Let's start at the beginning. What exactly is BSE?

BSE, that is bovine spongiform encephalopathy, also known in Britain as the mad cow disease, is a progressive, lethal central nervous system disease of cattle. It is characterise by the appearance in neurons in the brain of affected cattle of vacuoles, clear holes, that give the brain the appearance of a sponge -- this is where the term spongiform came from.

Listed below are some links of the real facts;

http://www.affa.gov.au/docs/animalplanthealth/bse/index.html
http://www.aahc.com.au
http://www.brs.gov.au/aphb/aha