It strikes without warning. For years it lies dormant in a body, like a villain waiting for the right time to show itself.

But then it starts. Mild dementia at first, but increasing nervousness and aggression. Coordination decreases, and eventually walking becomes impossible.

Any animals that develop this affliction — Mad Cow Disease — share the same ultimate fate: Death.

Mad Cow, also known as Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE), has created growing concerns since the United States announced Dec. 23 its discovery of BSE in a cow from a Washington farm. Since then, major importers, including the entire country of Japan, have banned U.S. beef.

But is there a significant risk to U.S. beef consumers? Is the meat safe, or in a decade are we going to see mass outbreaks of the human form of BSE, variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease (vCJD)?

Perhaps the media can be blamed in part for the suspicions now aimed at U.S. beef. Mad Cow dominates news networks, and after the story broke it was plastered on front pages from Washington state to Washington, D.C. But the government has insisted the risk to U.S. citizens is extremely low, and doctors agree.

Fred Cohen, professor of pharmacology at the University of California, said U.S. test methods are not perfect, but the risk of Americans contracting vCJD is still low, according to the New York Times. “One cow is not likely to translate into any cases [in the United States],” Cohen said.

Worldwide, the number of human deaths from vCJD is also extremely low—totaling 153 cases— according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). All but 10 of those cases occurred in the United Kingdom. The United Kingdom saw a rise in BSE in cattle from 1980 to 1986 and an outbreak of the human Mad Cow in the early 1990s.

Cohen said the number of those infected in the United Kingdom was small compared to the actual population. “When there were 60,000 to 80,000 infected cows in the U.K., approximately 150 people out of 60 million developed the disease,” Cohen said.

But a disease that is 100 percent fatal cannot be downplayed. Currently, the United States tests only about one in a million cows slaughtered each year, according to the Times. Japan checks every single cow slaughtered, and animals that are seemingly healthy have tested positive for BSE. U.S. regulations seem inept in comparison.

Increasing checks on cattle for the disease may be costly, but so is losing an American life and the effect the death would have on the reputation of the U.S. cattle industry. The media hype may be excessive, but not unwarranted if it produces changes in the regulation process and saves lives.