- Note: Dr. Harash Narang has devoted over 30 years of
his professional career to the study of the group of animal and human diseases
classified as Spongiform Encephalopathies ("SE's"). He has published
many research papers in scientific journals on SE's. Instead of assisting
and furthering his researches, Dr. Narang's employers, the Public Health
Laboratories Service (PHLS), and other bodies have consistently interfered
with and hindered his researches.
-
- Following are excerpts from Dr. Narang's statement to
The BSE Inquiry, which was set up by the British government in January
1998, to establish and review the history of the emergence and identification
of BSE and new variant CJD.
-
- Dr. Narang's full statement can be read here: http://www.bseinquiry.gov.uk/files/ws/s113.pdf
-
- The entire BSE Inquiry can be accessed here: http://www.bseinquiry.gov.uk/index.htm
-
- The BSE Inquiry
- Statement No 113
- By Dr Harash Narang
- 13th July 1998
-
- (Excerpts)
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- [The UK Government Knew In 1990 That BSE Was Transmissible
To Humans But Covered It Up]
-
- [Note: It was not until March 1996 that the UK government
publicly admitted that BSE was transmissible to humans.]
-
- [In 1990], I expressed my grave concerns to Dr Lightfoot
and to Dr Smith. I told them that I thought that BSE had crossed to humans
and that we had to be vigilant to monitor this. I said that we should be
examining normal human brains reaching post mortem and also brains from
patients with atypical neurological symptoms. I said that we should also
set up animal experiments to establish whether atypical cases were transmissible.
I was told by Dr Smith that I should not under any circumstances talk to
the press about my views on BSE/CJD...
-
- Meanwhile Dr Robert Perry of the Newcastle General Hospital,
who was a colleague of mine, recorded four cases of CJD in the Northern
region health area. Normally he would have expected two cases in any one
year. I analysed the brains and identified that two were not typical CJD.
They showed a typical SE [spongiform encephalopathy] accompanied by "focal
neurofibrillar tangles formation" in the cortex and cerebellum. I
classified these CJD cases as "atypical". The clinical symptoms
resembled BSE. Dr Perry and I published our findings in the Lancet in March
1990, but the PHLS [Public Health Laboratory Service] and the Lancet removed
from the publication all references to BSE. At the conclusion of the paper
we had suggested that our concern was that BSE had crossed and that atypical
cases of CJD were not being identified. We therefore proposed a large survey
of brain tissues of apparent victims of other neurological diseases to
establish the full extent of CJD in the population at the beginning of
the BSE epidemic. This proposal was excluded from the final paper.
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- ===========================
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- [Cows May Be Getting BSE From Eating Poultry Manure]
-
- [Note: In the US, poultry manure is permitted to be fed
to cattle.]
-
- BSE cases have appeared on some organic farms where the
animals have not been fed with MBM [Meat and Bone Meal] including the farm
owned by Jeff Nichols. This led to the belief that organophosphates might
be responsible for BSE. However, I have discussed this phenomenon with
three organic farmers and I visited several organic farms during 1994.
I established that the cows on the farm had been exposed to and had eaten
poultry manure, which is widely used on organic farms. I have personally
witnessed cows eating poultry manure from a heap of manure waiting to be
spread on an organic farm. It is also an established practice to add bird
droppings into some cattle feed. Since MAFF [Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries
and Food] allowed poultry to be fed on meat and bone meal until 1996, the
poultry droppings would contain large amounts of the undigested agent.
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- ===========================
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- BSE Was Found In 29% Of Brain Samples From Seemingly-Healthy
Cattle
-
- In a study undertaken for "World in Action"
in 1995 World in Action obtained 30 cattle heads from abattoirs in the
Midlands. I tested 28 brains and established that 8 of the cattle tested
which must have appeared healthy at slaughter, actually had BSE. This BSE
would be detected by my test even though they were sub-clinical, symptom
free cases. To date, MAFF [Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food]
has no such test of its own and vacuoles are not seen in sub-clinical cases
until they develop the clinical symptoms.
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- ===========================
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- BSE May Be Transmissible To Poultry, Pigs & Fish
-
- On 31st March 1995 I attended and spoke at a seminar
arranged by the Public Health Trust entitled "This BSE Business".
This seminar was attended by, amongst others, Ray Bradley, Jeff Almond
and Keith Meldrum. During the course of my talk I outlined the potential
problems in the use of meat and bonemeal for feeding to poultry, pigs and
fish and I warned at least pigs and probably the other animals would develop
the disease.
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- ===========================
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- There Is 'Very Strong Evidence' That Hens Can Incubate
Spongiform Encephalopathy
-
- MAFF [Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food] have
carried out their own transmission experiments with hens. In these experiments,
some of the chickens exposed to the BSE agent showed neurological symptoms.
However MAFF have not so far published details of the symptoms seen in
chickens. Examination of brains from these chickens did not show the typical
pathology seen in other SE's [spongiform encephalopathies].
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- A farmer in Kent in November 1996 noticed that one of
his 20 free range hens, the oldest, aged about 30 months was having difficulty
entering its den and appeared frightened and tended to lose its balance
when excited. Having previously experienced BSE cattle on his farm, he
took particular notice of the bird and continued to observe it over the
following weeks. It lost weight, its balance deteriorated and characteristic
tremors developed which were closely associated with the muscles required
for standing. In its attempts to maintain its balance it would claw the
ground more than usual and the ataxia progressively developed in the wings
and legs, later taking a typical form of paralysis with a clumsy involuntary
jerky motion. Violent tremors of the entire body, particularly the legs,
became common, sparked off by the slightest provocation. This is similar
to that seen in many BSE cases where any excitement may result in posterior
ataxia, often with dropping of the pelvis, kicking and a general nervousness.
Three other farmers and a bird breeder from the UK are known to have reported
having hens with similar symptoms. The bird breeder who has been exhibiting
his birds for show purposes for 20 years noticed birds having difficulty
getting on to their perch and holding there for any length of time without
falling. Even though the bird was eating normally, he noticed a weight
loss of more than a pound in a bird the original weight of which was 5
pounds.
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- Histological examination of the brain revealed degenerative
pathological changes in hens with a minimal vacuolation. The presence of
PrP [prion protein] immunostaining of the brain sections revealed PrP-sc
[scrapie prion protein] positive plaques and this must be regarded as very
strong evidence to demonstrate that the hens had been incubating Spongiform
Encephalopathy.
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