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Dutch BSE death

Econ101

Well-known member
Netherlands has 2nd human 'mad cow'



AMSTERDAM, Netherlands, June 22 (UPI) -- Medical experts report a second case of the human variation of mad cow disease in the Netherlands.



The brain-wasting ailment, known officially as Variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease, or vCJD, has been detected in a Dutch man, the National Institute for Public Health said.



The patient is believed to have eaten meat from the same infected batch of beef as the Utrecht woman who died of the disease last year, Expatica reported.



A person with vCJD usually dies within 18 months, doctors said.





Source: United Press International

upi.com
 

Kathy

Well-known member
Remember, when you assume anything you make an -
ass out of u and me

AT this point it is still an assumption that the disease is caused by an "infectious protein". The evidence, on the other hand, is leading to contamination of the food products (MBM) with metals like lead, uranium or manganese.

There is even a new study out which refutes the conversion theory. You know the theory that a PrPsc shimmies up next to a PrPC protein and converts it to the "dark side".

In fact, if the PrPC protein is attached to copper (where copper is supposed to be, in order that the protein be considered healthy), evidence suggests that it can't possibly be converted to the so-called infectious form.

The authors of the study below, appear to be suggesting that the build-up of of PrPsc is the result of the proteins inability to endocytose into the cell. Of course, to endocytose into the cell (which is normal), the protein must have the appropriate copper ions attached to it.

J Neurosci Res. 2006 Jun 19;

Study on the toxic mechanism of prion protein peptide 106-126 in neuronal and non neuronal cells.

Dupiereux I, Zorzi W, Rachidi W, Zorzi D, Pierard O, Lhereux B, Heinen E, Elmoualij B.

Department of Human Histology, CRPP, University of Liege, Institute of Pharmacy-CHU, Sart Tilman, Liege, Belgium.

A synthetic peptide corresponding to the 106-126 amyloidogenic region of the cellular human prion protein (PrP(c)) is useful for in vitro study of prion-induced neuronal cell death. The aim of the present work was to examine the implication of the cellular prion protein in the toxicity mechanism induced by PrP 106-126. The effect of PrP 106-126 was investigated both on human neuroblastoma SH-SY5Y cells and on SH-SY5Y overexpressing murine cellular prions (wtPrP). We show by metabolic assay tests and ATP assays that PrP(c) expression does not modulate the toxicity of the prion peptide. Moreover, we investigated the effect of this peptide on an established non neuronal model, rabbit kidney epithelial A74 cells that express a doxycycline-inducible murine PrP(c) gene. We show for the first time that the prion peptide 106-126 does not exert any toxic effect on this cell line in the presence or absence of doxycycline. Our results show that the PrP 106-126-induced cell alteration is independent of PrP(c) expression. Rather, it seems to act via an interaction with lipidic components of the plasma membrane as strengthened by our results showing the differential susceptibility of neuronal and non neuronal cell lines that significantly differ by their membrane fatty acid composition. (c) 2006 Wiley-Liss, Inc.

PMID: 16786576

The idea is novel, although not necessarily new.

Here is an example of how exposure to manganese or lead (during development, ie: in utero and youth, can affect mammals years down the road.

FASEB J. 2005 Dec;19(14):2083-4. Epub 2005 Oct 17.

Lead (Pb) exposure and its effect on APP proteolysis and Abeta aggregation.

Basha MR, Murali M, Siddiqi HK, Ghosal K, Siddiqi OK, Lashuel HA, Ge YW, Lahiri DK, Zawia NH.

Department of Biomedical and Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Rhode Island, Kingston, RI 02881, USA.

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a progressive neurodegenerative disorder with clinical manifestations appearing in old age, however, the initial stages of this disease may begin early in life. AD is characterized by the presence of excessive deposits of aggregated beta-amyloid (Abeta) peptides, which are derived from the beta-amyloid precursor protein (APP) following processing by beta-secretase and gamma-secretase. Recently, we have reported that developmental exposure of rats to Pb resulted in latent elevation of APP mRNA, APP, and Abeta in old age. Here we examined whether latent up-regulation in APP expression and Abeta levels is exacerbated by concurrent disturbances in APP processing or Abeta aggregation. Among the environmental metals tested, only Abeta solutions containing Pb promoted the formation of Abeta aggregates at nanomolar concentrations. The lifetime profiles of alpha-, beta-, and gamma-secretases remained constant in adult and aging animals, and developmental exposure to Pb did not alter them. Furthermore, the addition of various concentrations of Pb (0.1 to 50 microM) to cerebral cortical extracts derived from control animals also did not affect the proteolytic activities of these enzymes. Therefore, we propose that amyloidogenesis is promoted by a latent response to developmental reprogramming of the expression of the APP gene by early exposure to Pb, as well as enhancement of Abeta aggregation in old age. In rodents, these events occur without Pb-induced disturbances to the enzymatic processing of APP. The aforementioned results provide further evidence for the developmental basis of amyloidogenesis and late-life disturbances in AD-associated proteins by environmental agents.
PMID: 16230335


Toxicol Sci. 2006 May 16;

A Manganese Enhanced Diet Alters Brain Metals and Transporters in the Developing Rat.
Garcia SJ, Gellein K, Syversen T, Aschner M.

Department of Physiology & Pharmacology, Wake Forest University Health Sciences, Winston Salem, NC 27157.

Manganese (Mn) neurotoxicity in adults can result in psychological and neurological disturbances similar to Parkinson's disease, including extrapyramidal motor system defects and altered behaviors. However, virtually nothing is known regarding excess Mn accumulation during central nervous system (CNS) development. Developing rats were exposed to a diet high in Mn via maternal milk during lactation (PN4-21). The high Mn diet resulted in changes in hematological parameters similar to those seen with Fe-deficiency in dams (decreased plasma Fe; increased plasma transferrin (Tf)) and pups (decreased hemoglobin (Hb) and plasma Fe; increased plasma Tf and total iron binding capacity (TIBC)). Mn-exposed pups showed an increase in brain Mn, chromium (Cr), and zinc (Zn) concurrent with a decrease in brain Fe. In conjunction with the altered transport and distribution of essential metals within the brain, there was enhanced protein expression of the divalent metal transporter-1 (DMT-1) and Tf receptor (TfR) overall in the brain; there was a general increase in each region analyzed (cerebellum, cortex, hippocampus, midbrain, and striatum). Neurochemical changes were observed as an increase in gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) and the ratio of GABA to glutamate, indicating enhanced inhibitory transmission in the brain. The results of this study demonstrate that developing rats undergo alterations in the transport and distribution of essential metals translating to neurochemical perturbations after maternal exposure to a diet supplemented with excess levels of Mn.

PMID: 16705042

Please feel free to pass this information on to anyone who is interested. Cattle fed high levels of manganese via chicken manure, or feed supplements or naturally high Mn levels in forages would be no different than these rats. Note the location of the general increase cerebellum, cortex, hippocampus, midbrain and striatum.
 

Econ101

Well-known member
Kathy, whatever the root cause, if feeding MBM (or eating a mad cow) can lead to vCJD, the practice should be stopped. Hopefully they can find the cause of it and stop it without further amplification. They should not try to sweep it under the rug to fulfill their own selfish purposes.

I don't need to get into the specific mechanism, whether it is a misfolded prion or a metalic element in the wrong place in a prion or both. To me, if we know we can stop it, we should. We know that getting MBM and infected cows out of the food chain will stop it. We should make sure and do that. Perhaps mother nature will throw another fast pitch to us. We should develop ways of handling those fast pitches instead of crouching down, hiding, and crying. The science behind this problem is interesting but I don't pretend to have some unifying theory on bse at this time. To me it is a little immaterial to the solutions I propose.

I am not assuming anything.

Let the scientific argument work its way through.
 

Kathy

Well-known member
Econo this was not focused at you directly. As everyone is still guessing at the cause of vCJD. Statements like "the human form of madcow" and vCJD is caused by eating madcow tainted beef" are not factual. The truth lies in revealing the actual cause - not shooting the messanger.

There is a definitive cover-up which prevents individuals/researchers from speaking out and making such bold statements as,

They are similar diseases, but the one did not cause the other. They have occurred at the same time, because at that time the environment was so polluted, it contaminated our food chain, air, water etc. Our air is now heavily polluted with nanoparticles of metals etc. that just breathing puts us in danger.

Cause, to me, is imperative! If fifty years from now there is a huge increase in neurological disorders, eg vCJD, I want to be able to show how, for example: the use of depleted uranium weapons has polluted the atmosphere with nanoparticles of uranium oxide which have translocated and built up in our brains (and other organs) over time.

Other sources of these nanoparticles which can be "INHALED" and "TRANSLOCATED" into our organs (lungs, liver, kidneys, brains, etc.) come from "Combustion-derived nanoparticles" (CDNP)

There is a paper on this called,
"Combustion-derived nanoparticles: A reveiw of their toxicology following inhalation exposure" by Dr. Ken Donaldson, et al

Link to paper: http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/articlerender.fcgi?artid=1280930

Abstract
This review considers the molecular toxicology of combustion-derived nanoparticles (CDNP) following inhalation exposure. CDNP originate from a number of sources and in this review we consider diesel soot, welding fume, carbon black and coal fly ash. A substantial literature demonstrates that these pose a hazard to the lungs through their potential to cause oxidative stress, inflammation and cancer; they also have the potential to redistribute to other organs following pulmonary deposition. These different CDNP show considerable heterogeneity in composition and solubility, meaning that oxidative stress may originate from different components depending on the particle under consideration. Key CDNP-associated properties of large surface area and the presence of metals and organics all have the potential to produce oxidative stress. CDNP may also exert genotoxic effects, depending on their composition. CDNP and their components also have the potential to translocate to the brain and also the blood, and thereby reach other targets such as the cardiovascular system, spleen and liver. CDNP therefore can be seen as a group of particulate toxins unified by a common mechanism of injury and properties of translocation which have the potential to mediate a range of adverse effects in the lungs and other organs and warrant further research.

Temporary solutions, ie: not feeding the bones of animals which are contaminated with heavy metals like lead, back to other animals, or using them for fertilizers will help. Don't get me wrong, econo. It is just this, the problem will never go away as long as we protect the flawed science of "infection".

I think the science is working itself out. It will soon be so over-whelming it can't be ignored. However, this evidence is being held back in the main-stream press by pressures put on them by "industry" and "governments".

We have to make some difficult choices, and soon. Do we accept over-heated economies (jobs and money) - over health and a future?

Usually the ones who choose jobs and money have never had to deal directly with the "health consequences" like cancer. Since I have experienced it first hand (cancer), it gives me a different perspective than I would have had before.

There is nothing wrong with specializing in areas of ones expertise. I only have a problem with people who try to shut down research in other areas, than their own.

I don't think you are doing this. But when certain folks try to deny the building evidence, and try to steer people away from looking at it or funding it - I think they should mind their own darn business.
 

Econ101

Well-known member
Kathy said:
Econo this was not focused at you directly. As everyone is still guessing at the cause of vCJD. Statements like "the human form of madcow" and vCJD is caused by eating madcow tainted beef" are not factual. The truth lies in revealing the actual cause - not shooting the messanger.

There is a definitive cover-up which prevents individuals/researchers from speaking out and making such bold statements as,

They are similar diseases, but the one did not cause the other. They have occurred at the same time, because at that time the environment was so polluted, it contaminated our food chain, air, water etc. Our air is now heavily polluted with nanoparticles of metals etc. that just breathing puts us in danger.

Cause, to me, is imperative! If fifty years from now there is a huge increase in neurological disorders, eg vCJD, I want to be able to show how, for example: the use of depleted uranium weapons has polluted the atmosphere with nanoparticles of uranium oxide which have translocated and built up in our brains (and other organs) over time.

Other sources of these nanoparticles which can be "INHALED" and "TRANSLOCATED" into our organs (lungs, liver, kidneys, brains, etc.) come from "Combustion-derived nanoparticles" (CDNP)

There is a paper on this called,
"Combustion-derived nanoparticles: A reveiw of their toxicology following inhalation exposure" by Dr. Ken Donaldson, et al

Link to paper: http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/articlerender.fcgi?artid=1280930

Abstract
This review considers the molecular toxicology of combustion-derived nanoparticles (CDNP) following inhalation exposure. CDNP originate from a number of sources and in this review we consider diesel soot, welding fume, carbon black and coal fly ash. A substantial literature demonstrates that these pose a hazard to the lungs through their potential to cause oxidative stress, inflammation and cancer; they also have the potential to redistribute to other organs following pulmonary deposition. These different CDNP show considerable heterogeneity in composition and solubility, meaning that oxidative stress may originate from different components depending on the particle under consideration. Key CDNP-associated properties of large surface area and the presence of metals and organics all have the potential to produce oxidative stress. CDNP may also exert genotoxic effects, depending on their composition. CDNP and their components also have the potential to translocate to the brain and also the blood, and thereby reach other targets such as the cardiovascular system, spleen and liver. CDNP therefore can be seen as a group of particulate toxins unified by a common mechanism of injury and properties of translocation which have the potential to mediate a range of adverse effects in the lungs and other organs and warrant further research.

Temporary solutions, ie: not feeding the bones of animals which are contaminated with heavy metals like lead, back to other animals, or using them for fertilizers will help. Don't get me wrong, econo. It is just this, the problem will never go away as long as we protect the flawed science of "infection".

I think the science is working itself out. It will soon be so over-whelming it can't be ignored. However, this evidence is being held back in the main-stream press by pressures put on them by "industry" and "governments".

We have to make some difficult choices, and soon. Do we accept over-heated economies (jobs and money) - over health and a future?

Usually the ones who choose jobs and money have never had to deal directly with the "health consequences" like cancer. Since I have experienced it first hand (cancer), it gives me a different perspective than I would have had before.

There is nothing wrong with specializing in areas of ones expertise. I only have a problem with people who try to shut down research in other areas, than their own.

I don't think you are doing this. But when certain folks try to deny the building evidence, and try to steer people away from looking at it or funding it - I think they should mind their own darn business.

Oh, I am absolutely for spending the money for researching every avenue. Look at how much it has already cost Canadian producers. A stitch in time could have saved a lot of money.

I also realize that research often has darts and turns. Much of the useful information and technology we use today comes from research that was intended for another purpose but has alternate uses. When you don't know the answer, sometimes you have to do the shotgun approach. This would be money much better spent than much of the corporate welfare we give to corporations.

Burning coal has put a lot of mercury in the atmosphere and has caused concerns over pregnent women eating too much tuna. Tuna is a top predator and hence concentration of mercury through the food chain. Cows are not supposed to be.
 

flounder

Well-known member
Kathy wrote in another thread, but yet never documented;

> didn't say that OPs caused prion disease, but that they contributed greatly
> to the UK experience,

and again, could your please reference this materials with scientific data, instead
of hearsay please ???


you can argue the origin of TSE until all the mad cows on earth come home to roost.


i.e. ;


Phosmet induces up-regulation of surface levels of the cellular prion protein.
Neuroreport. 9(7):1391-1395, May 11, 1998.
Gordon, Irit 1; Abdulla, Elizabeth M. 1; Campbell, Iain C. 1; Whatley, Stephen A. 1,2
Abstract:
CHRONIC (2 day) exposure of human neuroblastoma cells to the organophosphate pesticide phosmet induced a marked concentration-dependent increase in the levels of PrP present on the cell surface as assessed by biotin labelling and immunoprecipitation. Levels of both phospholipase C (PIPLC)-releasable and non-releasable forms of PrP were increased on the plasma membrane. These increases appear to be due to post-transcriptional mechanisms, since PrP mRNA levels as assessed by Northern blotting were unaffected by phosmet treatment. These data raise the possibility that phosmet exposure could increase the susceptibility to the prion agent by altering the levels of accessible PrP.

(C) Lippincott-Raven Publishers.



http://www.neuroreport.com/pt/re/neuroreport/abstract.00001756-199805110-00026.htm;jsessionid=DOEcw0d3vPau1LEbPM42DrGrWVZnF06cF115hTGLe07ro2BZx8d3!586698740!-949856144!9001!-1





BUT, amplification and transmission is the most important factor in stopping the

spread of the TSE agent. WE have known for decades what factors involve the amplification

and transmission, yet the industries involved CHOSE to ignore this science until the incubation

period in humans and animals started to catch up with society.



would it not have been more easy and very much less expensive for MAFF/USDA et al to jump on the OP
bandwagon and save the industry, if OP theory had any credence to it at all? and why did they not?


transmission studies DO NOT LIE !

show me the data that ops are in all the primate/mouse transmission studies?


EUROPEAN COMMISSION
HEALTH & CONSUMER PROTECTION DIRECTORATE-GENERAL
Scientific Steering Committee
OPINION ON
ORGANOPHOSPHATE (OP) POISONING AND
HYPOTHETICAL INVOLVEMENT IN THE ORIGIN OF BSE
Background
In its opinion on possible links between BSE and Organophosphates adopted on 25-26 June
1998 and in its opinion on Hypotheses on the origin and transmission of BSE adopted on 29-
30 November 2001 the SSC concluded that there is no scientific evidence in support of the
hypothesis of an OP origin of BSE.
The issue of organophosphate poisoning has not been dealt with by the SSC so far. The
concerns expressed in the enquiries cover mainly intoxication by occupational exposure of
shepherds and farmers to OPs upon use against ecto-parasites, especially in sheep dipping and
treatment of cattle against Warble Fly infestation. Risks from residues are addressed to a
lesser extend.
In early 2003, a large number of additional enquiries on the issue have been addressed to
European Commission’s Health and Consumer Directorate General. Four of these with
substantial enclosures were by one person. Most of them are addressing both issues: chronic
organophosphate (OP) poisoning and the origin of BSE.
Information provided with the enquiries
In addition to numerous newspaper and magazine articles the enclosures to the enquiries
provide the Material Safety Data Sheet on diazinon, the OHSA Occupational Safety and
Health Guideline for Tetraethylpyrophosphate (TEPP), an US agency Hazardous Substances
Fact Sheet on crufomate, company safety information sheets, some correspondence with UK
authorities including their activities to improve safe use of these chemicals. The information
regarding claimed OP chronic poisoning of cases presented does not provide evidence, neither
for OPs being the cause for diseases nor for their exclusion (i.e., “very low” bloodcholinesterase
levels, provided without data or comparison with the normal distribution of
values; successful treatment of a patient for OP clearance without giving any OP data). It
C:\WINNT\Temporary Internet Files\SSC_Last_OP_Final.doc 2
seems however, that due to insufficient, non-prudent use of the safety requirements undue
exposures of shepherds and farmers have occurred.
There is no additional information on the claimed involvement of OPs in the origin of BSE.
This applies for both, the hypotheses on the direct effect of OPs as well as on their
hypothetical role for Cu-deficiency to be involved in the origin of BSE (Cu binding of prion
protein is known). New publications are mentioned in one enquiry but they have not yet been
provided. In an Internet search no recent scientifically valid publications were traceable. The
SSC had been informed that research would be launched on this hypothesis, but no
information has been provided so far on its status or on results.
Conclusions
a) As regards the involvement of organophosphates in the origin of BSE, no new scientific
information providing evidence or supporting the hypothesis by valid data became
available after the adoption of the last opinion of the SSC on this issue. Consequently
there is no reason for modifying the existing opinions.
b) Regarding the possibility of OP poisoning, the European legislation for registration of
plant protection products and veterinary medicines – addressed in the enquiries – provide
the basis for safe use of registered compounds and their formulations. Regarding the
alleged intoxication cases reported and OP exposure it must be concluded that safety
measures may not have been strictly followed.
References
Brown, D.R., Qin, K., Herms, J.W., Madlung, A., Manson, J., Strome, R., Fraser, P.E., Kruck, T., von
Bohlen, A., Schulz- Schaeffer, W., Giese, A., Westaway, D. and Kretzschmar, H. (1997) The Cellular
Prion Protein Binds Copper In Vivo, Nature, 390, 684-7.
Purdey, M. (2000) Ecosystems Supporting Clusters of Sporadic TSEs Demonstrate Excesses of the Radical-
Generating Divalent Cation Manganese and Deficiencies of Antioxidant Co-Factors Cu, Se, Fe, Zn Medical
Hypotheses, 54, 278-306.
Scientific Steering Committee, 1998. Opinion on possible links between BSE and Organophosphates. Adopted
on 25-26 June 1998
Scientific Steering Committee, 2001. Opinion on Hypotheses on the origin and transmission of BSE. Adopted
on 29-30 November 2001.

http://europa.eu.int/comm/food/fs/sc/ssc/out356_en.pdf



Studies on the Putative Interactions between the Organophosphorus Insecticide Phosmet and Recombinant Mouse PrP and its Implication in the BSE Epidemic
I. Shaw1, C. Berry2, E. Lane1, P. Fitzmaurice1, D. Clarke3 and A. Holden1

(1) Centre for Toxicology, University of Central Lancashire, Preston, UK
(2) Department of Morbid Anatomy, The Royal London Hospital, London, UK
(3) CLRC Daresbury Laboratory, Warrington, UK


Abstract It has been suggested that exposure of cattle to the ectoparasiticide Phosmet in the 1980s caused a conformational change in the cellular prion protein (PrPC) to form the BSE prion (PrPSC), which initiated the epidemic of bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE).
Recombinant mouse cellular prion (r[mouse]PrPC) was exposed to the organophosphorus pesticide Phosmet in vitro and the conformation of the prion before and after exposure was monitored using circular dichroism (CD) spectroscopy, utilizing synchrotron radiation at the Council for the Central Laboratory of the Research Councils (CLRC) facilities at Daresbury, UK. Metabolites of Phosmet, generated in situ by rat microsomes, were investigated in the same way, to determine whether they might initiate the conformational change due to their high chemical reactivity.
Our studies showed that exposure of r[mouse]PrPC to Phosmet or microsomes-generated metabolites of Phosmet did not result in the conformational change in the protein from -helix to -pleated sheet that is characteristic of the PrPC to PrPSC conversion and, therefore, Phosmet is very unlikely to have initiated the BSE epidemic by a simple direct mechanism of conformational change in the prion protein.
bovine spongiform encephalopathy - circular dichroism spectroscopy - insecticide - organophosphate - Phosmet - prion - protein conformation



http://www.springerlink.com/(bmbpjj55ksv02p2wiismj555)/app/home/contribution.asp?referrer=parent&backto=issue,3,9;journal,31,74;linkingpublicationresults,1:103009,1



transmission studies do not lie, amplification and transmission!


i see NO properties of high levels of Manganese in the diet, combined with low levels of copper, in any of these primate
transmission studies.

1: J Infect Dis 1980 Aug;142(2):205-8


Oral transmission of kuru, Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, and scrapie to
nonhuman primates.

Gibbs CJ Jr, Amyx HL, Bacote A, Masters CL, Gajdusek DC.

Kuru and Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease of humans and scrapie disease of
sheep and goats were transmitted to squirrel monkeys (Saimiri
sciureus) that were exposed to the infectious agents only by their
nonforced consumption of known infectious tissues. The asymptomatic
incubation period in the one monkey exposed to the virus of kuru was
36 months; that in the two monkeys exposed to the virus of
Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease was 23 and 27 months, respectively; and
that in the two monkeys exposed to the virus of scrapie was 25 and
32 months, respectively. Careful physical examination of the buccal
cavities of all of the monkeys failed to reveal signs or oral
lesions. One additional monkey similarly exposed to kuru has
remained asymptomatic during the 39 months that it has been under
observation.

PMID: 6997404

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&list_uids=6997404&dopt=Abstract


Oral Transmission And Early Lymphoid Tropism Of Chronic Wasting Disease
Prpres In Mule Deer Fawns

Publication: Journal Of General Virology
Publication Request Approval Date: June 25, 1999

Interpretive Summary: Chronic wasting disease is a transmissible
spongiform encephalopathy or prion disease of deer and elk. CWD is a
member of the family of diseases that includes sheep scrapie and bovine
spongiform encephalopathy (BSE). The natural route of transmission of
these diseases in ruminant animals is unknown but oral exposure to
contaminated feeds, bedding, or tissues is presumed to be a major source
of infection. In this study, mule deer fawns were orally fed an
infectious homogenate and sacrificed at intervals to examine the
lymphoid tissue of the alimentary tract for signs of infection. Prion
protein was detected as early as 42 days and was evident in all fawns
after 53 days. This paper provides an improved procedure for detecting
prions in early infection, establishes a protocol for accelerated study
of transmission routes, and supports the hypothesis that oral exposure
may reflect the initial pathway of CWD infection in deer.

Technical Abstract: Mule deer fawns were inoculated orally with a brain
homogenate prepared from mule deer with naturally occurring chronic
wasting disease (CWD), a prion induced transmissible spongiform
encephalopathy. Fawns were necropsies and examined for PrP-res, a
protein marker for infection, at 10, 42, 53, 77, 78 and 80 days post
inoculation using an immunohistochemistry assay modified to enhance
sensitivity. PrP-res was detected in alimentary-tract- associated
lymphoid tissues as early as 42 days post inoculation and in all fawns
after 53 days. These results indicated that CWD PrP-res can be detected
at least 16 months before clinical signs would be expected to appear and
may reflect the initial pathway of CWD infection in deer.

http://nps.ars.usda.gov/publication...gnum=0000103091

Establishing the transmission of BSE to mink

44. Transmissible mink encephalopathy ("TME") is a rare disease of ranch
reared mink, first recognised in the USA. It had been assumed to be
scrapie in mink and, like BSE, outbreaks have epidemiological
features consistent with a foodborne infection, but it has never been
possible to demonstrate that scrapie infected sheep brain tissue is
pathogenic to mink by oral exposure. In an incident of TME in
Stetsonville, Wisconsin, USA in 1985 Dr Richard Marsh observed that
although the rancher fed 'dead stock', mainly in the form of cattle
carcasses, sheep tissues had never been fed. Studies in the USA of
this incident showed not only that cattle inoculated intracerebrally
with the mink brain developed a fatal spongiform encephalopathy, but
also that the cattle passaged agent remained pathogenic for
mink by either intracerebral inoculation or feeding. In the absence of
reports of a clinical disease homologous to BSE in domestic cattle,
these findings prompted the suggestion that a rare or occult
form of such a disease might exist in the USA. Comparison of the
biological properties of the BSE
12
pathogen with those of the Stetsonville isolate was therefore of
considerable interest in relation to hypotheses concerning possible
origins of BSE and potential for subclinical infection in cattle.
45. Proposals to carry out studies with mink in the USA were developed
in collaboration with, the United States Department of Agriculture
("USDA") Agricultural Research Service ("ARS") and the
Department of Veterinary Science, University of Wisconsin, Madison,
Wisconsin, USA. On 30th October, 1990 I attended a CVL/NPU BSE R&D
meeting at the NPU in Edinburgh (YB90/10.30/1.1). I reported that brain
material from BSE affected cows and a control cow (not fed meat and
bonemeal) had been sent coded to Mr Mark Robinson (USDA) for
transmission studies in mink. The studies were conducted from February
1991 under the control and principal funding of USDA-ARS. The results,
discussed at the tenth CVL/NPU BSE R&D meeting on 27th April, 1993
(YB93/4.27/1.1) indicated that mink were indeed susceptible to BSE and,
in contrast to previous attempts to transmit scrapie to the species,
were susceptible by the oral route of inoculation. The collaboration
resulted in the publication of a paper: Robinson, M.M. et al (1994)
Experimental infection of mink with bovine spongiform encephalopathy.
Journal of General Virology 75, 2151-2155 (J/JVIR /75/2151).

snip...


http://www.bseinquiry.gov.uk/files/ws/s065a.pdf

BSE TO MINK CONFIRMED

http://www.bseinquiry.gov.uk/files/yb/1993/04/27001001.pdf


1: Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2001 Mar 27;98(7):4142-7

Adaptation of the bovine spongiform encephalopathy agent to primates and
comparison with Creutzfeldt-- Jakob disease: implications for human health.

Lasmezas CI, Fournier JG, Nouvel V, Boe H, Marce D, Lamoury F, Kopp N,
Hauw JJ, Ironside J, Bruce M, Dormont D, Deslys JP.

Commissariat a l'Energie Atomique, Service de Neurovirologie, Direction
des Sciences du Vivant/Departement de Recherche Medicale, Centre de
Recherches du Service de Sante des Armees 60-68, Fontenay-aux-Roses,
France. [email protected]

There is substantial scientific evidence to support the notion that
bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) has contaminated human beings,
causing variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (vCJD). This disease has
raised concerns about the possibility of an iatrogenic secondary
transmission to humans, because the biological properties of the
primate-adapted BSE agent are unknown. We show that (i) BSE can be
transmitted from primate to primate by intravenous route in 25 months,
and (ii) an iatrogenic transmission of vCJD to humans could be readily
recognized pathologically, whether it occurs by the central or
peripheral route. Strain typing in mice demonstrates that the BSE agent
adapts to macaques in the same way as it does to humans and confirms
that the BSE agent is responsible for vCJD not only in the United
Kingdom but also in France. The agent responsible for French iatrogenic
growth hormone-linked CJD taken as a control is very different from vCJD
but is similar to that found in one case of sporadic CJD and one sheep
scrapie isolate. These data will be key in identifying the origin of
human cases of prion disease, including accidental vCJD transmission,
and could provide bases for vCJD risk assessment.


http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/...1&dopt=Abstract

this next one frightens me the most, you might want to read
it twice, and really think about it...TSS

1: J Neurol Neurosurg Psychiatry 1994 Jun;57(6):757-8

Transmission of Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease to a chimpanzee by electrodes
contaminated during neurosurgery.

Gibbs CJ Jr, Asher DM, Kobrine A, Amyx HL, Sulima MP, Gajdusek DC.

Laboratory of Central Nervous System Studies, National Institute of
Neurological Disorders and Stroke, National Institutes of Health,
Bethesda, MD 20892.

Stereotactic multicontact electrodes used to probe the cerebral cortex
of a middle aged woman with progressive dementia were previously
implicated in the accidental transmission of Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease
(CJD) to two younger patients. The diagnoses of CJD have been confirmed
for all three cases. More than two years after their last use in humans,
after three cleanings and repeated sterilisation in ethanol and
formaldehyde vapour, the electrodes were implanted in the cortex of a
chimpanzee. Eighteen months later the animal became ill with CJD. This
finding serves to re-emphasise the potential danger posed by reuse of
instruments contaminated with the agents of spongiform encephalopathies,
even after scrupulous attempts to clean them.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/...4&dopt=Abstract

Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 1999 Mar 30;96(7):4046-51

Natural and experimental oral infection of nonhuman primates by bovine
spongiform encephalopathy agents.

Bons N, Mestre-Frances N, Belli P, Cathala F, Gajdusek DC, Brown P.

Ecole Pratique des Hautes Etudes, Laboratoire de Neuromorphologie
Fonctionnelle, Universite Montpellier II, 34095-Montpellier cedex 5, France.

Experimental lemurs either were infected orally with the agent of bovine
spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) or were maintained as uninfected control
animals. Immunohistochemical examination for proteinase-resistant
protein (prion protein or PrP) was performed on tissues from two
infected but still asymptomatic lemurs, killed 5 months after infection,
and from three uninfected control lemurs. Control tissues showed no
staining, whereas PrP was detected in the infected animals in tonsil,
gastrointestinal tract and associated lymphatic tissues, and spleen. In
addition, PrP was detected in ventral and dorsal roots of the cervical
spinal cord, and within the spinal cord PrP could be traced in nerve
tracts as far as the cerebral cortex. Similar patterns of PrP
immunoreactivity were seen in two symptomatic and 18 apparently healthy
lemurs in three different French primate centers, all of which had been
fed diets supplemented with a beef protein product manufactured by a
British company that has since ceased to include beef in its veterinary
nutritional products. This study of BSE-infected lemurs early in their
incubation period extends previous pathogenesis studies of the
distribution of infectivity and PrP in natural and experimental scrapie.
The similarity of neuropathology and PrP immunostaining patterns in
experimentally infected animals to those observed in both symptomatic
and asymptomatic animals in primate centers suggests that BSE
contamination of zoo animals may have been more widespread than is
generally appreciated.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/...0&dopt=Abstract

1: Vet Rec 1993 Apr 17;132(16):403-6

Experimental transmission of BSE and scrapie to the common marmoset.

Baker HF, Ridley RM, Wells GA.

Division of Psychiatry, Clinical Research Centre, Harrow, Middlesex.

Two young male common marmosets (Callithrix jacchus) were injected
intracerebrally and intraperitoneally with a crude brain homogenate
prepared from a cow with bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE). Two
other marmosets were similarly injected with brain homogenate from a
sheep with natural scrapie. The two animals injected with scrapie
material developed neurological signs 38 and 42 months after injection
and the two animals injected with BSE material developed neurological
signs after 46 and 47 months. Post mortem examination of the brains
revealed spongiform encephalopathy especially in the basal nuclei and
diencephalon of all the animals and, in addition, involvement of the
cerebral cortex of the marmosets injected with scrapie material. The
experiment extends the host range of experimental BSE to include a
primate species.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/...8&dopt=Abstract


1: J Gen Virol 1991 Mar;72 ( Pt 3):589-94

Epidemiological and experimental studies on a new incident of
transmissible mink encephalopathy.

Marsh RF, Bessen RA, Lehmann S, Hartsough GR.

Department of Veterinary Science, University of Wisconsin-Madison 53706.

Epidemiological investigation of a new incident of transmissible mink
encephalopathy (TME) in Stetsonville, Wisconsin, U.S.A. in 1985 revealed
that the mink rancher had never fed sheep products to his mink but did
feed them large amounts of products from fallen or sick dairy cattle. To
investigate the possibility that this occurrence of TME may have
resulted from exposure to infected cattle, two Holstein bull calves were
injected intracerebrally with mink brain from the Stetsonville ranch.
Each bull developed a fatal spongiform encephalopathy 18 and 19 months
after inoculation, respectively, and both bovine brains passaged back
into mink were highly pathogenic by either intracerebral or oral
inoculation. These results suggest the presence of a previously
unrecognized scrapie-like infection in cattle in the United States.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/...3&dopt=Abstract

1: Ital J Neurol Sci 1983 Apr;4(1):61-4

Creutzfeld-Jakob disease in the province of Siena: two cases transmitted
to monkeys.

Fieschi C, Orzi F, Pocchiari M, Nardini M, Rocchi F, Asher D, Gibbs C,
Gajdusek D.

Two cases of histopathologically documented Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease
were observed in the same area of the province of Siena in 1974-1975.
The transmission of the disease was obtained through brain homogenates
and lymphnodes in one of the two cases. This confirms that the agent is
present in other tissues besides the brain and underlines further the
analogies between Creutzfeld-Jakob disease and scrapie.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/...0&dopt=Abstract


1: Dev Biol Stand 1993;80:9-13

Transmission of human spongiform encephalopathies to experimental
animals: comparison of the chimpanzee and squirrel monkey.

Asher DM, Gibbs CJ Jr, Sulima MP, Bacote A, Amyx H, Gajdusek DC.

Laboratory of Central Nervous System Studies, National Institute of
Neurological Disorders and Stroke, NIH, Bethesda, MD 20992.

The agents of kuru and Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease have been consistently
transmitted from patients with those diseases to chimpanzees and
squirrel monkeys, as well as to other new-world primates, with average
incubation periods of two or three years. No other animals have been
found so consistently susceptible to the agents in human tissues. More
rapid and convenient assays for the infectious agents would greatly
facilitate research on the spongiform encephalopathies of humans.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/...9&dopt=Abstract


1: J Vet Diagn Invest 2001 Jan;13(1):91-6

Preliminary findings on the experimental transmission of chronic wasting
disease agent of mule deer to cattle.

Hamir AN, Cutlip RC, Miller JM, Williams ES, Stack MJ, Miller MW,
O'Rourke KI, Chaplin MJ.

National Animal Disease Center, ARS, USDA, Ames, IA 50010, USA.

To determine the transmissibility of chronic wasting disease (CWD) to
cattle and to provide information about clinical course, lesions, and
suitability of currently used diagnostic procedures for detection of CWD
in cattle, 13 calves were inoculated intracerebrally with brain
suspension from mule deer naturally affected with CWD. Between 24 and 27
months postinoculation, 3 animals became recumbent and were euthanized.
Gross necropsies revealed emaciation in 2 animals and a large pulmonary
abscess in the third. Brains were examined for protease-resistant prion
protein (PrP(res)) by immunohistochemistry and Western blotting and for
scrapie-associated fibrils (SAFs) by negative-stain electron microscopy.
Microscopic lesions in the brain were subtle in 2 animals and absent in
the third case. However, all 3 animals were positive for PrP(res) by
immunohistochemistry and Western blot, and SAFs were detected in 2 of
the animals. An uninoculated control animal euthanized during the same
period did not have PrP(res) in its brain. These are preliminary
observations from a currently in-progress experiment. Three years after
the CWD challenge, the 10 remaining inoculated cattle are alive and
apparently healthy. These preliminary findings demonstrate that
diagnostic techniques currently used for bovine spongiform
encephalopathy (BSE) surveillance would also detect CWD in cattle should
it occur naturally.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/...4&dopt=Abstract

P.S. the study above confirmed 5 cows and 1 goat transmission of CWD to cattle,
of the final stages of the study. ...tss

Published online before print March 20, 2001, 10.1073/pnas.041490898
Neurobiology
Adaptation of the bovine spongiform encephalopathy agent to primates and comparison with Creutzfeldt- Jakob disease: Implications for human health
Corinne Ida Lasmézas*,dagger, Jean-Guy Fournier*, Virginie Nouvel*, Hermann Boe*, Domíníque Marcé*, François Lamoury*, Nicolas KoppDagger , Jean-Jacques Hauw§, James Ironside¶, Moira Bruce||, Dominique Dormont*, and Jean-Philippe Deslys*

snip...


Discussion

One aim of this study was to determine the risk of secondary transmission to humans of vCJD, which is caused not by a primarily human strain of TSE agent but by the BSE strain having passed the species barrier to humans. This risk is tightly linked to the capacity of the BSE agent to adapt to primates and harbor enhanced virulence (i.e., induce disease after a short incubation period and provoke disease even if highly diluted) and to its pathogenicity after inoculation by the peripheral route. With respect to the latter, there are huge variations between different TSE agent strains and hosts. For example, the BSE agent is pathogenic to pigs after i.c. inoculation but not after oral administration (23). Thus, we wanted to know to what extent the BSE/vCJD agent is pathogenic to humans by the i.c. and i.v. routes. To achieve this, we used the macaque model. To monitor the evolution of the BSE agent in primates, but also to verify the identity of French vCJD, we conducted parallel transmission to C57BL/6 mice, allowing strain-typing. The experimental scheme is depicted in Fig. 1.

Characterization of the BSE Agent in Primates. The identity of the lesion profiles obtained from the brains of the French patient with vCJD, two British patients with vCJD, and nonhuman primates infected with BSE provides experimental demonstration of the fact that the BSE agent strain has been transmitted to humans both in the U.K. and in France. Further, it lends support to the validity of the macaque model as a powerful tool for the study of vCJD. As far as the evolution of the BSE agent in primates is concerned, we observed an interesting phenomenon: at first passage of BSE in macaques and with vCJD, there was a polymorphism of the lesion profile in mice in the hippocampal region, with about half of them harboring much more severe vacuolation than the mice inoculated with cattle BSE. At second passage, the polymorphism tended to disappear, with all mice showing higher vacuolation scores in the hippocampus than cattle BSE mice. This observation suggests the appearance of a variant of the BSE agent at first passage in primates and its clonal selection during second passage in primates. The lesion profiles showed that it was still the BSE agent, but the progressive appearance of a "hippocampal signature" hallmarked the evolution toward a variant by essence more virulent to primates.

Characterization of the CJD and Scrapie Strains. Controls were set up by transmitting one French and one U.S. scrapie isolate from ruminants as well as French sCJD and iCJD cases from humans. None of these revealed a lesion profile or transmission characteristics similar or close to those of BSE or vCJD, respectively, thus extending to the present French scrapie isolate the previous observation that the BSE agent was different from all known natural scrapie strains (4, 24).
The lesion profiles of sCJD and iCJD differed only slightly in severity of the lesions, but not in shape of the profile, revealing the identity of the causative agents. One of us reported the absence of similarity between sCJD (six cases) and U.K. scrapie (eight cases) in transmission characteristics in mice (4). Herein, we made the striking observation that the French natural scrapie strain (but not the U.S. scrapie strain) has the same lesion profile and transmission times in C57BL/6 mice as do the two human TSE strains studied. This strain "affiliation" was confirmed biochemically. There is no epidemiological evidence for a link between sheep scrapie and the occurrence of CJD in humans (25). However, such a link, if it is not a general rule, would be extremely difficult to establish because of the very low incidence of CJD as well as the existence of different isolates in humans and multiple strains in scrapie. Moreover, scrapie is transmissible to nonhuman primates (26). Thus, there is still a possibility that in some instances TSE strains infecting humans do share a common origin with scrapie, as pointed out by our findings.

Transmission of vCJD and BSE to Nonhuman Primates. vCJD transmitted readily to the cynomolgus macaque after 2 years of incubation, which was comparable to the transmission obtained from first-passaged macaque BSE and much shorter than the interspecies transmission of BSE. Starting with 100 mg of BSE-macaque brain material, dilutions up to 4 µg still provoked disease. These data suggest that the BSE agent rapidly adapts to primates accompanied by enhanced virulence.
Examination of macaque brain inoculated with vCJD revealed a similar pathology to that with second-passage BSE. The distribution of vacuolation and gliosis, as well as the pattern of PrP deposition, including the dense, sometimes florid plaques, were similar to the human vCJD and the BSE hallmarks of the first passage (1, 2). These data show that the phenotype of BSE in primates is conserved over two passages. Moreover, they confirm that the BSE agent behaves similarly in humans and macaques, a precious finding that will prove useful in the near future for the design of pathogenesis or therapeutic studies. Because of the number of macaques examined in this study, we can now reliably state that the pathology, in particular the PrP deposition pattern provoked by BSE, is similar in older and very young animals. However, plaque deposition is greater, and mature florid plaques were more numerous, in the young, which may be correlated with a longer duration of the clinical phase observed in this animal (2). This is important with regard to the fact that vCJD has been diagnosed mainly in teenagers and young adults, which raises the concern that older patients may have been misdiagnosed because of an alternative phenotype of the disease. One should bear in mind, however, that cynomolgus macaques are all homozygotes for methionine at codon 129 of the PrP gene. Thus, our observations may not be relevant to humans carrying one or both valine alleles; however, all patients with vCJD reported to date have been M/M at this position (27).

Intravenous Transmissions to Nonhuman Primates. Brain pathology was identical in macaques inoculated i.c. and i.v. The i.v. route proved to be very efficient for the transmission of BSE, as shown by the 2-year survival of the animals, which is only 5 months longer than that obtained after inoculating the same amount of agent i.c. As the i.v. injection of the infectious agent implies per se a delayed neuroinvasion compared with a direct inoculation in the brain, this slight lengthening of the incubation period cannot, at this stage, be interpreted as a lower efficiency of infection as regards the i.c. route.
These data should be taken into account in the risk assessment of iatrogenic vCJD transmission by i.v. administration of biological products of human origin. They also constitute an incentive for a complete i.v. titration.
Conclusions

From BSE and vCJD transmissions in nonhuman primates, a number of conclusions can be drawn that are of major importance for human health: (i) human-adapted BSE appears to be a variant of the BSE agent that is more virulent for humans than cattle BSE and is efficiently transmitted by the peripheral route; (ii) the detection of vCJD in unusually young patients is probably not because of a lack of diagnosis of cases in older patients, thus raising the question of the source of human contamination with BSE early in life; and (iii) iatrogenic transmissions from patients with vCJD would be readily recognized by using the same diagnostic criteria as those applied to vCJD [clinical and pathological criteria (27) comprising neuronal loss and gliosis in the thalamus correlated with high MRI signal (28, 29)], whether such contaminations had occurred by the central or i.v. route. Primary and iatrogenic cases of vCJD could be distinguished on the basis of the patient's clinical history.

The risk assessment of biological products of human origin, notably those derived from blood, has been deeply modified by the appearance of vCJD. We confirm that the BSE agent has contaminated humans not only in the U.K. and the Republic of Ireland but also in France, and we show that its pathogenic properties for primates are being enhanced by a primary passage in humans. Considering the flow of potentially contaminated bovine-derived products between 1980 and 1996, it is obvious that further vCJD cases may occur outside the U.K. Thus, and in the light of the present study, it is necessary to sustain worldwide CJD surveillance regardless of national BSE incidence and to take all precautionary measures to avoid iatrogenic transmissions from vCJD.

snip...

http://www.pnas.org/cgi/content/full/041490898v1



MRC-43-00 [ ] [Text only version of this site] [Print this page]
Issued: Monday, 28 August 2000
NEW EVIDENCE OF SUB-CLINICAL PRION INFECTION: IMPORTANT RESEARCH FINDINGS RELEVANT TO CJD AND BSE

A team of researchers led by Professor John Collinge at the Medical Research Council Prion Unit1 report today in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, on new evidence for the existence of a ?sub-clinical? form of BSE in mice which was unknown until now.

The scientists took a closer look at what is known as the ?species barrier? - the main protective factor which limits the ability of prions2 to jump from one species to infect another. They found the mice had a ?sub-clinical? form of disease where they carried high levels of infectivity but did not develop the clinical disease during their normal lifespan. The idea that individuals can carry a disease and show no clinical symptoms is not new. It is commonly seen in conventional infectious diseases.

Researchers tried to infect laboratory mice with hamster prions3 called Sc237 and found that the mice showed no apparent signs of disease. However, on closer inspection they found that the mice had high levels of mouse prions in their brains. This was surprising because it has always been assumed that hamster prions could not cause the disease in mice, even when injected directly into the brain.

In addition the researchers showed that this new sub-clinical infection could be easily passed on when injected into healthy mice and hamsters.

The height of the species barrier varies widely between different combinations of animals and also varies with the type or strain of prions. While some barriers are quite small (for instance BSE easily infects mice), other combinations of strain and species show a seemingly impenetrable barrier. Traditionally, the particular barrier studied here was assumed to be robust.

Professor John Collinge said: "These results have a number of important implications. They suggest that we should re-think how we measure species barriers in the laboratory, and that we should not assume that just because one species appears resistant to a strain of prions they have been exposed to, that they do not silently carry the infection. This research raises the possibility, which has been mentioned before, that apparently healthy cattle could harbour, but never show signs of, BSE.

"This is a timely and unexpected result, increasing what we know about prion disease. These new findings have important implications for those researching prion disease, those responsible for preventing infected material getting into the food chain and for those considering how best to safeguard health and reduce the risk that theoretically, prion disease could be contracted through medical and surgical procedures."

ISSUED FRIDAY 25 AUGUST UNDER EMBARGO. PLEASE NOTE THAT THE EMBARGO IS SET BY THE JOURNAL.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT THE MRC PRESS OFFICE ON 020 7637 6011 (OFFICE HOURS) OR 07818 428297 OR 0385 774357 (OUT-OF-OFFICE-HOURS) OR PROFESSOR JOHN COLLINGE ON 020 7594 3760. PLEASE NOTE THAT OWING TO TRAVEL COMMITMENTS PROFESSOR COLLINGE WILL ONLY BE AVAILABLE UNTIL 16.30 ON FRIDAY 25 AUGUST AND CONTACTABLE AGAIN ON MONDAY 28 AUGUST VIA THE MRC PRESS OFFICE. DR ANDREW HILL (A CO-AUTHOR ON THE PAPER) FROM THE DEPARTMENT OF PATHOLOGY AT THE UNIVERSITY OF MELBOURNE WILL BE AVAILABLE ON 00 61 3 8344 3995 (DURING OFFICE HOURS) OR 00 61 3 9443 0009 (OUT-OF-OFFICE HOURS). PLEASE NOTE THAT AUSTRALIA IS TEN HOURS AHEAD OF UK TIME.

NOTES FOR EDITORS

Professor Collinge is a consultant neurologist and Director of the newly formed MRC Prion Unit based at The Imperial College School of Medicine at St Mary?s Hospital. He is also a member of the UK Government?s Spongiform Encephalopathy Advisory Committee (SEAC). The MRC prion unit is was set up in 1999, and its work includes molecular genetic studies of human prion disease and transgenic modelling of human prion diseases.

Prions are unique infectious agents that cause fatal brain diseases such as Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD) in humans and scrapie and BSE (mad cow disease) in animals. In some circumstances prions from one species of animals can infect another and it is clear that BSE has done this to cause the disease variant CJD in the UK and France. It remains unclear how large an epidemic of variant CJD will occur over the years ahead.

The strain of prion used here to infect the mice is the Sc237 strain (also known as 263K) which infects hamsters, and until now was assumed not to infect mice.

This research was funded by the Medical Research Council and Wellcome Trust.

The Medical Research Council (MRC) is a national organisation funded by the UK tax-payer. Its business is medical research aimed at improving human health; everyone stands to benefit from the outputs. The research it supports and the scientists it trains meet the needs of the health services, the pharmaceutical and other health-related industries and the academic world. MRC has funded work which has led to some of the most significant discoveries and achievements in medicine in the UK. About half of the MRC?s expenditure of £345 million is invested in over 50 of its Institutes and Units, where it employs its own research staff. The remaining half goes in the form of grant support and training awards to individuals and teams in universities and medical schools.

The Wellcome Trust is the world's largest medical research charity with a spend of some £600 million in the current financial year 1999/2000. The Wellcome Trust supports more than 5,000 researchers, at 400 locations, in 42 different countries to promote and foster research with the aim of improving human and animal health. As well as funding major initiatives in the public understanding of science, the Wellcome Trust is the country's leading supporter of research into the history of medicine.

©2002 Medical Research Council

http://www.mrc.ac.uk/index/public_interest/public-press_office/public-press_releases_2000/public-mrc-43-00.htm


and for Gods sake, if someone is smearing this [email protected] all over there kids
heads for lice and did not come up with a TSE, i would say this is good case study;


1) None of our animals that contracted BSE were treated with OP's, even
in utero.
2) My kids were treated with OP's as infants to control head lice. This
seems to be endemic as infection waves in UK primary schools (and
possibly elsewhere).
3) One might argue if the continued use of british beef in the UK was
ethical, none the less it happened. We have a duty to learn from it, not
least a duty to learn on behalf of those people who died so horribly....


NOPE, greed and money is the name of the game, they have known for decades;


STRICTLY PRIVATE AND CONFIDENTIAL 25, AUGUST 1995

snip...

To minimise the risk of farmers' claims for compensation from feed
compounders.

To minimise the potential damage to compound feed markets through adverse publicity.

To maximise freedom of action for feed compounders, notably by
maintaining the availability of meat and bone meal as a raw
material in animal feeds, and ensuring time is available to make any
changes which may be required.

snip...

THE FUTURE

4..........

MAFF remains under pressure in Brussels and is not skilled at
handling potentially explosive issues.

5. Tests _may_ show that ruminant feeds have been sold which
contain illegal traces of ruminant protein. More likely, a few positive
test results will turn up but proof that a particular feed mill knowingly
supplied it to a particular farm will be difficult if not impossible.

6. The threat remains real and it will be some years before feed
compounders are free of it. The longer we can avoid any direct
linkage between feed milling _practices_ and actual BSE cases,
the more likely it is that serious damage can be avoided. ...

SEE full text ;

http://www.bseinquiry.gov.uk/files/yb/1995/08/24002001.pdf



BUT, i applaud ranchers that understand the TSE science and not the hype that surrounds it such as 'reader the second' ;


>>>Look, Mark Purdey, I applaud you for your perserverance, your bravery in taking on the establishment, and your creativity. It may well be that you were instrumental in bringing the familial and other genetic clusters in Slovenia to the attention of science.

I acknowledge that you suffered but your suffering sir is NOTHING compared to the suffering of the families afflicted with CJD and variant CJD and to the extent that your writings are used to ignore public health threats and to avoid taking public health measures that may well protect humans from CJD, then your writings are being ill used. You should acknowledge that and if you do not, I will pay no further attention to you.

Your supporters use your writings to (1) deny that CJD is transmissable from person to person, e.g., via contaminated surgical instruments or tissue or blood donations; (2) reject totally the strong hypothesis that variant CJD is due to the BSE epidemic in the UK being "pushed" over the species barrier. They claim that all cases of human CJD are due to metal contamination. It is they who are perverting your theories and therefore subjecting you to ridicule. Unless you deny these things as well and in which case, you should be ignored since in the case of (1) you deny fact and in the case of (2) you reject a hypothesis that must be accepted for the time being and must lead our public health measures given its strength.

NO ONE has denied that the ultimate cause of TSEs is unknown. However TSEs ARE transmissable between species, albeit not easily, and they are certainly transmissable among the same species. The suffering of the individual and his/her family who contracts CJD or variant CJD is hideous beyond description. If TSEs are your life work, you had better be taking that into consideration.<<<


>>>This is a danger to ranchers and to all humans<<<


INDEED there is;


CJD FARMERS WIFE 1989

http://www.bseinquiry.gov.uk/files/yb/1989/10/13007001.pdf

http://www.bseinquiry.gov.uk/files/yb/1989/10/13003001.pdf


20 year old died from sCJD in USA in 1980 and a 16 year
old in 1981. A 19 year old died from sCJD in
France in 1985. There is no evidence of an iatrogenic
cause for those cases....

http://www.bseinquiry.gov.uk/files/yb/1995/10/04004001.pdf

cover-up of 4th farm worker ???

http://www.bseinquiry.gov.uk/files/yb/1995/10/23006001.pdf

http://www.bseinquiry.gov.uk/files/yb/1995/10/20006001.pdf

CONFIRMATION OF CJD IN FOURTH FARMER

http://www.bseinquiry.gov.uk/files/yb/1995/11/03008001.pdf

now story changes from;

SEAC concluded that, if the fourth case were confirmed, it would be
worrying, especially as all four farmers with CJD would have had BSE
cases on their farms.

to;

This is not unexpected...

was another farmer expected?

http://www.bseinquiry.gov.uk/files/yb/1995/11/13010001.pdf

4th farmer, and 1st teenager

http://www.bseinquiry.gov.uk/files/yb/1996/02/27003001.pdf

2. snip...
Over a 5 year period, which is the time period on which the advice
from Professor Smith and Dr. Gore was based, and assuming a
population of 120,000 dairy farm workers, and an annual incidence
of 1 per million cases of CJD in the general population, a
DAIRY FARM WORKER IS 5 TIMES MORE LIKELY THAN
an individual in the general population to develop CJD. Using the
actual current annual incidence of CJD in the UK of 0.7 per
million, this figure becomes 7.5 TIMES.

3. You will recall that the advice provided by Professor Smith in
1993 and by Dr. Gore this month used the sub-population of dairy
farm workers who had had a case of BSE on their farms -
63,000, which is approximately half the number of dairy farm
workers - as a denominator. If the above sums are repeated using
this denominator population, taking an annual incidence in the general
population of 1 per million the observed rate in this sub-population
is 10 TIMES, and taking an annual incidence of 0.7 per million,
IT IS 15 TIMES (THE ''WORST CASE'' SCENARIO) than
that in the general population...

http://www.bseinquiry.gov.uk/files/yb/1995/01/31004001.pdf



TSS
 

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