Skip Navigation
Search

Mad Cow Disease

Author(s): Sonia Rahmati Clayton, PhD, James Denk, MA, and Nancy Moreno, PhD
Add to tray Remove from tray
Previous Slide
Next Slide

Mad Cow Disease: Human Infection

The agent causing Mad Cow Disease has been linked through epidemiology studies (research that follows the causes and distribution of the disease among different populations) and laboratory research to a similar disease in humans that also damages that central nervous system. Scientists hypothesize that humans contract a form of Mad Cow Disease by consuming parts of the nervous system from infected cattle. The human form is called variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease (vCJD), which is closely related to Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease (CJD).

Keywords: bovine spongiform encephalopathy | BSE | CJD | mad cow disease | scrapie | variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease | vCJD | viruses
References:
  1. Brown, P., Will, R. G., Bradley, R., Asher, D. M., &  Detwiler, L. (2001). Bovine spongiform encephalopathy and variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease: background, evolution, and current concerns. Emerging Infectious Diseases, 7, 6-16.
  2. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Retrieved 1-14-04 from http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/diseases/cjd/cjd.htm
  3. Davis, A. Affected Cow. Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, USDA. Retrieved 1-14-04 from http://www.aphis.usda.gov/lpa/issues/bse/bse_photogallery.html