Epidemiology and the current concepts in the pathogenesis and diagnosis of bovine spongiform encephalopathy

Bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), commonly known as ‘mad cow disease’ is a non-inflammatory, degenerative disease of central nervous system in cattle, which is always fatal. BSE was first identified and confirmed as a prion disease in British dairy herds in 1986. The epidemiological evidence strongly indicates that disease was caused by the feeding of rations containing meat-and-bone meal supplements to cattle, contaminated with the scrapie agent (a prion, PrP). The disease has since been reported from many countries around the world. All aspects of the disease have been discussed in the review, giving particular emphasis on its epidemiology, current concepts of pathogenesis, and diagnosis.