immune system doesn’t see them coming.”5 Like a predator in the shadows, when a prion infects the human body, it hides in the tissues, slowly multiplying until it is ready to strike.
Sadly, our fateful immune system does not recognize the particles as foreign invaders. Instead, in a sadistic twist of fate, the prions utilize a sort of Trojan horse system and coerces the immune system to support its replication and neuroinvasion.1 Dementia, hallucinations, and confusion result when the brain decays as the prions pokes holes in the tissue. Symptoms suddenly appear in otherwise healthy individuals a few years after contact. Finally, all infections are 100% fatal and there is no cure. Aside from humans, prion diseases also exist within other animals, causing chronic wasting disease, scrapie, and mad cow disease.
Prions possess all the capabilities to cause serious epidemics. Thankfully, strict regulations on how we handle meat have prevented prions from spreading through their prefered means of transmission. As we gain more knowledge as to how prions work, new treatments can be developed that would fight against a once unstoppable disease.