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:''Mad Cow leads here. For other uses, see Mad cow (disambiguation)'' Bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), commonly known as mad cow disease, is a fatal neurodegenerative disease (encephalopathy) in cattle that causes a spongy degeneration in the brain and spinal cord. BSE has a long incubation period, about 2.5 to 8 years, usually affecting adult cattle at a peak age onset of four to five years, all breeds being equally susceptible. BSE is caused by a misfolded protein—a prion.〔 〕 In the United Kingdom, the country worst affected, more than 180,000 cattle have been infected and 4.4 million slaughtered during the eradication program.〔 〕 The disease may be most easily transmitted to human beings by eating food contaminated with the brain, spinal cord or digestive tract of infected carcasses.〔 〕 However, the infectious agent, although most highly concentrated in nervous tissue, can be found in virtually all tissues throughout the body, including blood. In humans, it is known as new variant Creutzfeldt–Jakob disease (vCJD or nvCJD), and by June 2014 it had killed 177 people in the United Kingdom, and 52 elsewhere.〔 ; (Archived copy from 2012-07 )〕 Between 460,000 and 482,000 BSE-infected animals had entered the human food chain before controls on high-risk offal were introduced in 1989.〔(VARIANT CREUTZFELDT-JAKOB DISEASE CURRENT DATA (JUNE 2014) )〕 A British and Irish inquiry into BSE concluded the epizootic was caused by cattle, which are normally herbivores, being fed the remains of other cattle in the form of meat and bone meal (MBM), which caused the infectious agent to spread.〔(【引用サイトリンク】 title=BSE: Disease control & eradication – Causes of BSE )〕 The cause of BSE may be from the contamination of MBM from sheep with scrapie that were processed in the same slaughterhouse. The epidemic was probably accelerated by the recycling of infected bovine tissues prior to the recognition of BSE. The origin of the disease itself remains unknown. The infectious agent is distinctive for the high temperatures at which it remains viable, over 600 °C (about 1100 °F).〔 〕 This contributed to the spread of the disease in the United Kingdom, which had reduced the temperatures used during its rendering process.〔 Another contributory factor was the feeding of infected protein supplements to very young calves.〔〔 〕 ==Signs and symptoms== Cows affected by BSE are usually apart from the herd and will show progressively deteriorating behavioural and neurological signs. One notable sign is an increase in aggression. Cattle will react excessively to noise or touch and will slowly become ataxic.〔(Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy ) reviewed and published by WikiVet. Retrieved 11 October 2011.〕 Systemic signs of disease, such as a drop in milk production, anorexia and lethargy, are present.〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「bovine spongiform encephalopathy」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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