The chilling scenario of getting "mad cow disease" from eating products of other animals besides just cows was splashed across the mainstream British press last week based on a report from a leading U.K. lab that prions--abnormal proteins linked to bovine spongiform encephalopathy and its human form, variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease--can jump from one species to another more easily than previously believed. Although some experts say the findings raise concern about a threat to human health, others decry the media frenzy and contend that the new research adds little to what is known about the mysterious, fatal diseases.