Mad Cow Disease is Not a Large Cause for Fear

Mad Cow Disease: A Cause for Fear?

Abstract:

Mad Cow Disease, a disorder well known and well feared, is not as deadly as most

people believe it to be. In fact, most people know little of this disease and what little they know

usually turn out to be false facts. MCD is a prion-based disease where an infected protein converts

healthy proteins into the infectious state. There is no cure and the disease is fatal but to this year, there

have been little over 150 cases of the human version of the disease, variant Creutzfeldt - Jakob disease,

world-wide. Thus, MCD does not deserve the fear and attention that it commands.

Although the name, Mad Cow Disease is instantly recognizable by everyone today, few people

know it for what it actually is. However, no matter how little they know about this disease, everybody

acknowledges the deadly capabilities it possesses. Personally, I find it interesting and feel it only

natural that, as humans, we fear what we do not entirely understand simply because we know what will

happen. It is only natural that we feel threatened at the first sign of danger. Thus, it is important to

inform others about Mad Cow Disease so that they will at least know what they fear.

Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy, commonly known as Mad Cow Disease, first appeared around

1985 in Great Britain as a result of the special animal feed that consisted of ground up sheep fed to the

cattle. Between the years 1992 and 1995, a major BSE outbreak occurred in Great Britain, which caused

the country's beef industry to suffer. Since 2003, the United States have only had three reported

incidents of mad cow disease in humans[8].

A prion is a disease-carrying agent that is composed entirely of proteins. It is the cause of

numerous diseases in mammals, all of which target the brain specifically. Also note that all prion-based

disorders are fatal and that there are currently no known cures for any of them. All known prions

induce the formation of an amyloid fold, in which the protein polymerizes into an aggregate consisting

of tightly packed beta sheets[3]; thus, converting into its infectious state.

BSE is a prion-based disease where the infectious protein causes other prion proteins in the brain to

misfold and change into the infectious state. This

process continues until it forms protein

aggregates, which are large clumps of mis-folded

proteins which in turn form plaque, giving the

appearance of “holes” in the brain. Cows with

this disease show signs including changes in

mental state and abnormalities in posture,

movement and sensation[4].