Progressive sleep disturbance with severe atrophy of the thalamus. D.Alpers syndrome - prion disease in infants. First reported in cattle in the UK in 1986 and over 168,000 cases in UK since then. In 1988, in order to stop the spread of disease, ban on feeding ruminant-derived protein to other ruminants. In 1989, ban the use of cattle brain, spinal cord, tonsil, thymus, spleen and intestine in human foods.
Milk is considered safe.
Brain and spinal cord of cattle develop sponge-like changes visible with a microscope. Fatal within weeks to months of being acquired. Another similar TSE is scrapie in sheep. BSE has been found in ruminants and members of the cat family in zoos. They had been fed material containing bovine offal.