Confidence votes 30.3K. Mad cow disease is scientifically known as bovine spongiform encephalopathy, or BSE for short. BSE is caused by a mis-folded protein in the brain and spinal cord of cattle, so it is actually none of the above (virus, bacteria or protist).Prions are a novel form of disease infection distinct from the traditional three infectious routes identified in the early 1900s.he disease was given … the formal name of bovine spongiform encephalopathy based on the microscopic signs of the disease in the brain and is often called BSE for short. BSE is caused by a prion, a mis-folded protein in the brains of cattle, so it is not caused by a protist.