Bad prion breath: Mad cow disease agent can infect via the air

Scientific American ^ | Jan 13, 2011 06:25 PM | Philip Yam

[LucyT]

As if it weren't bad enough that deadly prions can survive boiling and radiation, now comes word that aerosolized forms of the pathogen can enter the nose and find their way to the brain, with fatal consequences.

Prions, you may recall, were the reason you avoided beef in Europe in the 1990s. They triggered the infamous mad cow disease epidemic in the U.K., which spread to the rest of Europe and other parts of the world.

Prions are proteins that all animals produce, but sometimes, toxic mutant versions are made. These malformed versions can cause ..."

[LucyT]

Transmission of the disease from one host to another generally came about through ingestion. Cows passed on the disease because of forced cannibalism: in the U.K. in particular, farmers turned the parts of cows not fit for human consumption into feed for other cows. Humans contracted the disease probably by eating ground beef and sausage..."

[Jet Jaguar]

More from the artilce.

the U.K. saw seven mad cows in 2010--a far cry from its peak year of 1992, when it found 37,000 cases and slaughtered hundreds of thousands as a preemptive measure. The rest of the world reported fewer than a dozen last year. (The U.S. reported its only two cases in 2004 and 2005.)

And don't worry if you were avoiding eating beef at the height of the mad cow epidemic but enjoyed a few whiffs of the char-broiled aroma. You did not inhale prions. If you did, you wouldn't be around to read this post.

[goldstategop]

I guess we need to stop breathing.

Either way, we end up ground sausage for the landfill. Just great!

[clearcarbon]

If transmission to prion research laboratory personnel
has a high probablity, I’d assume it’s already happened.

[Berlin_Freeper]

When I start to feel sick I make sure I gurgle with Listerine. And in fact last week my wife was coughing and I told her to gurgle and then she was much much better.

[ViLaLuz]

OMG, the government needs to track all farm animals.

[originalbuckeye]

The hysteria over ‘mad cow’ disease is alive and well. My husband is British and we lived in Britain in the mid-80’s. We both regularly gave blood for years after we came back to the USA. We can no longer donate because we lived in Britain in the mid-80’s. We both ate beef and are fine. None of my in-laws, British friends or acquaintances are infected either. The Government overreaching to avoid the possibility of repercussions. But I understand gays can now donate blood.

[maine yankee]

four legs bad, two legs good.

[CPOSharky]

Get a shot of that autism causing vaccine. /S