Related Experiment Video
Updated: Aug 1, 2026

Procedures for Identifying Infectious Prions After Passage Through the Digestive System of an Avian Species
Published on: November 6, 2013
Bovine spongiform encephalopathy and variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease: implications for Australia
1Microbiology and Infectious Diseases Department, The Women's and Children's Hospital, Adelaide, SA. goldwaterp@mail.wch.sa.gov.au
Abstract:
The bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) epizootic developed in the United Kingdom in the mid-1980s. Feeding practices in the cattle industry amplified the causative prion, and meat contaminated with BSE entered the market. Human consumption of prion-contaminated meat led to the new zoonosis--variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (vCJD). The UK BSE Inquiry published its report in October 2000; while praising policy decisions, it also documented failures in the execution of these policies, specifically delays and lack of rigour. Australia is in an excellent position to maintain its BSE- and scrapie-free status, but widespread active surveillance of neural and non-neural tissue from all species of farmed quadrupeds is needed.
Related Concept Videos
Amyloid Fibrils
Amyloid deposits were observed as early as 1639 in the liver and the spleen. In 1854, Rudolph Virchow performed iodine staining, normally used to...
Subviral Agents
Rabies
Arboviral Encephalitis
Toxoplasmosis
Encephalitis l: Introduction

