Illness can make BSE prions appear in more organs than originally thought

Prions that transmit BSE (mad cow disease) can appear in more organs than were originally thought if the infected animal has an inflammatory disease. Scientists have thought that prions would only appear in the brain, spinal cord, spleen and lymph tissue of an infected animal - meaning, even if you eat some other part of that animal you will never develop the human vCJD.

However, tests have shown that mice infected with the prion which also had an inflammatory disease had the prions in other organs. If what seems to be the case with mice is also the case with livestock animals, one wonders whether the current measures to stop the spread of BSE are appropriate.

You can read about this study in the journal Science.

In this latest study, scientists administered prions to mice with five inflammatory diseases of the kidney, pancreas or liver. In all cases, chronic lymphocytic inflammation enabled prion accumulation in otherwise prion-free organs.