Milk Isn't "Mad" or Bad Apr 24, 2012 The fourth case of BSE
(bovine spongiform encephalopathy), also known as mad cow
disease, to ever be found in the U.S. was confirmed today on a
dairy farm in California. The Centers for Disease Control says
that BSE "is a progressive neurological disorder of cattle that
results from infection by an unusual transmissible agent called
a prion." Because BSE is a neurological disorder, it cannot be
transmitted to humans through milk or meat. The bovine version
of the human disease Crutchfield-Jacobs disease, BSE can only be
transferred through the ingestion of neurological tissues,
whether in the brain or bone marrow. This is important to note
because there is a misconception that BSE is contagious from one
cow to the next, although it is not. So is the cow really mad?
The nickname "mad cow disease" is widely used and likely
originated from the behavior of one of the first cows to be
infected with BSE in the UK. Because it is a neurological
disease, it often causes the animal