January 17, 2007

Milk may transmit mad cow disease
 

One of the biggest threats to the beef industry is the mad cow disease, or bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) caused by prions present in cows.

It must be noted that a mad cow's milk might contain these prion proteins resulting in the disease getting transmitted to humans, according to a new study.

Though earlier studies have proved the presence of prions in body fluids such as blood, it was not clear whether milk too could carry prions, until the new study came up.

In the current study, Nicola Franscini and colleagues at Case Western University School of Medicine, detected prion protein (PrPC)-the precursor of prions (PrPSc)-in milk from humans, cows, sheep, and goats.

They found prions were heat-resistant and treating infected milk to high temperature only partially diminished endogenous PrPC concentration.

Incidentally, scientists have also engineered a BSE-immune cattle which is free from prions.