Although animals can survive the illness, they are often lame afterward and may have lost considerable weight. Because these viruses can spread over a radius of up to 40 miles, experts say that slaughtering herds in affected areas, as is currently happening in the U.K. is the most prudent way to contain the illness. Approximately 1 million livestock animals in that country have been targeted for slaughter. A human variant, human spongiform encephalopathy, causes the degenerative dementia known as new variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease. Humans may also be susceptible to BSE, but that isn't yet clear.
Prions are resistant to conventional sterilization techniques.
The infection may be spread from prions present in the affected animal's central nervous system, such as the spinal cord and brain. Contact with livestock or wildlife should be avoided for five days after entering the U.S., particularly for people traveling from farms in infected locales to visit or work on farms in the U.S. Hosts for such travelers should provide them with a clean set of clothing, to be worn after the visitor showers and shampoos thoroughly. The traveling clothes should be laundered or dry-cleaned immediately. The questions in U.S. customs are really not unusual. All rights reserved.