FMD is a virus that does not pose any threat to public health and is not a food safety issue. Other animals, like horses and humans, are not susceptible to the disease, however they can transport it for short periods. On the other hand, BSE is regarded as a food safety risk. Dr Edwards said BSE was caused by an entirely different agent that was smaller than a virus, called a prion. BSE is a disease that causes progressive degeneration of the nervous system and death in cattle.
Affected animals are likely to be jumpy, aggressive and uncoordinated.
There is also evidence that humans may become infected with the prion by eating infected meat, which is believed to be responsible for causing a variant form of Creutzfeld-Jakob disease. Unlike FMD, BSE is not contagious and the only way an animal would contract the disease is by eating contaminated meat or bone meal. Subcribers get complete access to all articles on the STATpub website. Features include weekly updated price graphs, regularly updated supply-demand estimates, and other features. The information in this article is provided without any warranty of any kind whatsoever.