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Mad Cow Threat to U.S. Blood Supply

By Lucrezia Cuen

L O N D O N, Jan. 16 — The United States already has “mad sheep,” “mad deer,” and “mad elk,” but the government has issued assurances there is no “mad cow” disease — not yet. However, the spread of mad cow disease across Europe is already having a damaging effect on the U.S. blood supply and the worst may be yet to come. Three flocks of "mad sheep" were diagnosed in Vermont six months ago. A fatal "mad deer" disease is occurring at epidemic levels in deer and elk across the Western states. Both of these diseases are closely related to mad cow disease, or BSE (bovine spongiform encephalopathy) — a chronic wasting disease spreading across Europe and linked to a deadly human variation called CJD.

The U.S. government has banned beef from BSE-infected countries, ordered vaccines from infected countries replaced and has placed bans on certain blood donations.

Efforts to protect America's blood supply from mad cow contamination — by donors who may have eaten contaminated beef — have already reduced the blood supply by 2.2 percent, the Red Cross reports. That translates to approximately 300,000 units or pints of blood, which is more than 120,000 transfusions.

New proposals could raise that percentage exponentially.

Blood Ban Two years ago, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration ordered a ban on British blood in an effort to protect against BSE, CJD and another human counterpart, vCJD (variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease).

Anyone who has lived in the United Kingdom or Ireland for more than six months between January 1980 and December 1996 is prohibited — for life — from donating blood.

The six-month benchmark was chosen when studies showed banning everyone who visited Britain during that period would devastate the American blood supply.

Expanding the Ban Now, with reports of BSE and vCJD spreading to Germany, France and beyond, the bans on blood donations may be extended to include people who have spent time in other European countries.

"Our bottom line is safety," says an FDA spokeswoman who asked not to be identified. "These are precautionary measures. The FDA will review residence of blood donors in France, and other BSE countries including Germany. We are concerned both about blood safety and maintaining an adequate supply of blood products."

This means if you've traveled or studied in Europe or if you are a member of the military stationed in Europe, your blood may be suspect.

U.S. Navy Lt. Cmdr. Dave Lee is one of hundreds of thousands of U.S. military personnel and their families already banned from donating blood.

"I feel disappointed that I can no longer help anybody," says Lee, whose type O-negative blood once made him a universal donor. "But I'm also relieved the powers that be are taking measures to protect the blood supply."

In recent weeks Germany has confirmed its first cases of BSE. New cases have been reported in France and the Netherlands. The disease has also been found in Belgium, Denmark, Ireland, Luxembourg, Liechtenstein, Portugal, Spain and Switzerland.

Possible Risk for Hunters In addition to travelers and military personnel the FDA is also considering banning blood from tens of thousand of hunters, including those who took part in the fall 2000 hunting season.

Mad deer disease, also called chronic wasting disease or CWD, has hit a full 15 percent of free-ranging deer and elk in northeastern Colorado and southeastern Wyoming.

Three young hunters exposed to mad deer disease died in the past three years of CJD. Although medical experts from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found no evidence of a link, CDC epidemiologist Dr. Ermias Belay says, "This does not totally exonerate CWD from being a human pathogen."

Cruel and Miserable Death The government concerns about BSE and CJD are well founded. The new variant CJD has no cure and no reliable test. People can be suspected of carrying the disease, but diagnosis is only confirmed in post mortem examinations of the brain.

Although leading scientists believe it is carried in the blood, currently there is no blood test that will expose it.

The wasting disease attacks the brain, slowly eating it away. Early symptoms include depression and unusual sensory sensations like a sticky feeling to the skin.

Victims, young and old, fall ill and over a matter of months, slowly lose their sight, their hearing, and their minds. By the time of death they can't move or speak. Since October 1996, variant CJD has killed more than 90 people in Europe, more each successive year.

Due to the growing concern, the FDA is meeting on Jan. 18 to consider expanding the blood ban from people who have lived in Europe.Canada has already taken emergency action banning blood donations from people who lived in France more than six months between 1980 and 1996.

http://abcnews.go.com/sections/world/DailyNews/britain010116_madcow.html

-- Martin Thompson (mthom1927@aol.com), January 16, 2001

Answers

New testing uncovers 2 mad cow cases in Belgium

Agence-France Presse BRUSSELS (January 15, 2001 6:41 p.m. EST http://www.nandotimes.com) - Officials in Belgium have uncovered two new cases of mad cow disease during a tough new testing program, the agriculture ministry announced Monday.

The new cases - from two farms in different parts of the country - bring the total number of cases of bovine spongiform encephalopathy in Belgium to 21.

They were uncovered during the new testing program for cattle aged more than 30 months, which was introduced Jan. 1 as part of the European Union measures to tackle the problem.

The first BSE case in Belgium was diagnosed in 1997.

http://www.nandotimes.com/healthscience/story/0,1080,500300045- 500479234-503280545-0,00.html

-- Martin Thompson (mthom1927@aol.com), January 16, 2001.

yahoo

Tuesday January 16 12:39 PM ET Judge to Decide Fate of Sheep in 'Mad Cow' Case

By Kevin Kelley

BURLINGTON, Vt. (Reuters) - A federal judge is expected to decide this month whether the U.S. government can slaughter two flocks of Vermont sheep suspected of carrying mad cow disease.

Bovine spongiform encephalopathy, the scientific term for this brain disorder, can be transmitted in fatal form to humans. No cases of BSE (news - web sites) have been conclusively identified in the United States. But the disease in cattle is sparking public fear and political turbulence in some European countries.

More than 70 deaths in Britain have been linked to the human variant of BSE, which is contracted through consumption of contaminated beef.

In the Vermont case, the U.S. Department of Agriculture moved last July to seize and kill a total of 350 sheep after tests on four of the animals allegedly showed they were infected with a category of disease that includes BSE.

But the flocks' owners contested the USDA's move in court, arguing that the tests were improperly conducted.

The government has agreed not to seize the sheep until U.S. District Judge Garvan Murtha issues a ruling. He has been weighing evidence in the case since the summer.

Linda Faillace, the owner of one of the two suspect flocks, is promising to let her sheep be slaughtered if the government does prove its claim.

``If we thought there was any possibility our sheep could harm American agriculture, we would surrender them immediately,'' says the East Warren sheep cheese maker. ``There's no way you want to fool around with this disease.''

But Faillace also insists that none of her 100 sheep is infected with BSE. She points out that there is no record of mad cow disease occurring in sheep anywhere in the world.

Faillace's flock and another belonging to Houghton Freeman of Stowe have been monitored by USDA since 1998 due to the possibility that the animals or their ancestors were exposed to mad cow disease before being imported from Belgium in 1996.

USDA says that the Faillace and Freeman flocks may have been exposed to BSE-contaminated feed in Belgium.

But Faillace says that USDA documents reveal that the department's own tests on the sheep consistently produced negative results. Indications of a possible brain disorder emerged only in subsequent privately conducted tests, which Faillace and Freeman say are unreliable.

USDA offered in November to pay the two owners a total of $2.4 million as compensation for slaughter of their sheep. That offer was rejected.

With the sheep no longer producing milk, the Faillace family has lost its main source of income. But Larry Faillace, Linda's husband, says that a renewed buyout offer would again be rejected on the grounds that USDA ``doesn't play fair and is immoral.''

-- Rachel Gibson (rgibson@hotmail.com), January 16, 2001.