1-“Since 1996, evidence has been increasing for a causal relationship between the outbreak in Europe of a disease in cattle, called bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE, or “mad cow disease”), and a disease in humans, called “variant” Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (vCJD).
Both disorders are invariably fatal brain diseases with unusually long incubation periods measured in years, and are caused by abnormally folded proteins in the brain called “prions” (pree-ons). ”
Cattle affected by BSE experience progressive degeneration of the nervous system. Signs usually don’t appear until about 3–6 years after initial infection.
The highest quality beef comes from animals that are under 36 months of age. Old cows produce highly acceptable beef if properly fattened and processed but know there is testing cows for it before making it food on our table.
Know this BSE belongs to a family of diseases known as transmissible spongiform encephalopathies that includes, among others, scrapie in sheep and goats; chronic wasting disease in deer, elk, and moose; and classic and variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease in people.”
1-Centers for Disease Control and Prevention-CDC (https://www.cdc.gov/prions/index.html)