BSE
A fatal brain disease of cattle caused by misfolded proteins, first identified in Britain in 1986.
Also: bovine spongiform encephalopathy, mad cow disease
Bovine spongiform encephalopathy is a disease of the brain and nervous system of cattle, caused by prions, abnormal forms of a normal protein that leave sponge-like holes in brain tissue. It was first identified in Britain in 1986 and spread mainly through cattle feed containing meat-and-bone meal from infected animals. Britain recorded more than 180,000 confirmed cases. In 1996 it was linked to a new human disease, variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease. Bans on such feed, removal of high-risk tissues and the culling of affected herds brought cases close to zero, and the episode led to the cattle tracing systems now used across Europe.