In the United Kingdom that mostly likely included anything ranging from steaks to baby food. Victims never know exactly how they get it, but in Britain, so far 86 people have suffered the staggering gait, failing coordination and madness. The disease is currently untreatable. Scientists believe it's a totally new kind of infection, not a bacterium or a virus. A protein called a prion is found in all of our brains.
Prions are harmless molecules unless they get twisted out of their normal shape.
The problem with prions is that none of this seems to kill them and stop them being infectious. There's nothing you can do in the slaughterhouse or kitchen to prevent the transmission of the prion, Monk says. The only thing you can do is to make sure that you don't get exposed to it. Europe has tried to curb exposure with very tough animal feeding regulations. Fifteen European countries have banned the use of animal meat and blood in animal feed.