Mad Cow Pathology

name         Nicole
status       student
grade        9-12
location     NC

Question -   I recently read an article about BSE, or Mad Cow
disease.  It was a newspaper article about the first case of Mad
Cow found on a farm in Alabama.  The cow was killed by a local
veterinarian and then buried on the farm.  I know that the disease
is not a virus, but a prion, which are abnormal proteins.  If the
cow disintegrates into the soil and its body is eventually the
fertilizer of the grass above it, can the disease be transferred to
the grass above the area in which the cow was buried?  If the
disease can be transferred to the grass, can other cows who feed on
the grass possibly contract the disease?
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Great question!  There is much scientists don't know about prion
diseases and questions like yours are critical if we are to control
these diseases.

Currently, there are a number of scientists conducting studies to try
to answer exactly the question that you thought of! We think that if
an animal is buried far enough below the surface and away from where
cattle graze, this should keep other animals from becoming infected. 
But soil could be important if animals die in a pasture, or, for other
prion diseases, if infected wild animals die in the woods or plains,
and then disintegrate on the surface.

So, riight now, there isn't an answer to your question... perhaps
you'll become the scientist who comes up with the anwer!

Laura Hungerford, DVM, MPH, PhD
University of Maryland
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