mad cow disease

noun

Examples of mad cow disease in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web
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For decades, heparin was made with ingredients from cows, until the mad cow disease scare in the 1990s prompted manufacturers and regulators to adopt porcine alternatives. Thomas J. Bollyky, Foreign Affairs, 22 July 2025 That’s because in the 1980s, a prion disease in sheep, known as scrapies — which humans do not seem to get — moved into cows, and soon people throughout the United Kingdom, France and elsewhere were becoming infected with mad cow disease, or bovine spongiform encephalopathy. Susanne Rust, Los Angeles Times, 16 Apr. 2025 In 1989, the United States banned lamb and beef imports from Britain after an outbreak of bovine spongiform encephalopathy, otherwise known as mad cow disease. Remy Tumin, New York Times, 25 Jan. 2025 Since mad cow disease was first seen in 1995, more than 140 people worldwide have died from vCJD as the result of consuming contaminated beef. Jake Parks, Discover Magazine, 5 Nov. 2024 See All Example Sentences for mad cow disease

Word History

First Known Use

1988, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of mad cow disease was in 1988

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Cite this Entry

“Mad cow disease.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/mad%20cow%20disease. Accessed 10 Sep. 2025.

Medical Definition

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