Mad Cow is obtained by eating meat or other products from cattle infected with bovine spongiform encephalopathy. It is a fatal disease that slowly destroys the brain and spinal cord in cattle. People cannot get mad cow disease, but in rare cases they can a human form called Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, which is fatal. This can happen if a person eats the nerve tissue of cattle that was infected with the disease. This disease is not contagious.
Experts are not sure what causes mad cow disease, but the most believed theory is that the disease is caused by infectious proteins called prions. In infected cows, these proteins are found in the central nervous system and in the small intestine. These proteins lead to deterioration of the infected area and leads to death. The prion can not be cooked off by heating, so if the contaminated beef is cooked the disease will not cook off.
Experts are not sure what causes mad cow disease, but the most believed theory is that the disease is caused by infectious proteins called prions. In infected cows, these proteins are found in the central nervous system and in the small intestine. These proteins lead to deterioration of the infected area and leads to death. The prion can not be cooked off by heating, so if the contaminated beef is cooked the disease will not cook off.