Feline Spongiform Encephalopathy (FSE)
Feline Spongiform Encephalopathy (FSE) is a Transmissible Spongiform Encephalopathy (TSE) or Prion disease of domestic cats and captive exotic felines, first reported in Great Britain in 1990. Other countries, such as Norway, Liechtenstein and France, have also reported cases.
FSE is believed to result from the consumption of food contaminated by the agent of Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE).
Cats are the only pets known to be affected by the infectious agent that causes bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), known as mad cow disease, in cattle. No evidence of BSE has been found in dogs, horses, birds, or reptiles.
About 90 cats in the United Kingdom and several cats in other European countries have been diagnosed with feline spongiform encephalopathy (FSE).
Before it was recognized that they could be affected by the BSE agent, cats were exposed to it through commercial cat food or meat scraps provided by butchers. The number of reported cases of FSE in Europe has been declining annually since 1994 after European countries implemented feed bans that lowered the risk of BSE transmission.
To date, no case of FSE has been found in the United States. The FDA believes that the safeguards it has put in place to prevent BSE in this country have also protected cats.
References:
May - June 2004
www.fda.gov/fdac/features/2004/304_cow.html
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