- ATLANTA (Reuters) - A British scientist whose research linked mad cow
disease to a deadly strain of a brain-wasting disease in humans, said Wednesday
he was concerned about a new outbreak through Britain's blood supply, Microbiologist
John Pattison, whose work led researchers to conclude a variant strain
of Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease (CJD) in humans was tied to bovine spongiform
encephalopathy (BSE) in cattle, said he feared human-to-human spread of
the CJD variant through blood transfusions. Pattison presented his work
to scientists and researchers from about 70 countries at an international
conference on emerging infectious diseases in Atlanta. ``We continue to
use whole blood products in the U.K,,'' he said. ``There is no thought
being given to importing blood, because there is a huge counterbalance
to be considered involving other diseases that would be far worse than
the danger of CJD.'' It is not impossible CJD could be transmitted through
the blood supply because it has a long incubation period and consumption
of the affected cattle did not stop until 1996, he said. But he said other
countries should not be concerned about their blood supplies. ``Other countries
haven't had BSE, so it is unlikely that they would have the new variant
of CJD,'' he said. The first case of BSE was confirmed in Britain in 1986,
a result of contaminated feed. Since then, 170,000 cattle have died of
the disease, according to Pattison's report. ``In 1986, we recommended
to the British government that there should be no meat or bone meal in
the feed,'' Pattison said. ``But even after that it seemed to us we had
a problem because the feed is a bit leaky, as it were. Thirty-six-thousand
of those cases were found after the feed recommendation was made.'' He
said the likely culprits in the continued BSE spread were family farmers
who gave their cattle feed that was intended for poultry and pigs. BSE
cases among cattle have dropped dramatically since meat products were banned
from all feed, Pattison said, but it has not been eliminated. ``The BSE
epidemic is under control,'' he said, ``However, there are still going
to be about 1,500 to 2,000 cases in the UK this year.'' Pattison chairs
Britain's Spongiform Encephalopathy Advisory Committee. His recommendations
led to the British government's controversial banning of beef on the bone
in December. Pattison said from the beginning, scientists feared BSE would
spread to other species. ``Quite frankly, we were concerned about the packs
of hounds that we keep in kennels because, of course, as part of their
natural diet they are often given fallen stock to eat raw and untreated,''
he said. ``But in fact, the dogs have been singularly unaffected by the
tainted meat.'' Instead, he said, the first animals diagnosed with a form
of BSE were domestic cats in 1990. Since that time it has also been found
in zoo felines, including cheetahs, pumas, ocelots and tigers. The first
case of the CJD variant in humans was confirmed in a teen-ager who died
in October 1995. Later that month a second teen died of the disease. and
in January 1996 it was diagnosed in two more teens and three 29-year-olds
who died, Pattison said. In February 1996, five people under age 30 and
a 41-year-old became victims of the disease and in March of that year another
10 cases were reported, he said. All of the cases were in Britain. Pattison,
who will be formally knighted next week by Queen Elizabeth for his research,
said scientists continue to be concerned about the new variant of CJD.
``You can't prove some disaster isn't in the offing.''
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