Testing for BSE

BSE, also called bovine spongiform encephalopathy or “mad cow disease,” is a progressive neurological disorder in cattle that results from infection by an unusual transmissible agent. BSE is one of several known animal transmissible spongiform encephalopathies (TSEs); others include transmissible mink encephalopathy, scrapie, chronic wasting disease of mule deer and elk, and feline spongiform encephalopathy.

The name of the disease refers to the fact that as the disease progresses, the infected a…