Humans can contract a form of BSE, which similarly falls within the group of diseases called TSEs, explained above. Most scientists believe that the disease is contracted by eating the brain or spinal cord of an infected carcass. The disease in humans is called ‘new variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, or vCJD/nvCJD. It is believed that the disease is transmitted by the consumption of beef products that are inefcted with the disease. See our article on CJD for more information.
