Clinical signs of mad cow disease are similar to which condition?

• A. Foot-and-mouth disease
• B. Scrapie
• C. Rabies
• D. Canine distemper

Answer: (B)

Neurodegenerative diseases caused by prions tend to produce similar nervous-system signs across species. Mad cow disease (BSE) and scrapie are both prion diseases that affect the brain, leading to progressive CNS dysfunction such as changes in behavior, ataxia (unsteady gait), tremors, and weight loss. Because they share the same underlying mechanism and target the same brain regions, their clinical pictures overlap, making scrapie the closest analog to mad cow disease.

Foot-and-mouth disease mainly causes fever and vesicles in the mouth and on the feet, not CNS-dominant signs. Rabies has distinctive progressive neurologic and behavioral changes but a different pattern and course. Canine distemper presents with respiratory and systemic signs along with possible nervous system involvement, but its overall presentation differs from scrapie/BSE.