And the problem does not appear to be confined to Britain. There are worrisome reports now from France and Italy. Frightening Carriers Of Disease Adding to the fear of this relatively newly appreciated disease is the nature of the BSE infectious agent. Many animal borne diseases are caused by bacteria or viruses. Risk from these illnesses can often be decreased or eliminated by a combination of careful washing, refrigeration and thorough cooking.
Prions are truly very unusual infectious agents.
They have no genetic material and consist entirely of protein. Research suggests that these prion proteins are similar in structure to proteins that occur naturally in the brains of humans and other animals. The prions differ from those similar normal proteins, however, in their three dimensional shape. Prions seem to cause disease by coming into contact with those normal proteins and then stimulating them to change their shape to mimic the prion protein. This change in shape appears to set up a chain reaction.