Why mad cow disease? Is the cow crazy?

It can be said that cattle are crazy, which is essentially a viral disease.

Mad cow disease is a common name of bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), which is an infectious encephalopathy caused by prions. Because the virus invades the brain, it causes spongy edema of gray matter and vacuolation of neurons. Sick cows usually have obvious neurological symptoms, such as irritability, abnormal behavior, sensitivity to sound and touch, and aggression, so they are called "mad cow disease", and finally sick cows die of extreme emaciation.