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Panel suggests changes at animal disease lab

flounder

Well-known member
Panel suggests changes at animal disease lab

By PERRY BEEMAN
REGISTER STAFF WRITER


November 17, 2006


An independent panel today suggested changes in the way the National Animal Disease Center treats its sewage to protect Ames residents from exposure to mad cow and related diseases.

The panel decided that the lab had posed little if any risk to the public, determining that it is unlikely any infectious agents survived even treatment at the plant, let alone the Ames city treatment that comes after.

Nevertheless, members suggested that the disease lab incinerate solid material from necropsy labs, or send the material through a chemical process before the heating that already takes place in the center's sewage plant. That's just as a safety measure and is common at other labs.

A lab spokesman said the mad cow experiments will not be rescheduled until the city of Ames and lab officials can decide how to respond to the panel's findings.

Disease center animal caretakers Richard Auwerda and Timothy Gogerty on May 4 questioned whether treatment methods at the plant were effective in deactivating prions, which are abnormally shaped proteins that cause mad cow, sheep scrapie and chronic wasting disease, for example.

They wondered why blood, feces, urine and tissue fragments that could contain the proteins were not all incinerated, as was the case at the National Veterinary Services Laboratories next door, a sister lab in the federal system.

The National Animal Disease Center is the nation's preeminent lab for studying domestic livestock diseases. The center has checked cattle for mad cow disease for years, and had planned to run experiments in which the prions that cause the disease would be injected into animals. That work was delayed pending the study into sewage-treatment procedures.

Auwerda said he feared for the safety of workers, the public and the livestock industry. He and Gogerty described a lack of protocols, or frequent changes in them, problems with equipment, bureaucratic runarounds, sewage backups that could threaten workers' health, worker injuries, and other problems.

The lab promised to take the workers' questions seriously, even though at one point one of their bosses threatened their jobs. Officials of the Agricultural Research Service, which runs the lab, later said the threat was inappropriate, and, in fact, a violation of federal rules.

"The main thing people need to realize is that NADC does a good job," Auwerda said in June. "Basically, 99.9 percent of people here are very careful people, follow protocols, are hard workers and provide a much-needed service. We've had some problems when bureaucrats get involved."

Many international protocols call for the wastes to be bleached for a time, then heated, unless a facility chooses to incinerate all operating-room wastes. NADC had been relying on heat only, but said that single method met the requirements of a number of international agencies.

The city of Ames, noting that its sewage treatment plant is not capable of deactivating the prions, called for a review. The 11-member panel was selected by the city and the federal Agricultural Research Service, which runs the disease center.

The center has agreed to review any recommendations made by the 11-member committee, which included national prion disease experts.

The disease center also faced federal and state actions over worker-safety violations, mishandling hazardous wastes, and for air-quality violations, including the emission of too much smoke. Smoke is a sign of incomplete combustion of the laboratory wastes sent to the incinerators at the lab.

The review panel dealt only with the sewage question.



http://desmoinesregister.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061117/NEWS/61117034/1001/cyclone_insider



Subject: Panel to report on controversial Ames MAD COW animal lab today
Date: November 17, 2006 at 7:34 am PST

Panel to report on controversial Ames animal lab today ASSOCIATED PRESS


November 17, 2006


A panel of scientists is expected today to release its review of whether the National Animal Disease Center improperly disposed of animal waste into Ames' wastewater treatment system.

The eight-person panel was asked to investigate claims that the federal research center failed to properly treat infectious waste before it was sent to the city's wastewater treatment plant.

The allegations were made this spring by two center employees who claimed they approached their supervisors with questions about the disposal of animal waste, including blood, feces, urine and other bodily fluids. The workers said they weren't given sufficient answers and were threatened with a loss of funding for their jobs.

Animal caretaker supervisor Richard Auwerda sent a letter on May 4 to the city, state veterinarian and state and federal agencies, saying he hoped the lab's practices didn't harm the environment or Ames residents.

Auwerda and caretaker Timothy Gogerty claimed that the NADC's procedures for destroying abnormally shaped proteins - called prions - appeared less stringent than the procedures at the nearby National Veterinary Services Laboratories. Prions are found in fatal diseases, including mad cow disease and chronic wasting disease.

Auwerda and Gogerty said the rules also were less restrictive than those recommended by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, the Centers for Disease Control, and the National Institutes of Health.

They also alleged the center wasn't following its internal operating procedures for destroying prions.

The Agricultural Research Service, which runs the lab, has denied that animal waste was improperly handled. Research service officials have said all the water used to wash away liquid animal waste was sterilized at 250 degrees Fahrenheit for 30 minutes - a method accepted by the World Health Organization.


The panel was expected to identify scientifically accepted methods for destroying prions, and determine any environmental risk posed to humans by the center's methods and decide whether any remediation is needed.


http://desmoinesregister.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061117/NEWS/61117006




J Gen Virol 87 (2006), 3737-3740; DOI 10.1099/vir.0.82011-0

Infectious agent of sheep scrapie may persist in the environment for at least 16 years

Gudmundur Georgsson1, Sigurdur Sigurdarson2 and Paul Brown3

1 Institute for Experimental Pathology, University of Iceland, Keldur v/vesturlandsveg, IS-112 Reykjavík, Iceland
2 Laboratory of the Chief Veterinary Officer, Keldur, Iceland
3 Bethesda, Maryland, USA


Correspondence
Gudmundur Georgsson
[email protected]

In 1978, a rigorous programme was implemented to stop the spread of, and subsequently eradicate, sheep scrapie in Iceland. Affected flocks were culled, premises were disinfected and, after 2-3 years, restocked with lambs from scrapie-free areas. Between 1978 and 2004, scrapie recurred on 33 farms. Nine of these recurrences occurred 14-21 years after culling, apparently as the result of environmental contamination, but outside entry could not always be absolutely excluded. Of special interest was one farm with a small, completely self-contained flock where scrapie recurred 18 years after culling, 2 years after some lambs had been housed in an old sheep-house that had never been disinfected. Epidemiological investigation established with near certitude that the disease had not been introduced from the outside and it is concluded that the agent may have persisted in the old sheep-house for at least 16 years.


http://vir.sgmjournals.org/cgi/content/abstract/87/12/3737?maxtoshow=&HITS=10&hits=10&RESULTFORMAT=&fulltext=PRION&searchid=1&FIRSTINDEX=0&volume=87&issue=12&resourcetype=HWCIT


2:00 Soil Minerals Enhance Prion Infectivity
Judd M. Aiken, DVM, Professor, Animal Health & Biomedical Sciences, University of Wisconsin-Madison, School of Veterinary Medicine
We have recently demonstrated that prions bind clay and silica. The binding of PrPSc to a common soil clay (montmorillonite) is avid and this interaction enhances infectivity. The implications of this enhancement of transmission are far-reaching and include how scrapie and CWD are environmentally transmitted. The ramifications of these findings with regard to food safely will also be discussed.



http://www.healthtech.com/2007/tse/day1.asp





----- Original Message -----
From: "Terry S. Singeltary Sr."
To:
Sent: Friday, April 14, 2006 8:50 AM
Subject: Prions Adhere to Soil Minerals and Remain Infectious


##################### Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy #####################

Subject: Prions Adhere to Soil Minerals and Remain Infectious
Date: April 14, 2006 at 7:10 am PST
Prions Adhere to Soil Minerals

and Remain Infectious


Christopher J. Johnson1,2, Kristen E. Phillips3, Peter T. Schramm3, Debbie McKenzie2, Judd M. Aiken1,2,

Joel A. Pedersen3,4*

1 Program in Cellular and Molecular Biology, University of Wisconsin Madison, Madison, Wisconsin, United States of America, 2 Department of Animal Health and Biomedical

Sciences, School of Veterinary Medicine, University of Wisconsin Madison, Madison, Wisconsin, United States of America, 3 Molecular and Environmental Toxicology Center,

University of Wisconsin Madison, Madison, Wisconsin, United States of America, 4 Department of Soil Science, University of Wisconsin Madison, Madison, Wisconsin, United

States of America

An unidentified environmental reservoir of infectivity contributes to the natural transmission of prion diseases

(transmissible spongiform encephalopathies [TSEs]) in sheep, deer, and elk. Prion infectivity may enter soil

environments via shedding from diseased animals and decomposition of infected carcasses. Burial of TSE-infected

cattle, sheep, and deer as a means of disposal has resulted in unintentional introduction of prions into subsurface

environments. We examined the potential for soil to serve as a TSE reservoir by studying the interaction of the diseaseassociated

prion protein (PrPSc) with common soil minerals. In this study, we demonstrated substantial PrPSc

adsorption to two clay minerals, quartz, and four whole soil samples. We quantified the PrPSc-binding capacities of

each mineral. Furthermore, we observed that PrPSc desorbed from montmorillonite clay was cleaved at an N-terminal

site and the interaction between PrPSc and Mte was strong, making desorption of the protein difficult. Despite

cleavage and avid binding, PrPSc bound to Mte remained infectious. Results from our study suggest that PrPSc released

into soil environments may be preserved in a bioavailable form, perpetuating prion disease epizootics and exposing

other species to the infectious agent.

Citation: Johnson CJ, Phillips KE, Schramm PT, McKenzie D, Aiken JM, et al. (2006) Prions adhere to soil minerals and remain infectious. PLoS Pathog 2(4): e32. DOI: 10.1371/

journal.ppat.0020032

snip...

PLoS Pathogens | www.plospathogens.org April 2006 | Volume 2 | Issue 4 | e32 0007

Sorption of Prions to Soil


http://pathogens.plosjournals.org/archive/1553-7374/2/4/pdf/10.1371_journal.ppat.0020032-S.pdf





http://pathogens.plosjournals.org/perlserv/?request=get-pdf&file=10.1371_journal.ppat.0020032-L.pdf



Epidemiology Update March 23, 2006
As of today, 13 locations and 32 movements of cattle have been examined with
27 of those being substantially completed. Additional investigations of
locations and herds will continue. In addition, state and federal officials
have confirmed that a black bull calf was born in 2005 to the index animal
(the red cow). The calf was taken by the owner to a local stockyard in July
2005 where the calf died. The calf was appropriately disposed of in a local
landfill and did not enter the human or animal food chain.


http://www.aphis.usda.gov/newsroom/hot_issues/bse/bse_al_epi-update.shtml





> The calf was appropriately disposed of in a local
> landfill and did not enter the human or animal food chain.


well, back at the ranch with larry, curly and mo heading up the USDA et al,
what would you expect, nothing less than shoot, shovel and shut the hell up.
no mad cow in USA, feed ban working, no civil war in Iraq either.


but what has past history shown us, evidently it has shown the USDA et al
nothing ;


http://www.prwatch.org/node/4624/print




Link: LARRY, CURLEY, AND MO







SEE STEADY INCREASE IN SPORADIC CJD IN THE USA FROM
1997 TO 2006. SPORADIC CJD CASES TRIPLED, with phenotype
of 'UNKNOWN' strain growing. ...


http://www.cjdsurveillance.com/resources-casereport.html


There is a growing number of human CJD cases, and they were presented last week in San Francisco by Luigi Gambatti(?) from his CJD surveillance collection.

He estimates that it may be up to 14 or 15 persons which display selectively SPRPSC and practically no detected RPRPSC proteins.




http://www.fda.gov/ohrms/dockets/ac/06/transcripts/1006-4240t1.htm


http://www.fda.gov/ohrms/dockets/ac/06/transcripts/2006-4240t1.pdf




[Docket No. FSIS-2006-0011] FSIS Harvard Risk Assessment of Bovine
Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE) Singeltary submission


snip...

Research Project: Study of Atypical Bse

Location: Virus and Prion Diseases of Livestock

Project Number: 3625-32000-073-07

Project Type: Specific C/A

Start Date: Sep 15, 2004

End Date: Sep 14, 2007

Objective:

The objective of this cooperative research project with Dr. Maria Caramelli from the Italian BSE Reference Laboratory in Turin, Italy, is to

conduct comparative studies with the U.S. bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) isolate and the atypical BSE isolates identified in Italy.

The studies will cover the following areas: 1. Evaluation of present diagnostics tools used in the U.S. for the detection of atypical BSE cases. 2.

Molecular comparison of the U.S. BSE isolate and other typical BSE isolates with atypical BSE cases. 3. Studies on transmissibility and tissue

distribution of atypical BSE isolates in cattle and other species.

Approach:

This project will be done as a Specific Cooperative Agreement with the Italian BSE Reference Laboratory, Istituto

Zooprofilattico Sperimentale del Piemonte, in Turin, Italy. It is essential for the U.S. BSE surveillance program to

analyze the effectiveness of the U.S diagnostic tools for detection of atypical cases of BSE. Molecular comparisons of

the U.S. BSE isolate with atypical BSE isolates will provide further characterization of the U.S. BSE isolate.

Transmission studies are already underway using brain homogenates from atypical BSE cases into mice, cattle and

sheep. It will be critical to see whether the atypical BSE isolates behave similarly to typical BSE isolates in terms of

transmissibility and disease pathogenesis. If transmission occurs, tissue distribution comparisons will be made between

cattle infected with the atypical BSE isolate and the U.S. BSE isolate. Differences in tissue distribution could require

new regulations regarding specific risk material (SRM) removal.

http://www.ars.usda.gov/research/projects/projects.htm?ACCN_NO=408490

Page 5 of 98

8/3/2006



snip...



http://www.fsis.usda.gov/OPPDE/Comments/2006-0011/2006-0011-1.pdf





[Docket No. 03-025IFA] FSIS Prohibition of the Use of Specified Risk
Materials for Human Food and Requirement for the Disposition of
Non-Ambulatory Disabled Cattle

03-025IFA
03-025IFA-2


http://www.fsis.usda.gov/OPPDE/Comments/03-025IFA/03-025IFA-2.pdf





THE SEVEN SCIENTIST REPORT ***


http://www.fda.gov/ohrms/dockets/dockets/02n0273/02n-0273-EC244-Attach-1.pdf





Full Text

Diagnosis and Reporting of Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease

Singeltary, Sr et al. JAMA.2001; 285: 733-734.



http://jama.ama-assn.org/cgi/content/full/285/6/733?maxtoshow=&HITS=10&hits=10&RESULTFORMAT=&fulltext=dignosing+and+reporting+creutzfeldt+jakob+disease&searchid=1048865596978_1528&stored_search=&FIRSTINDEX=0&journalcode=jama




http://www.neurology.org/cgi/eletters/60/2/176#535


BRITISH MEDICAL JOURNAL


BMJ


http://www.bmj.com/cgi/eletters/319/7220/1312/b#EL2



BMJ


http://www.bmj.com/cgi/eletters/320/7226/8/b#EL1




Terry S. Singeltary Sr.

P.O. Box 42

Bacliff, Texas USA 77518
 
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