Bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) is a great concern because it can be transmitted to the people if they eat beef that came from the cow infected with Bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE). If the person eats BSE-tainted meat, the person is at higher risk for acquiring human variant of disease, named Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (vCJD or nvCJD). It is a very lethal disease that affects the central nervous system of human beings. The disease is very rare in United States only one in a million acquires this disease.

The transmissible agent that causes the disease in adult cattle are Prions. Prions are located in the brain, spinal cord or retina and other tissues of the nervous system of affected animals. Prions may infect humans who eat meat from infected cattle. Prions are highly resistant to heat, ultraviolet rays, radiation and disinfectants. Hence, prions are not destroyed by normal sterilization procedures such as cooking, washing, boiling or using germicides that normally kill viruses and bacteria. Once the prion is transmitted in human body, the tainted protein entrench the central nervous system and are produced in a self sustaining feedback loop, causing exponential spread of prion, leading to death in few months or within a year.   

BSE can also be transmitted from one human to other human through cannibalism, organ transplantation or through contaminated tissues. Consequently, certain human blood products such as plasma and blood donations are not accepted from people who have lived in region where the irruptions of BSE have occurred in cattle.

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