mad cow disease

1. bovine spongiform encephalopathy.

mad cow disease

noun

1. an informal name for BSE

mad cow disease

/ măd /

1. A degenerative neurologic disease of cattle, thought to be caused by infection-causing agents called prions , in which brain tissues deteriorate and take on a spongy appearance, resulting in abnormal behaviors and loss of muscle control. A variant form of Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease is transmitted to humans through the eating of infected cattle tissue.
2. Also called bovine spongiform encephalopathy

mad cow disease

1. A lethal disease that originates in cows and can spread to humans through consumption of affected neural tissue. It is called Jakob-Creutzfeldt disease in humans. It causes the brain to deteriorate through the instrument of an infectious protein called a prion .

Word History and Origins

Origin of mad cow disease¹

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 practice is banned in the United Kingdom, European Union and Canada, where fears of spreading bovine spongiform encephalitis — mad cow disease — made such practices seem too risky.

From Los Angeles Times

But these cramped conditions also make diseases like avian flu, mad cow disease and the African swine fever virus more likely to develop and spread.

From Salon

China also recently ended a ban on Brazilian beef imposed in February after the discovery of an atypical case of mad cow disease.

From Washington Times