[CPTAUSRET]

Guys, I'm shooting off the top of my head, but this is important!

The culprit here is Prions, a good friend of ours was awarded the Nobel Prize (Physiology of Medicine) for discoverig Prions...Stan Prusiner attempted every thing he could think of to kill the little buggers, to no avail! He isolated them from the host, and even microwaved them, couldn't kill them! So if they are present and you consume them, you are at risk! The text below is from the CDC website.


_
Prion Diseases
About Prion Diseases

Collage: Cattle at a trough and a buck deer in the wild.
Cattle at a trough, and a buck deer in the wild. (Courtesy Ermias Belay)
Prion diseases or transmissible spongiform encephalopathies (TSEs) are a family of rare progressive neurodegenerative disorders that affect both humans and animals. They are distinguished by long incubation periods, characteristic spongiform changes associated with neuronal loss, and a failure to induce inflammatory response.

The causative agent of TSEs is believed to be a prion. A prion is an abnormal, transmissible agent that is able to induce abnormal folding of normal cellular prion proteins in the brain, leading to brain damage and the characteristics signs and symptoms of the disease. Prion diseases are usually rapidly progressive and always fatal.
A List of Prion Diseases

Listed below are the prion diseases identified to date. Click the linked diseases to go to their respective topic sites. CDC does not currently offer information here on every prion disease listed.

Human Prion Diseases

* Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease (CJD)
* Variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease (vCJD)
* Gerstmann-Straussler-Scheinker Syndrome
* Fatal Familial Insomnia
* Kuru

Animal Prion Diseases

* Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE)
* Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD)
* Scrapie
* Transmissible mink encephalopathy
* Feline spongiform encephalopathy
* Ungulate spongiform encephalopathy

Links to Organizations Outside CDC

National Prion Disease Pathology Surveillance Center
(From the Division of Neuropathology, Case Western Reserve University. National CJD surveillance system established in collaboration with CDC.)
Resources

BSE/TSE Action Plan of the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS)
The BSE/TSE Action Plan of DHHS has four major components:
• Surveillance for human disease is primarily the responsibility of CDC.
• Protection is primarily the responsibility of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
• Research is primarily the responsibility of the National Institutes of Health (NIH).
• Oversight is primarily the responsibility of the Office of the Secretary of DHHS.
Press Release: HHS Launches Expanded Plan to Combat "Mad Cow Disease"
On DHHS site

The Public Health Impact of Prion Diseases
Belay E., Schonberger L. Annu. Rev. Public Health 2005;26:191-212
PDF format icon PDF format (198 KB/25 pages)

Transmissible Spongiform Encephalopathies in Humans
Belay E. Annu. Rev. Microbiol. 1999;53:283-314
PDF format icon PDF format (208 KB/32 pages)


Reference in this website to any specific commercial products, process, service, manufacturer, or company does not constitute its endorsement or recommendation by the U.S. Government or CDC. CDC is not responsible for the contents of any "off-site" web page referenced from this server.
Date:January 26, 2006
Content source: National Center for Infectious Diseases
_
Program Contents
bullet Topic Home

Quick Links

Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE)

Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD)

Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease, Classic (CJD)

Variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease (vCJD)
Contact CDC

* Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention
National Center for Infectious Diseases (NCID)




Centers for Disease Control and Prevention,1600 Clifton Rd, Atlanta, GA 30333, U.S.A