bovine spongiform encephalopathy

[ spuhn-juh-fawrm ]

1. a fatal neurological disease of cattle, characterized by spongelike changes in the brain and thought to be caused by an infectious prion also implicated in Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease. : BSE

bovine spongiform encephalopathy

noun

1. the full name for BSE

bovine spongiform encephalopathy

/ spŭn′jĭ-fôrm′ /

1. See mad cow disease

Word History and Origins

Origin of bovine spongiform encephalopathy¹

1985–90

Example Sentences

Also known as “zombie deer disease,” chronic wasting disease is a contagious infection similar to mad cow disease, or bovine spongiform encephalopathy.

From Los Angeles Times

In the 1980s, concerns about bovine spongiform encephalopathy — or mad cow disease — took hold across Europe, when cases of the incurable and invariably fatal neurodegenerative disease of cattle began to appear.

From Los Angeles Times

The sources said that in addition to securing more export permits and restoring suspended ones, the industry was also keen on reopening talks on health protocols around atypical cases of bovine spongiform encephalopathy, or mad cow disease.

From Reuters

Formally called bovine spongiform encephalopathy, or BSE, the disease first broke out in the late 1980s among cattle in Britain.

From Seattle Times

It’s a debilitating neurological disease that kills deer and elk, similar to bovine spongiform encephalopathy, or mad cow disease.

From Seattle Times