Mad Cow Disease and Variant Creutzfeldt Jakob Disease
BEWARE of “Mad Cow Disease” How is it Dangerous to Humans?
Mad Cow Disease or BSE (bovine spongiform encephalopathy) is a fatal progressive neurological disorder affecting cattle and caused by infection by an unusual protein agent called a prion. This harmful protein damages the central nervous system of cattle and causes degeneration in the brain and spinal cord.
The first noted instances of cattle with BSE infections occurred during the 1970s, the probable cause been infected meat and bone meal that was fed to cattle which may have contained BSE-infected products. The outbreak then reached epidemic proportions in the United Kingdomand eventually spread throughout the cattle industry. By the end of 2008 more than 184,000 cases of BSE in over 35,000 herds had been confirmed in the UK alone, with around 4.4 million cattle slaughtered to cull the spread of the disease.
BSE was shown to be transmittable to humans through the ingestion of bovine meat, especially the brain or spinal chord. The human strain of the diseases is called new variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (vCJD) and is deadly killing nearly 200 people in Britain alone. The long incubation period of the disease, which can be up to 40 years means this number can rise. In a few cases, the disease was inherited from an infected parent. CJD can become fatal within months or even weeks. Human to human transmission occurs when the patient is exposed to an infected person’s brain or spinal cord either through medical transplants or contaminated equipment.
CJD Symptoms include rapidly progressive dementia, personality changes, memory loss and hallucinations. CJD sufferers also exhibit physical signs of infection including uncontrollable limb movements, slurred speech, visual disturbances, changes in posture and in some cases violent seizures. Symptoms may be similar to other degenerative diseases like Parkinson’s or Huntington’s disease.
There is no single diagnostic test for CJD but a neurological exam is performed on the patient to rule out other diseases. Confirmation of the disease is usually through a brain biopsy, in which a small tissue of the patient’s brain is removed for checks. It is a potentially dangerous operation and there is a small risk that the medical professionals handling the tissue may themselves become infected, so this procedure is often discouraged unless necessary to rule out other factors. A safer test is the examination of a certain spinal fluid in the body, with other tests been developed.
There is no cure for CJD, and much of the medication available to treat it has not been effective. Current treatment procedures are aimed at reducing the harmful symptoms and making the patient comfortable.
August 14th, 2009 at 9:31 pm
I served in Germany with the Army from 1981 – 1983. A few months ago I went to donate blood. I was screened and was asked if I was ever in Europe sine 197? I answered yes and I was immediately told I my blood could not be taken due to the fact I was potentially exposed to Mad-cow disease while in Europe. So now I wonder how many soldiers were potentially exposed to this and why hasn’t anybody said anything about this. Will I get sick and die of this terrible disease? Have any other soldiers gotten sick and died of unknown causes? Is this being kept a secret?