These pages are an exact posting of the project I did on BSE for a school research prize (I came runner up). As I created it in HTML I decided to post it on the web. There is quite in-depth information, especially in the sections on the biomachanics of the Prions which are believed to transmit the disease, and in the glossary towards the end. I don't mind people replicating what is here for their own use or research, but I would appreciate an e-mail if you are going to use large chunks of it straight off. I finished the project in mid
March 1997, and will probably not be updating it. I apologise for the lack of any listing of sources which I used. I researched it all on the web but forgot to note down addresses.
In this project I will try and outline the causes and history of Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE), a most worrying disease that began to strike the cattle herds of Britain in the late eighties. Part of the group known as Transmissible Spongiform Encephalopathies (TSEs) it is still not definitely known what causes BSE and the other related strains, or what long-term effects it may have on humans through consumption of contaminated meat. I will also, in this project try to set out the most recent information available about TSEs and possible dangers of these diseases to human health.
Because much of the details are so similar across all the TSEs I have decided to split the project into two section dealing with the general traits of all TSEs, and the particular history and problems with BSE respectively. The two sections can be navigated independently from here, or the project can be followed straight through as one:
To navigate through this project simply use the row of icons at the base of the screen. A Glossary of terms associated with TSEs is available through the fourth button.
