3 ms·
It already jumped to humans. Mad cow disease infects humans as well. The difference in infection levels is that mad cow disease is transmitted through ingestio
by dwohnitmok 6y ago
It already jumped to humans. Mad cow disease infects humans as well.
The difference in infection levels is that mad cow disease is transmitted through ingestion, so the usual avenue for human-to-human transmission is cannibalism (see e.g. the outbreak of Kuru that resulted from ritual funerary cannibalism), which is rare. Animal-to-animal cannibalism in animal feed is more common.
- subsubzero 6y agoI wonder if fully cooked meat can also transmit this disease? I know its big deal eating tainted meat as all hunters are encouraged to have the meat tested before consumption. there have been alot of deer that have been shown to have this disease.
- AnimalMuppet 6y agoFully cooked meat can also transmit prion-based diseases, because cooking isn't hot enough to destroy the prions. IIRC, you need 1500 degrees (Fahrenheit, I think). Your stove or grill isn't going to get you there, no matter how thoroughly you cook the meat.
- seventytwo 6y agoWouldn’t the deactivation temp depend on the prion?
- ruined 6y agoSure, but most prion diseases are confirmed to be resultant from various misfolding of a single protein https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PRNP https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PRNP
- hinkley 6y agoPrions are why we use more disposable tools for surgeries instead autoclaving. Autoclaves aren’t hot enough to destroy the proteins.
- meowface 6y agoTheoretically, could someone weaponize prions? Perhaps there'd be no point if the same tactics would be more effective with a typical deadly pathogen (ebola or something), but in theory could a malicious actor take human/animal brains confirmed to have a prion disease and then mash up and aerosolize the brain matter? Or would it not be possible to get infected through inhalation?