Mad Cow (Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy) Giant Microbe Plush Doll
When bovine prions stampede the wrong way, everyone says Moo! (Each doll has its own unique pattern.)
Giantmicrobes Are Stuffed Animals That Look Like Tiny Microbes - Only A Million Times Actual Size!!! Each 5-to-7 inch doll is accompanied by an image of the real microbe it represents, as well as information about the microbe.
They make great learning tools for parents and educators, as well as amusing gifts for anyone with a sense of humor!
Facts: First identified in Britain in the mid-1980's, Mad Cow disease, or Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE), is generally thought to be the work of proteinaceous infectious particles, or prions. These inanimate amino acid chains (which are far smaller than bacteria or viruses, and are not destroyed through normal cooking) normally twist like pretzels into a particular shape. According to theory, they can get a little crazy and twist the wrong way. Similar proteins follow the herd, go nuts as well, and congeal into long rods that ultimately inhibit brain function. Other prion diseases include the sheep disease scrapie; Kuru, once found in the cannibals of Papua-New Guinea; and Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, a variant of which is believed to be Mad Cow in humans.
Although Mad Cow prions are typically found in brains and spinal tissues, and are thought to be transmitted primarily by direct consumption, even cows and humans without a predilection for consuming nrevous tissue are at risk: at processing plants, these materials can end up both cattle feed and on your sirloin steak. In fact, cattle feed contaminated with scrapie infected sheep tissue is credited with spreading ovine prions into the bovine population.
With an up to decades long latency period, no cure, no treatment, and no chance of recovery, concern about BSE is no bull. Nevertheless, the risk of infection is extremely low. Strenuous efforts are being made to prevent the spread of Mad Cow disease, including the implementation of strict animal feed regulations and processing standards. So beef eaters are hardly insane to keep eating - though that may make cows even madder...
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