A Variant of B.S.E. May Be Transmissible to Humans

MANHATTAN, Kan. — Although the classical form of bovine spongiform encephalopathy and a variant, bovine amyloidotic spongiform encephalopathy (BASE), manifest themselves differently, research suggests the variant may also be transmissible to humans, according to Cristina Casalone, an Italian researcher who recently spoke at a Kansas State University conference.

Casalone presented “B.S.E. and BASE: An Update” at the Emerging Infections: A Tribute to the One Medicine, One Health Concept conference recently held at K.S.U. Her presentation addressed studies that assessed whether BASE is caused by a transmissible prion strain different from the one that causes classical B.S.E. She said BASE and B.S.E. differed in several ways, including incubation time. Data suggest BASE has at least the same animal and human health risks as classical B.S.E., she said.

Source: MeatPoultry.com