Symptoms include abnormal behavior, trouble walking, and weight loss. Mad cow disease has jumped species - from sheep to cows to humans. Later in the course of the disease the cow becomes unable to move. It can be passed onto humans via the consumption of infected meat. Mad Cow Disease - What is It? Let’s discuss about mad cow disease. Mad cow disease was first noted in the 1970s and is thought to be related to another prion-caused disease termed scrapie that occurs in sheep; the first major outbreak of mad cow disease was in the United Kingdom, where more than 184,500 cases have been noted in cattle (2010 U.K. data found only 11 infected cattle). Humans can’t get mad cow disease, since it can only occur, by definition, in cattle. Mad Cow Disease (MCD) is Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE), except that Mad Cow Disease is much easier to pronounce! But, whenever this weird disease rears its head in this country (which it has three other times — 2003, 2005 and 2006), I am reminded of how fascinating and terrifying this disease is. However, in rare cases they can get a human form of Skip directly to site content Skip directly to page options Skip directly to A-Z link Skip directly to A-Z link Skip ... is a progressive neurological disorder of cattle that results from infection by an unusual transmissible agent called a prion. Mad Cow Disease - What to Know - as part of the education series by GeoBeats. Creutzfeldt–Jakob disease (CJD), also known as classic Creutzfeldt–Jakob disease, is a fatal degenerative brain disorder. How do humans contract mad cow disease? Mad cow disease, also called Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease (CJD), is a fatal disease that slowly destroys the brain and spinal cord in cattle. It also is known as bovine spongiform encephalopathy, or BSE. Mad cow disease kills cows and some of the people who eat the meat of infected cows. Mad cow disease is an infectious disease in the brain of cattle. But, whenever this weird disease rears its head in this country (which it has three other times — 2003, 2005 and 2006), I am reminded of how fascinating and terrifying this disease is. All About BSE (Mad Cow Disease) The word BSE is short but it stands for a disease with a long name, bovine spongiform encephalopathy. to die, forming sponge-like holes in the brain. The time between infection and onset of symptoms is generally four to five years. People cannot get mad cow disease. In BSE, the unknown agent causes the cow's brain cells to die, forming sponge-like holes in the brain. [4] About … Cattle get the disease from eating infected food, such as feed that contains rendered parts of infected sheep. The disease is caused by prions. a human version of mad cow disease called variant creutzfeldt-jakob disease (vcjd) is believed to be caused by eating beef products contaminated with … Prions can cross between species (although not all species get diseases from them). Cases of variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease seems to be linked to eating contaminated beef products in Europe. It is believed that scrapie-infected sheep products were used in cattle feed, and that is how the cattle became infected. It's believed that mad cow disease is spread to people when they eat infected beef products. Mad cow disease, or bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), is a fatal brain disorder that occurs in cattle and is caused by some unknown agent. Variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (vCJD) is the human form of mad cow disease. What is commonly called Mad Cow Disease is actually 2 different illnesses, Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE), which affects cows, and Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease (vCJD), which affects humans.