Do people get mad cow disease?

Yes: Not mad cow disease but something with similar features in which a peculiar infection damages the brain. The two most widely known are crutzfeld-jacob and scrapie.

Yes: Bovine spongiform encephalopathy, commonly known as mad cow disease is a fatal neurodegenerative disease in cattle that causes a spongy degeneration in the brain and spinal cord. People can still get the disease, if they eat food contaminated with the brain, spinal cord or digestive tract of infected cattle. It is also known as new variant creutzfeldt-jacob disease.

The human equivalent: Of mad cow disease was first reported in 1996. There have been several hundred cases, mostly in the uk, and it appears that in the last few years, there are few if any cases. The risk currently is very, very low. Remember, cooking the ground beef to well done or beyond does not decrease the risk.