Before turning brains into Swiss cheese, the proteins that cause mad cow and related diseases must be turned on by the flick of a switch, new research suggests. Researchers just aren't sure what that switch is. Full story
A new blood test can diagnose cases of variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease, a rare, fatal brain disease caused by proteins known as prions, according to U.K. researchers. Prions also cause mad cow disease, or bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE). Full story
News that meat and milk from the offspring of cloned cattle may have made their way into the U.K. food chain has set hands wringing in Britain, a country still sensitive from its experience with mad cow disease. Full story
The Obama administration banned the slaughter of cows too sick or weak to stand, seeking to further minimize the chance that mad cow disease could enter the food supply. Full story
A federal regulation aimed at preventing mad cow disease from getting into the food supply could lead to cattle carcasses rotting on farms, spreading germs and polluting the water. Full story
July 22: Why America Hates Washington: Dan Abrams takes shots at what’s wrong with our nation’s capital, including how the U.S. Agriculture Department is under fire for losing track of cattle imported from Canada, even though some of the animals might have mad cow disease.
Pastors scuffle with riot police as they try to march to the presidential Blue House after a prayer in Seoul July 1, 2008. The group, who fear the mad cow disease, held a prayer on Tuesday and demanded the full-scale renegotiation of the U.S. beef import deal. REUTERS/Jo Yong-Hak
