bovine spongiform encephalopathy

[ spuhn-juh-fawrm ]

1. a fatal neurological disease of cattle, characterized by spongelike changes in the brain and thought to be caused by an infectious prion also implicated in Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease. : BSE

bovine spongiform encephalopathy

noun

1. the full name for BSE

bovine spongiform encephalopathy

/ spŭn′jĭ-fôrm′ /

1. See mad cow disease

Word History and Origins

Origin of bovine spongiform encephalopathy¹

1985–90