BSE
Mareike Müller is a freelance writer in the medical department and assistant doctor for neurosurgery in Düsseldorf. She studied human medicine in Magdeburg and gained a lot of practical medical experience during her stays abroad on four different continents.
More about the experts All content is checked by medical journalists.BSE (bovine spongiform encephalopathy, mad cow disease) is one of the transmissible spongiform brain diseases (transmissible spongiform encephalopathies, TSE). It affects cattle, but can also be transmitted to humans. Then it triggers the new variant of Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (vCJD). Read everything you need to know about BSE here.
ICD codes for this disease: ICD codes are internationally recognized codes for medical diagnoses. They can be found, for example, in doctor's letters or on certificates of incapacity for work. A81BSE: facts and figures
The disease, also known as mad cow disease, became known to the general public as a result of the BSE scandal in the mid-1990s. In Great Britain in particular, cattle were affected by the disease, which first appeared in the 1980s. The epidemic spread across almost the entire European continent and peaked in 1995. Since then, more than 180,000 cattle in the United Kingdom have been diagnosed with BSE, and in Germany more than 400 animals have been diagnosed with BSE.
BSE: origin of the disease
The exact mechanism of development of bovine spongiform encephalopathy is not yet fully understood. Scientists suspect that the main cause is animal meal, which was used in beef fattening. Animal meal is obtained from the carcasses of dead animals, including dead sheep. The sheep disease "scrapie", which is also one of the transmissible spongiform encephalopathies, has been known in Great Britain for over 200 years. It is believed that some sick sheep were used to produce animal meal and so the cattle were infected with BSE pathogens (prions). The disease spread through the export of meat and bone meal and cattle to mainland Europe.
The epidemic was contained with the ban on animal meal feed in 2000. In addition, a BSE test was introduced in Germany from November 2000 and all healthy slaughtered cattle aged 30 months and over were tested for mad cow disease. Since 2015, these examinations are no longer mandatory.
BSE: New Pathogens
Bovine spongiform encephalopathy, like other communicable spongy brain diseases, is caused by prions. These are misfolded proteins that are mainly deposited in nerve cells and thus damage the brain.
The BSE pathogens are also considered so dangerous because they easily jump over the so-called species limit and can attack both animals and humans.
BSE: symptoms of sick animals
Cattle suffering from mad cow disease are on average between four and six years old. They show a changed nature and behavior and are extremely fearful and aggressive. Many suffer from movement disorders, fall to the ground and are very sensitive to noise, light or touch. The sick animals die after about six months. So far there is no treatment option.
BSE: transmission to humans
BSE can be transmitted to humans and then triggers the new variant of Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (vCJD). People can become infected with BSE through contaminated cattle products. The vCJD pathogens are mainly found in the brain and spinal cord. But they can also occur in the spleen or intestines. Milk and dairy products are considered to be BSE-free.
A total of 229 people worldwide had died as a result of BSE by June 2014. Most of them lived in the UK. So far, there is no known case of illness in Germany. The number of new illnesses and deaths has decreased in recent years. It is difficult to make statements about the exact number of other new cases, as the incubation period of vCJD - i.e. the time from infection to the onset of the disease - is not known.
BSE: This is how people can protect themselves
In order to prevent the disease from spreading, further precautionary measures were taken in addition to the ban on meat and bone meal and the BSE test. For example, people who were in Great Britain for more than six months between 1980 and 1996 are not allowed to donate blood. In addition, sick animals are killed and their carcasses destroyed. It is also forbidden to import animals suffering from BSE into Germany.
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