SPONGIFORM DISEASE: Experts Downplay New vCJD Fears

Abstract

The chilling scenario of getting "mad cow disease" from eating products of other animals besides just cows was splashed across the mainstream British press last week based on a report from a leading U.K. lab that prions--abnormal proteins linked to bovine spongiform encephalopathy and its human form, variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease--can jump from one species to another more easily than previously believed. Although some experts say the findings raise concern about a threat to human health, others decry the media frenzy and contend that the new research adds little to what is known about the mysterious, fatal diseases.