'Mad cow disease' in cattle can spread widely in autonomic nervous system before detectable in the central nervous system
Monday, July 9, 2012 - 10:00
in Health & Medicine
Bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE, or "mad cow disease") is a fatal disease in cattle that causes portions of the brain to turn sponge-like. This transmissible disease is caused by the propagation of a misfolded form of protein known as a prion, rather than by a bacterium or virus. Previous research has reported that the autonomic nervous system (ANS) becomes affected by the disease only after the central nervous system (CNS) has been infected. In a new study researchers found that the ANS can show signs of infection prior to involvement of the CNS.