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CWD Prions Found In
Supplements - Recall Urged

Patricia A. Doyle DVM, PhD
4-6-9
 
Note - Dr. Patricia Doyle and I have been stating this issue clearly for over ten years. What is really amusing is that no one dares look at beef gelatin capsules used in countless thousands of supplements and prescriptions. In fact, the list of products using parts of cattle is staggering. Take a good look! http://www.rense.com/general6/cow.htm - JR
 
 
© Copyright (c) The Edmonton Journal
4-6-9
 
EDMONTON -- New research shows the infectious prions associated with chronic wasting disease can be found in a substance that's used to make nutritional supplements.
 
The discovery is prompting one organization to demand an emergency recall of the products, though the Canadian Food Inspection Agency says there's no reason to worry.
 
Chronic wasting disease, or CWD, is a fatal disease that spreads among species in the deer family. Like mad cow disease, the killer involved is a prion - a tiny, infectious agent that, unlike a virus or bacterium, is made up entirely of protein and contains no nucleic acid.
 
The new discovery of prions in antler velvet of CWD-afflicted elk suggests this tissue may play a role in disease transmission among members of the deer family, including elk, said the study, which will be published in the Emerging Infectious Diseases Journal in May.
 
"Humans who consume antler velvet as a nutritional supplement are at risk for exposure to prions," the study said.
 
The Canadian Food Inspection Agency collaborated on the study with scientists from the University of Kentucky Medical Center, Colorado State University, and the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
 
The results of the study are not surprising, given that the prions have been found in blood and nervous tissues, and antler velvet is rich in nerves and blood, said Dr. Cornelius Kiley, senior veterinarian with the Canadian Food Inspection Agency.
 
But Kiley said people who consume nutritional supplements made from antler velvet don't need to worry.
 
"Based upon the scientific evidence at this time, they should not be concerned."
 
There is no scientific evidence that CWD is transmissible to humans, he said.
 
In Alberta and Saskatchewan, all elk over 12 months of age that go to slaughter must be tested for CWD, he explained. Currently, there are no tests for live animals, and velvet comes from live animals.
 
But Darrel Rowledge, director of the Calgary-based Alliance for Public Wildlife, is convinced these measures aren't enough.
 
Rowledge, who has followed the CWD issue for 20 years, said his organization is in the midst of drafting a letter to Prime Minister Stephen Harper, asking him to start an emergency recall of all velvet products, both for humans and animals.
 
Rowledge said it's utterly irresponsible to say there's no evidence the CWD can infect humans.
 
"An absence of evidence is not evidence of absence," he said, "so we can't prove that it has happened, but that doesn't indicate that it can't happen."
 
Rowledge noted the prions would not be destroyed in the process used to create the nutritional supplements. One study showed that prions could survive being cooked at 600 C.
 
Kiley said there are two ongoing studies seeking to get closer to that question of whether or not primates can be infected by CWD. The tests are being done on non-human primates. It will take three to five years before the results are known, because the disease has a long incubation period, he said.
 
"There is no evidence, but it's only by doing the research, and doing it extensively, where you can start to speak in absolute terms. And the world's not there yet with CWD."
 
The capsules at the Optimum Health Centre in Edmonton are produced in Alberta, and are used mostly by men to boost testosterone levels, said Elaine Doucette, the store manager.
 
"We're not at this point going to pull it off the shelf, because we haven't seen a reason to do that."
 
Edmonton Journal
 
hbrooymans@thejournal.canwest.com
© Copyright (c) The Edmonton Journal
 
http://www.canada.com/Health/Recall+urged+nutritional+suppl
ements+after+wasting+disease+find/1462698/story.html
 
 
Patricia A. Doyle DVM, PhD Bus Admin, Tropical Agricultural Economics Univ of West Indies Please visit my "Emerging Diseases" message board at: http://www.emergingdisease.org/phpbb/index.php Also my new website: http://drpdoyle.tripod.com/ Zhan le Devlesa tai sastimasa Go with God and in Good Health
 
 
 
 
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