Affected cattle showed altered behaviour and a staggering gait, giving the disease its name in the press - 'mad cow disease'. On microscopic examination, the brains of affected cattle showed extensive spongiform degeneration.
The initial explanation for the emergence of BSE in the UK was as follows:
Since scrapie (a spongiform encepalopathy of sheep) is endemic in Britain, it was assumed that this was the source of the infectious agent in the feed. It was concluded that BSE is due to the use of contaminated foodstuffs.
