spongiform encephalopathy

spongiform encephalopathy One of a number of progressive neurodegenerative disorders in animals and humans caused by transmissible agents, called prions, that produce spongiform changes in the brain. Specific examples of transmissible spongiform encephalopathies affecting humans include kuru, Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, and variant CreutzfeldtJakob disease (vCJD or “mad cow” disease).