Download Mad Cow Disease

By Shon Augustine
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Mad cow disease is an incurable, fatal brain
disease that affects cattle and possibly some
other animals, such as goats and sheep.
The medical name for mad cow disease is
bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE).
This disease got it’s current name because it
affects a cow’s nervous system, causing a
cow to act strangely and lose control of its
ability to do normal things. Mad Cow
disease first appeared in the United
Kingdom in the mid 1980’s.
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The causative agent for Mad Cow disease are
prions. A prion is a nonliving, self-replicating
infectious agent made of protein. It can
replicate with the aid of its host, similarly to
what a virus does. Prion is short for
“proteinaceous infectious particle.” Prions carry
the disease between individuals and cause the
weakening of the brain. Prions have been
discovered in fungi.
Picture of Prion
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There are many severe symptoms of this disease on humans.
Many of them include
- Sudden nervousness or aggression. A person may develop
destructive behavior or actins while they are still live.
- Abnormal posture, which means that you may stand up or
sit in a an abnormal way, and not even realize it.
-Difficulty walking, which does not allow people to get up and
will stay paralyzed until a long time.
-Severe muscle twitching. This means that the muscles
suddenly start to move sharply or on an abnormal way.
-Rapid weight loss
- Lack of a good appetite- The disease can cause you not to eat
anything anymore
- Bizarre laughter and then foaming at the mouth
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The mad cow disease breakout in England
was first realized in the year 1986 when
farmers recognized that something was
happening to their cattle. Unlike some
farmers, British farmers used animal feed
made up of bone and meat remnants from
sheep to be fed to the cattle. And by this
way, Mad Cow Disease had continued to
spread.
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Mad Cow Disease can be transmitted
to humans. Humans can be infected
by consuming on products that have
been produced from cattle meat in
which the cattle have been infected
with this disease.