Disease – What is it, Causes and Treatments!
Mad Cow Disease has a long incubation period of 2.5 to 5 years, usually affecting adult cattle with a maximum age of four to five years. Mad Cow Disease is caused by a misguided protein – a prion. [1] In the United Kingdom, the country most affected by an epidemic in 1986-1998, more than 180,000 cattle were infected and 4.4 million culled during the eradication programme.
Mad Cow Disease can most often be transmitted to humans who consume contaminated food. However, the infectious agent, while most highly concentrated in nerve tissue, can be found in virtually every tissue throughout the body, including blood .
Causes of Mad Cow Disease: Experts are still not sure what causes mad cow disease. The leading theory is that the disease is caused by infectious proteins called prions. In affected cows, these proteins are found in the brain , spinal cord, and small intestine. There is no evidence that prions are found in muscle meat (such as steak) or milk.
When a cow is slaughtered, parts of it are used for human food and other parts are used for animal feed. If an infected cow is slaughtered and its nerve tissue is used to feed cattle, other cows can become infected. People can get Mad Cow Disease if they eat brain , or spinal cord tissue, from infected cattle.
Symptoms of Mad Cow Disease: As Mad Cow Disease damages brain tissue, it has a variety of symptoms ranging from behavioral changes to problems with coordination. Cows with Mad Cow Disease may show nervousness or aggressive behavior, difficulty with coordination, trouble keeping, decreased milk production and weight loss. The disease is fatal, with death usually occurring 2 weeks to 6 months after the onset of symptoms.
Mad Cow Disease usually occurs in elderly patients with an average age of 67 years, but it has been reported in teenagers and people in the 90s. It is fatal after just a few months. Mad Cow Disease usually occurs in younger patients and lasts for about a year and a half.
Diagnoses of Mad Cow Disease: Live animals cannot be tested for the disease. The only way to confirm the presence of Mad Cow Disease is to check an animal’s brain tissueafter it dies. Upon examination, the brain is found to be filled with tiny holes, like a sponge.
In humans, there is a genetic test to determine if a person may be susceptible to Mad Cow Disease , but again, the only way to confirm the diagnosis is through a sample of brain tissue obtained through a biopsy or autopsy.
Mad Cow Disease Treatments: There is no cure, treatment or vaccine for Mad Cow Disease . The best way to prevent the disease is to avoid feeding animals produced by slaughtered animals and to isolate and destroy all infected animals. Most countries have developed policies to monitor their herds of livestock and procedures to promptly and thoroughly deal with cases of Mad Cow Disease when they arise.
To control the potential transmission of Mad Cow Disease in the United States, the American Red Cross has established strict restrictions on individuals’ eligibility to donate blood . Individuals who spent a cumulative time of 3 months or more in the UK between 1980 and 1996, or a cumulative time of 5 years or more from 1980 to the present in any combination of European countries, are prohibited from donating blood .