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What country is mad cow disease most commonly in?
During the initial emergence and outbreak, bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE, the proper name for mad cow disease) was primarily found in cattle in the United Kingdoms. Today it has been almost completely eradicated from the world, although sporadic cases are reported occasionally in different countries.
What type of micro organism is mad cow disease?
There are two types of BSE (bovine spongiform encephalopathy, the scientific name for mad cow disease). The first is what the general media picks up on when BSE is mentioned - the infectious prion identified in the 1980s and 1990s that is linked to variant Creutzfeldt-Jakobs Disease in humans. However, this form has been almost entirely eradicated in the world. The second is what the last three cases of BSE in the United States have been - atypical or spontaneous BSE. This is where the normal protein in the brain misfolds on its own and causes a chain reaction.
Is mad cow disease in Europe?
Mad cow disease is known scientifically as bovine spongiform encephalopathy, or BSE for short. The disease was first identified in the United Kingdom and spread to many countries in Europe before it was understood. However, since the mid-1990s, most countries have instituted preventive measures to stop the spread of BSE and cases of BSE are now quite rare. I would expect within the next 10 years or so for the world to be declared free of BSE, and the incidence of BSE in Europe today (2011) is very low.
How do pronounce spongiform?
"Spongiform" is pronounced as "SPUHN-juh-form," with the emphasis on the first syllable.
Do you capitalize encephalopathy?
No you don't. Unless, of course, it's the first word of a sentence.
What do you mean by female bovine?
By "female bovine" we are referring to the female constituent of the domestic bovine species: the cow, which is a mature female that has at least two calves, the first-calf heifer, which is a female that has had her first calf, and the heifer, a female bovine that has never had a calf and is less than 2 years of age.
When did the mad cow disease start?
Bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE, the scientific name for mad cow disease) was first identified as a separate and distinct disease of cattle in the early 1980s. Unfortunately, BSE was not identified as being zoonotic until the early 1990s when a sudden increased in variant Creutzfeld-Jacobs Disease (vCJD) was observed by human physicians.
What research has be done on mad cow disease?
There has been a phenomenal amount of research done on bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE, the scientific name for mad cow disease). When the disease was first identified, there were numerous studies to determine what caused the disease, how it was transmitted, what tissues in the cow were infected at what stages of the infection, how it can be controlled, etc. There is still some ongoing research focusing on an ante mortem (before death) test for BSE, although I believe the funding for this type of work is drying up due to the dramatic decrease in the number of cases of BSE around the world. In 2011, for instance, there were only 29 cases of BSE in the entire world.
When was Bovine Growth Hormone first used?
1994
How many people have died of mad cow disease in the US?
Thus far, only about 160 people, mostly in Britain, have died of variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, which humans get from cows that had bovine spongiform encephalopathy, or mad cow disease.
Do bovine and steers have utters?
"Bovine" refers to cattle in general. A cow is a female bovine that has reproduced or had a calf which is a baby bovine. A cow does have an udder because she has to feed her calf. Also a heifer has an udder; a heifer is a two-year old female bovine that has not yet produced a calf. After she produces her first calf she is then considered a cow. Cows and heifers are the only bovine with an udder. Steers are male bovine that have been castrated or have had their testicles cut off, so they cannot reproduce. Bulls are male bovine that are used in reproduction.
What are people doing to stop mad cow disease?
There were three different strategies used to bring the outbreak of BSE (bovine spongiform encephalopathy, the scientific name for mad cow disease) under control in the 1990s. First, all cattle that were showing signs of the disease or were on the same farm as an animal with the disease were slaughtered and incinerated, to significantly reduce the amount of circulating infectious prion. Second, the feeding of proteins derived from ruminants back to ruminants was banned, which prevented the possibility of an asymptomatic animal recirculating the infectious prions back into the population. Third, to prevent new human cases, certain tissues were designated as inedible and are required to be removed from beef prior to the meat being sold to consumers.
