BSE (aka Mad Cow Disease)- What's the deal?

In case you have been on vacation and out of touch with technology and the news, earlier this week a cow in California was found with BSE. We all know that "mad cow disease" is something we want to keep out of our food supply, but what exactly is it??
Well, the correct term is Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (or just BSE for those of us that can't spit that out in casual conversation). BSE is a type of Transmissible Spongiform Encephalopathy; in cattle it is called BSE because it is in the bovine species, but TSE's have also been found in other species including humans (in which case it is called Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease). This is a degenerative neurological disease in which prion proteins in the brain unwind, eventually causing neurological and behavioral changes in the infected individual.

So if a cow has BSE, and I ingest milk or meat from that animal, will I get the human TSE?
No. Because this disease affects the prion proteins that are only located in the brain, spinal column, and ileum of the small intestine, the meat and milk from an animal would not contain any harmful pathogen caused by BSE. However, if an animal is diagnosed with BSE, no product from that animal enters into the food chain.

So is every animal tested before being harvested?
No. Approximately 1 in every 5 animals that enters a harvesting plant is tested. According to the USDA, approximately 40,000 cows are tested for BSE each year. However, as a safeguard, none of the high risk parts of the animal (brain, spinal cord, and small intestine of animals 30 months of age or older) are ever allowed to enter the food chain.
Those high risk parts have historically been used to make meat and bone meal (a protein source fed to livestock animals and pets). Since the research conducted on BSE and the discovery of ruminant to ruminant transmission, it is now illegal for producers to feed any meat and bone meal to ruminant animals. Today meat and bone meal is most commonly found in pet food because it is not harmful to your non-ruminant pets.

Is BSE a growing problem?
On the contrary, new regulations and awareness about the issue has decreased the number of instanced drastically. In 1992, there were over 37,000 cases of BSE discovered worldwide. Last year, that number was 29... and none of those cases were in the US. In fact, the case discovered this week puts the total number of diagnosed BSE cases in the US at 4.

At the end of the day, BSE is an issue that the cattle industry has dealt with in the past, and learned how to prevent. The case in California this week was atypical, meaning that cow did not ingest any infected material, it simply came down with the disease spontaneously. This is not a very likely occurrence, but it does happen. The number of cases show that the threat of BSE on our food supply has been diminishing and continues to get smaller. Even with the present threat, the USDA and FDA have regulations in order that prevent any infected material from entering our food supply even if an infected cow were to enter the harvesting plant without being detected.
So BSE is something that the industry keeps a constant eye on, but nothing that should be a major concern to you as a consumer. There are many measures in place ensuring you a safe, TSE-free product.