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The first case of human mad cow disease in The Netherlands has been reported in the town of Utrecht. According to sources, the victim, a 26-year-old woman contracted the disease when she ate contaminated beef. However, doctors have said that the chances of other people being infected are slim because the victim has never donated or received blood or tissue. According to The Netherlands’ Ministry of Health spokesman Bas Kuik, the woman is likely to have contracted the infection before the year 1997, when strict restrictions on the import of beef were enforced. “Beef in The Netherlands is safe because all susceptible cows are tested for BSE when they are slaughtered,” he said. Variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (vCJD), the human variant of spongiform encephalopathy, better known as mad cow disease, attacks the brain and destroys cells, thus creating holes in tissue. The disease is caused by prions, an abnormal type of protein. These are normal cellular proteins found in tissues and organs like spinal cord, brain and eyes of healthy animals as well as humans. A mutation in the structure of this protein induces change in the surrounding proteins. Subsequently, the abnormal proteins start destroying nerve cells. Once a patient is afflicted with the mad cow disease, behavioral changes like depression, emotional withdrawal and anxiety are noted. Subsequently, motor complications and mental degeneration is seen, leading to a persistent vegetative state and ultimately death. So far, mad cow disease is said to have claimed around 150 victims, mainly from the United Kingdom. |