Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy
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چکیده
Bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) is a fatal neurodegenerative disease, caused by a prion, that mainly affects cattle. Other ruminant species, cats, non-human primates and humans are occasionally affected; this disease is called feline spongiform encephalopathy (FSE) in cats, and variant Creutzfeldt–Jakob disease (vCJD) in people. BSE is a relatively new disease that was first reported in the United Kingdom in the 1980s. It is spread by ingestion; animals or humans become infected when they eat prion-containing tissues from an infected animal. Cooking and standard disinfection procedures do not destroy this agent. Infected animals or people do not become ill for years; however, the disease is always progressive and fatal once the symptoms develop. The origins of BSE are unknown; however, the recycling of ruminant proteins in ruminant feed amplified this prion and caused an explosive epidemic in the U.K in the 1980s and 1990s. This epidemic peaked in 1992, with almost 1,000 new cases diagnosed each week. Although cases continue to be detected, control measures have greatly decreased their prevalence; fewer than 15 bovine cases were reported annually in the U.K. during 2009-2011. BSE also spread to many European countries, North America, parts of Asia, and possibly other areas of the world. The presence of BSE in a country can result in trade sanctions, as well as increased public concern about meat safety. Many nations, including the U.S., conduct control and surveillance programs. Many countries have also passed new regulations to prevent BSE-containing tissues from entering human or animal food supplies. As a result of increased surveillance, BSE prions that differ from the prion causing ‘classical’ BSE have been identified at very low levels in cattle populations. Currently, it is thought that these “atypical” prions may represent a spontaneous form of prion disease. Some experiments suggest that an atypical prion might have given rise to the BSE epizootic when it was amplified in cattle feed.
منابع مشابه
Bovine spongiform encephalopathy.
A detailed account is given of the occurrence of bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), current research into the aetiology of this new disease of cattle, and the relationship between BSE, scrapie and other similar diseases. Epidemiology, clinical signs, pathology, diagnosis, prevention and control are described.
متن کاملOral Transmission of L-type Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy in Primate Model
We report transmission of atypical L-type bovine spongiform encephalopathy to mouse lemurs after oral or intracerebral inoculation with infected bovine brain tissue. After neurologic symptoms appeared, transmissibility of the disease by both inoculation routes was confirmed by detection of disease-associated prion protein in samples of brain tissue.
متن کاملSacred disease of our times: failure of the infectious disease model of spongiform encephalopathy.
BACKGROUND Public health and agricultural policy attempts to keep bovine spongiform encephalopathy out of North America using infectious disease containment policies. Inconsistencies of the infectious disease model as it applies to the spongiform encephalopathies may result in failure of these policies. METHODS Review of historical, political and scientific literature to determine the appropr...
متن کاملMolecular Discrimination of Sheep Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy from Scrapie
Sheep CH1641-like transmissible spongiform encephalopathy isolates have shown molecular similarities to bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) isolates. We report that the prion protein PrPSc from sheep BSE is extremely resistant to denaturation. This feature, combined with the N-terminal PrPSc cleavage, allowed differentiation of classical scrapie, including CH1641-like, from natural goat BSE ...
متن کاملHow now mad cow?
Since the BM7's last editorial on the topic' another 40 000 cases of bovine spongiform encephalopathy have been confirmed in cattle. New cases are being confirmed at the rate of 500 a week. Does it matter that between 1986 and 1989 we actually had the offal, which is now proscribed, going into the food chain?2 Several reasons are given for dismissing bovine spongiform encephalopathy as carrying...
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