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Makes them Mad by deteriorating the nerves in the brain.
The Mad Cow Disease is a Prion Illness. A Prion is a protein or part of a protein.
As of such, the "disease" is not alive, much the same as a virus, of which is neither alive.
A Bacteria is a living tiny creature with the ability to multiply by itself when given nutrient's.
A Virus is in need of a host where it tricks its host (a living cell) to create copies of itself.
A Prion illness is more a sort of chemical illness that does its work chemically.
This particular Prion Illness eat away chemically on fat-tissue and creates chemical copies of itself in the process.
All nerve tissue is isolated by a thin layer of fat. These "nasty" prions "eat" away this protective layer in a chemical reaction causing nerves to shortcut. All animals have a brain where there is a lot of nerves. This is where the disease causes the most devastating effect because the brain is actually being shortcut. Electrical impulses in the brain does no longer work the way they are intended.
This causes a cow (or any other affected animal, even humans) to act strangely and lose control of its ability to do normal things, such as walk and think straight. An infected cow would act "mad," which sometimes means mentally ill, of which it actually is in the worst possible context when the brain deteriorate...
A bit crude explanation but to the point.
Note.
It works the same way in all affected animals, humans included.
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∙ 13y ago
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What happens to cows that have mad cow disease?
they go mad
Where did mad cow disease come from?
Researchers are not completely sure how cows get mad cow disease, but they believe it comes from certain food that was given to cows. Some of this food contains the remains of dead cows that had the infection causing the cows that are eating it to get the infection. Mad cow disease affects the cows brain causing them to go "mad."
What type of beast has Mad Cow Disease?
Cows.
How do cows get mad cow disease?
Mad cow disease happens when the proteins in the brain of cow become misfolded. This is called prion. In simple words all proteins have to be folded before they can function and when some proteins in the brain become misfolded, such a state is called prions (misfolding of proteins) and it results in mad cow disease.
What is sad cow disease?
It's not sad cow disease, it's MAD cow disease. Its a brain disease that can cause irrational behavior in cows.
What was a cause mad cow disease?
yeh when you had a poo ate it then pooed it back out in a cows mouth which made the cow mad so its madcow disease lols :)
How many cows were affected by the latest case of Mad Cow Disease?
At this point, only one cow is known to be affected by Mad Cow Disease in the latest case (which was in April of 2012). The other cows from the same herd as the one known to be affected will be tested for the disease as well.
How many cows are affected with mad cow disease?
Nobody really knows.
What was the food called that mad cow disease cows ate?
Contaminated feed.
Evidence that prions were responsible for mad cow disease?
At one time, cattle were fed the unwanted parts of ground up sheep. Some of those cows became infected with mad cow disease. Mad cow disease spread to humans. Cattle were also fed parts of ground up cow parts, cows eating ground up cattle were infected with that disease. The breakthrough came in New Guinea. There, women and children would eat the brains of dead people. Men would not. Women and children would catch a disease similar to mad cow disease. Men would not. That made it obvious that the disease came from something common to women and children and not to men. Since they behaved the same as nearby groups except for eating the brains of dead people, that had to be the difference. The only difference in the brains of the dead people with mad cow disease and those without mad cow disease was the prions. This was then tested in England where mad cow disease was common. The only difference between cows with mad cow disease and those without mad cow disease were the same prions. The people with mad cow disease had the same prions in their brains.
Why is mad cow disease newsworhty?
it is newsworthy because it tells you about what would happen if you eat cows
What is the relationship between Mad Cow Disease and Creutzfeldt-Jakob Syndrome?
mad cow disease is when cows get it. when the disease is passed on 2 humans, it's called the Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease. so technically its the same thing, just in different species
