‘Mad Cow Disease’ technically is Creutzfeld-Jakob disease. I believe it is transmitted through ingestion. There were some cases in Britain in the 90’s that have led to people who lived/visited there at that time, not being able to give blood in this country. It is called Kuru in Papua, New Guinea. There is an epidemic of it in PNG as it is custom to eat the brains of family who have died. It just keeps perpetuating itself down there. So far, our country has escaped the disease, except for some rare cases. The lag time from aquiring the disease to a person’s death, is usually a decade+. It is a terminal condition though. The most recent studies believe it is a ‘prion’ that moves to the brain. I was exposed to it (inhalation) working in a hospital lab 3 decades ago. I figure my lag time is done.....and now the experts think it is ingested anyway...........probably from the studies done on the PNG population. Every once in a while I do think about the possibilities......but try to forget, as I have no control over the situation.
May God help you!
“There were some cases in Britain in the 90’s that have led to people who lived/visited there at that time, not being able to give blood in this country.”
It extends back to the 1980s, when I was stationed in the UK, and I’m on the “no blood donations” list, too. There is no test for it short of dissecting the brain but after almost 30 years, I think I’m safe. Moo.