Mad cow disease has several different names. It is called Bovine Spongiform encephalopathy or BSE. Other names are New Variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease or vCJD (Morris). Transmittable Spongiform encephalopathy or TSE is another name. Spongiform encephalopathies are nervous system disorders which nerve cells of the brain die, causing the brain to assume a sponge-like appearance (Montague, Part 1). In 1985 a veterinarian found odd symptoms in a cattle (Morris). Cows in Britain began to die of mysterious ailments (Montague, Part 1). German physicians Hans Gerhard Creutzfeldt and Alfons Jakob first discovered vCJD in its natural form in the 1920's (Shell, Part 2). In 1996 British government conceded that people were falling victim to a degenerate new brain disease linked to BSE (Morris).

Some cows in the United States may already have mad cow disease. It is also very possible th

Mad cow disease has a severe effect on animals. The infamous disease has increased 23 percent a year in Britain since 1994 (ABC News). As of June 30th 2000, 75 cases have been confirmed or suspected of having the disease. Of those 75 cases, 64 people have died (CNN News). Symptoms of the disease can vary. Loss or coordination, personality changes, mania and dementia are most common (Shell, Part 2). Symptoms may not even be seen. Many cows can be carrying the infection silently (Montague, Part 1). The disease can be unnoticed for thirty to forty years (Morris). It will eventually kill. Infected cows will stagger, drool, and show signs of fear, grind their teeth, exhibit aggressiveness toward other animals and their ears twitch (Montague, Part 1). A protein called Prion causes TSE. Prion is normal proteins, present in all mammals and some non-mammalian species. All TSE diseases have similar characteristics. They attack the central nervous systems, causing disintegration of the brain (Montague, Part 3). Mad cow disease has led to the slaughtering of 3.7 million cattle. It is leading to the near destruction of Great Britain's cattle industry. A similar epidemic in the United States would be even more of catastrophic than Britain's outbreak (Shell).

Preventing mad cow disease is half of the battle. The Euro

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