News that has appeared in the newspapers and television from the beginning of November 2000

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BSE statistics and news: http://ourworld.cs.com/_ht_a/j1braakman/BSE.htm
Guardian BSE web site
List of scientific news articles at the New Scientist
US news reports

December 2001

Times 15.12.01 Mad cow fears. Russia is banning imports of livestock and mutton originating in Finland and Austria after reported cases of BSE. in Slovakia a 5th case of the disease surfaced.

Times. 15.12.01 Flaw in blood tests for scrapie. This indicates that the robot mechanism that was used to test sheep blood for the genetics that showed a sheep was particularly open to developing scrapie was making mistakes.

BBC News. 14.12.01 UK to stop the requirement for doctors to use disposable surgical instruments when carrying out tonsillectomies. This had been a major problem in that the metal instruments that were required were extremely difficult to get hold of and a back log of surgery had built up. The reason for the decision was that a child had died as a result of the use of these instruments.

Observer 2.12.01 Guinea pig for miracle vCJD drug dies at 21. This records Rachel Forber's death. She had been on quinacrine since July and was felt to have in some way benefieted from the drug. Unfortunately it had liver damaging effects and she became irritated by sunlight. However her father, Steven Forber looked at the bright side and did his utmost to get her to California where she was treated by doctors and scientists at UCSF.

November 2001

Press Agency statements in November 2001

NB in this month the first case of BSE in Croatia and the second case in Japan.

Independent 23.11.01 Final toll from CJD 'could be below 200'. This follows the article in Science in which Professor Valleron assumes a short incubation period to the disease and Rob Will agrees with him. When this is done, then the peak may be early and hence the epidemic of the disease not last long. Few researchers in the field were found by the press that would agree with the assumptions made by them.

Various newpapers 15.11.01 Only a small proportion of the population may be open to vCJD. This follows work published in Nature by the Imperial College group showing that a significantly lower proportion of the vCJD cases carried the cell surface antigen HLA-DQ7. However, despite a significantly reduced frequency of disease in people that carried the antigen, it did not provide full security from the disease. The antigen was found in 45% of controls and 12% of the vCJD patients.

October 2001

PA News up until the end of October

Guardian 19.10.01 Sheep BSE scientists tested cows by mistake. The four year study into whether the national sheep flock is infectected with BSE has been ruined after it emerged that scientists were mistakenly examining cow brains believing them to be sheep's. Tests cost 217k pounds, believed to be from 2867 sheep. Samples tested showed 'all to be negative' but has only been carried out on 180 'sheep'. (The BBSRC people at Compton were no doubt extremely fed up with the results but the finding that none were positive is useful in itself - Ed).

Metro 12.10.01 CJD 'is not linked with eating beef'. This follows an article in the BMJ that suggests that we should question some of the epidemiological data put forward by official sources. (The article clearly misses out a number of things that make the connection between BSE and vCJD quite difficult to deny, but works on the epidemiology. To some degree that would be the weakest link because we are so early in the human epidemic - Ed)

Guardian 2.10.01 Blood supplies 'could be halved' as donors fear results of vCJD tests. Apparently the National Blood Service in the UK is particularly worried about this and is contacting doctors telling them to get ready for the problem. This came out in the quartly sheet from Liz Reynolds at the NBS. So far 22 people have received blood from 13 donors known to have developed vCJD: none were told.

September 2001

Guardian 22.9.01 Epidemic in Waiting An excellent article concerning the appearance of vCJD and the outbreak at Queniborough. This goes into the individual people and what they did be fore they developed the disease. Little disagreement was found with Monk's findings (which were not at all certain, as he said at the time) suggesting that an individual butcher was involved in the spread of hte disease as a cluster. Queniborough has a populatuion of 2279 and had 5 cases. The author goes into the way in which large numbers of cattle were slaughtered in automated production abbatoirs.

Times 19.9.01 CJD fear over French beef imports. New controls on beef imports from the Continent are urgently needed because of rising incidence of BSE in France. This came from the SEAC meeting on the 18th that was the first to be an open one. (notably at this meeting Dr White, who was put down as having made errors by the Phillips Inquiry, was put as still being involved with SEAC). Harriet Kimbell (lawyer associated with the Consumers Association) on SEAC made it clear that she would not eat the French sausages just now. Average age of vCJD is 27, oldest 74, youngest 14 with average of 13 months before death.

Independent 18.9.01 Trials on CJD drug treatment will be stepped up. This follows the statement by the DoH (concernign quinacrine).

British Medical Journal News. 15.9.01. High vCJD rates in Scotland could be due to poor diet. Statistically these numbers are higher inthe North of England and in Scotland than in the Midlands and the South. This is even when the diet of beef is taken into acocunt. Attempts were made to show if this was associated with different diets and certain forms of meet (e.g. faggots) were found to be in excess in the North, and associated with the disease. It is not, however possible to be sure that they are the cause at this time.

Guardian 13.9.01 Infected fields could spread BSE, scientists say. This follows the investigatoin of the cattle that have died of BSE but were born after the feed ban in 1996, which was thought to be much more certain than the ban in 1988. Initially it was expected that it was due to vertical transmission but the dams generally were not unwell. The worry is that BSE may become endemic like scrapie, whichis associated with the land. However the drop after 1996 might suggest that this was not true. (Ed-dont forget that the cases may well not be reported and so, later we may well find that the case numbers born after 1996 are much greater than they think)

Guardian 5.9.01 At long last, signs of a BSE breakthrough. A review article explaining that there may well be diagnostic tests and methods of treatments on the way.

August 2001

Independent 28.8.01 BSE experts sounds new alarm over safety of lamb. Headline. This was due to a strong article by Richard Kimberlin in which be wards that BSE in lamb could be as yet unreported but present in the tissues of the animal. His worries come from the change in symptoms and incubation periods that take place when a TSE passes from one species to another and the low current ability to seek the diseae out in asymptomatic animals.

Guardian 24.8.01 Spinal cord in imported beef. The second time this month the food standards agency reported.

This particular article continued on all the news stations throughout the next 3 days. The major article was in:
Times 14.8.01 Research confirms hope of cure for vCJD. This says that the Department of Health is considering helping to fund the trials with the drug. The article in the PNAS was only about the in vitro work that had gone on following Caughey's group's work a year earlier. Jane Taylor, the remarried mother of Rachel Forber made it clear that at least now they had hope.
Nobel pioneer gave CJD girl new lease of life. In this section it is clear that she had not greatly improved but at least she has not got worse like another patient. When discussing this with the doctors involved it was clear that none were going to say that we had seen the first of more improvement. It was organised by Bruce Miller in California and had to be passed of US Federal Drug Agency approval before it was permitted on compassionate and humanitarian grounds. Rachel finally arrived in California on the 19th of July. One other patient was treated but got worse and the treatment was stopped. She has now returned to UK and the treatment has continued. "We have to be optimistic, but cautiously optimistic.

Mail on Sunday 12.8.01 'Briton Cured in CJD drug trial'. This is concerning the 20 year old former army woman Rachel Forber from Newton le Willows near Manchester. She had been diagnosed and the father was utterly determined that it was necessary she was treated. She was taken to Stan Prusiner's lab in University of California and was treated by Bruce Miller, a neurologist that had some experience in the treatment of Alzheimers disease. It now seems that she was treated with quinacrine, a relatively toxic compound that can be given orally. It had been shown to work in the test tube by Byron Caughey's group along with a Japanese group. She is not claimed to have been cured by the doctors but the father says that she has improved clinically.
(Editorial: Qunacrine is a toxic compound to many aspects of metabolism. It is generally used as a former anti-malarial now unused. The exact mode of action against the production of PrPres is not clear but it is not due to the stopping of formation of PrPsen. Certainly it did not prevent PrPsen from being turned into PrPres in vitro either. The possibility of changes in the stability of PrPres once formed has been considered but this is also unclear. The damage that has been done to the brain by the disease means that even if all prions are removed from the brain by drugs such as this full cure would not be likely - SD)

Guardian 10.8.01 Food agency on trail of low grade meat It has now been revealed that many of the food manufacturing groups refused to release data showing that they bought mechanically recovered meat or what they did with it. SEAC has demanded that further attempts be used to find what exactly happened if only so that we can try to work out the risks that were traken by different groups.

There were reports of further cases of BSE appearing in cattle born after August 1996 during this month.

July 2001

Independent 27.7.01 BSE: the end of a mystery? The newspapers did not produce much on the Horne report except this article. 'At last, scientists think they know why 'mad cow' disease began and why in the UK. Now they just have to prove it'. Unfortunately the report is exceedingly unsure about its findings: and is happy to say so in the main body of the script. The article says that scrapie may well be the cause....but may well not be. (Have a look at www.airtime.co.uk/bse/hypoth.htm for a fuller description of the report and a review - Ed)

Various newspapers early in the month. Fourth cow born after the feed ban in 1996 has now been shown to have BSE. The reason is unclear at the moment but is thought to be vertical transmission. (Unfortunately one of the mothers of the cattle with the disease is 10 years old and shows no illness)

June 2001

See Press Agency reports for June 10.6.01, 13.6.01, 18.6.01

Times 21.6.01 Researchers hoping for CJD cure in five years. Speaking at the World Congress of Neurology in London, Collinge also announced the opening of a new clinic at St Mary's in Paddington for sufferers of variant CJD and related diseases (He will need to in order to get the samples to carry out his tests - Ed)

Guardian 21.6.01 Doctors fear girl, 14, has BSE. (In this article the author states that at least one manufacturer also used mechanically recovered meat in baby food). Aguzzi states that he thinks the opposition to animal experiments in UK is making research difficult there.

Guardian 20.6.01 vCJD monther buried. The mother who gave birth 4 months ago died of vCJD and was buried yesterday.

Various radio and TV. Collinge claimed to aim for streatment for vCJD within 5 years. He was opening a specific prion clinic in North London.

Sunday Times 17.6.01 Mother, 28 dies from CJD. As case of vCJD in a woman that has just given birth.

Independent on Sunday 17.6.01 Scientists baffled by mystery of new BSE case. This is about case that has appeared in the west of England on a farm for which there is no reason and, by rights, as the animal was born 10 months after the feed ban of 1996 (27.5.97), should never have become infected. The cow was confirmed when 48 months, part of a friesian herd. The predictions by the statisticians is that there will be 17 such cases by the end of the year...if they are vertically transmitted. However in this case the dam of this animal is 9 years old and has no signs of disease. Statistically dams are much more likely to give birth to infected calves when they are going to die themselves within a short period.

Guardian 16.6.01 BSE case raises spectre of new ban. Cow born after feed ban gets BSE. Vets are studying farm records and tracing the history of an animal and its feed and establishign behond doubt the identity of its mother. EU officials soon to consider whether UK beef exports should stop. vCJD cases up to 102. This is the third case born after feed ban. Two in SW of England and 1 in Norther Ireland (thought to be a feed failure). (Editorial: It should be noticed that these cases have appeared at all. However the numbers are dramatically lower than would have been seen had the feed ban not had any effect. These numbers can be calculated and were published yesterday in British Food Journal. In fact the numbers seen are smaller than the predictions just for vertical transmission from the work by Anderson's group of risk analysts. Attempts to do these calculations are actualy fraught with difficulties simply because of the 30 month rule and the tendency not to test or report cattle. This must stop and cattle, even when going for slaughter over 30 months should be tested and at the Government's expense)

Guardian 14.6.01 Breakthrough in blood test to detect CJD. This describes Soto's test in Nature showing that it was possible to get the prion crystalloids to grow when mixed with brain homogenate extracts. One of the reasons was, he feels, that the homogenate will contain other factors that permit the formation of the crystalloids that are not just PrP. This is better described under Serono Pharmaceuticals on the www.airtime.co.uk/bse/adco.htm page

Telegraph 15.6.01 Case of BSE in cow born after feed ban. This was probably of much greater significance than was considered at the time simply because the mother of the cow with BSE did not have BSE herself and yet had reached 11 years of life. This was born to a cow in the West Country in the UK 10 months after the feed ban of 1996. It was suggested by Peter Smith (head of SEAC) that the case is looked into as, although it is likely to be a vertical transmission case, he would want more evidence for this. (This is more important in that farmers were probably simply not reporting cattle such as this because they 'could not possibly have BSE' because they were born after the feed ban. As a result many more may appear - Ed)

Independent 15.6.01 First BSE case in Czech Republic

Guardian 14.6.01 Processed meat safety challenged. Various worries including BSE following the investigation by the Food Standards Agency in to a case in January when chicken meat unfit for human consumption was easily findings its way in to human food.

New Scientist 9.6.01 Is it BSE of scrapie? A histopathological technique to separate scrapie from BSE in sheep. So far all 100 sheep tested have had scrapie.

May 2001

See Press Agency reports for May 5.5.01, 11.5.01, 22.5.01, 30.5.01

Guardian 25.5.01 Tally of vCJD victims reaches 100. In fact a latest case was a relative of Sir Paddy Ashfield, former Liberal Democrat Leader in the UK. (This is actually quite bad news in that it suggests that the numbers are continuing to rise rapidly - Ed)
Daily Express 25.5.01 DONT DRINK THE WATER. Humans in foot-and-mouth areas now face CJD, warns government scientist. This follows the burning of cattle in the areas of foot and mouth disease. The temperature that is reached in this method is far too low to destroy BSE and because of this the ash that is left will retain infectivity. Peter Smith, the current temporary chairman of SEAC, somehow told the press that this represents a risk to the public through the water supply (the evidence tends to show that prion infection is withdrawn by hydrophobic things like soil and so it is not really likely to be taken into the water - Ed). The newspaper follows this with an editorial saything that the villagers have already been drinking this water for several weeks.

Times 22.5.01 Captive-bolt gun may spread vCJD. Experiments published showing that captive bolts used for slaughter of larger animals actually shoots brain material into the veins of the animal and hence may make other tissues dangerous to eat. (This work was actually partly carried out several years ago and showed that brain tissue appeared in the lung. It was thought that it may get there through the bronchi or through the blood supply. Initial work probably available in about 1995 - Ed)

All agencies. Mainly TV. 15.5.01 Sciensts uncover evidence about brain disease: New epidemic fear over human BSE. This explains how John Collinge's group in London have basically shown that the genome link with MM gene may only represent at short incubation period that the other genomes represent and hence the total number may be much higher than expected. No full information seems to have been handed out.

April 2001

See Press agency reports for April 4.4.01, 19.4.01, 24.4.01 , 30.4.01
Guardian 19.4.01 Wildlife parks antelope may be the source of BSE. This comes from the work of the Morris' group in New Zealand following up the retrospective statistical epidemiological analysis of the epidemic. What he finds is that a single, infected animal to the parks, which is then fed to cattle as part of MBM could in fact cause an importation of BSE in the early 1970s.
(Ed-This was Alan Dickinson's original idea and was put to the Phillips Inquiry in around 1999, it was also published in the Independent newspaper before that, so dont think it is Morris' finding himself. The retrospective analyses were in fact done before this and sent to Morris by other researchers; he noticably does not thank them for their work. Exactly where this is printed is not clear. Presumably Morris is presenting this data to Horne's committee reviewing all that is known about BSE for the Government currently)

April 2001

See Press Agency reports for April 4.4.01, 11.4.01, 19.4.01, 19.4.01(second section), 24.4.01

Independent 27.4.01 Tests show BSE caused by infected sheep. This follows the death of a cow with a 'BSE-like disease' following intracerebral inoculation with scrapie. The work was done using scrapie taken from sheep before the BSE epidemic started. Danny Matthews at the VLA was happy with this but admitted that a lot more work was needed to show that scrapie had actually caused the disease. (Ed: we must not forget the work done in Texas in 1970s in which the same experiment was carried out and shown to work)

Guardian 19.4.01 Wildlife parks' antelope may be source of BSE. This follows an article ('later this year') by the New Zealand expert in the epidemiology of BSE, Professor Morris. He believes a wildlife partk, probably in the south-west England were BSE seems to have started may have been the unwitting host to an infected animal being brought into the country. He made it clear that we did not know at this time where the antelope came from or to which zoo it may have gone. (Editor: a. Morris' must have taken the idea from Alan Dickinson in Edinburgh, who presented it to the Phillips Inquiry at least 2 years ago. b. It was published as headlines in the Indpendent newspaper around the same time. c. The fact that antelope were found dying of disease actually before cattle with BSE should not be taken as valid evidence in that BSE was almost certainly present there earlier but animals in zoos are subject to veterinary care to a much greater degree)

March 2001

Please notice that due to the foot and mouth disease epidemic in the UK, BSE has slipped from the press.

See Press Agency reports for March 30.3.01 19.3.01, 5.3.01

TV in UK: many sources. 21.3.00 Queniborough reports from the Leicestershire Health Authority showed that many attempts to find out the cause of vCJD failed. The only thing that they could find that an association with disease was the use of old slaughter methods that were carried out that were used early in the 1980s. At the moment it is not clear that there is a certain cause. What this suggests is that cattle were slaughtered by small, local butchers and that the tissues included the whole of the body were was eaten.

Guardian 10.3.01 Link 'discovered' between cluster of five CJD deaths. Phillip Monk, (Consultant in Communicable Disease Control) in Leicestershire Health Authority announced that they had found a link between them and that it was not obvious but did not contradict the idea that it had something to do with meat. The final result is to be announced on the 21st of March.

Guardian 5.3.01 Who's mad now? A full interview with Professor Lacey. 'Ten years ago, he was rubbished for warning that BSE could be transmitted to humans. We now know how right he was. So what does Richard Lacey think of the latest farming crisis?' He basically explains how officialdom can only handle problems of a certain size and when they are told that things are potentially worse than that, there is a tendency to deny them.

February 2001

See Press Agency reports for Feburary: 23.2.01, 21.2.01

Independent 18?.2.01 CJD families to be paid 25,000 pounds 'first instalment'. Government is to help the families look after vCJD cases with a grant including this money. Further income may come later and a wider compensation packet is being developed.

Guardian 8.2.01 Infected blood has ruined the lives of many haemophiliacs. So why are they denied the safe, synthetic alternative? In England the use of artificial factor VIII has not been possible because of the 23 million pounds needed. 13 of the vCJD cases have in fact been blood donors and this is thought to represent a risk...although the dilution effect of its manufacture may remove most of the risk present.

Independent 5.2.01. Five new mad cow cases in Spain
Sunday Times 4.2.01 British firm linked to global BSE Similar to Independent article on 1 week ago. Main exporter of MBM as pig and poultry feed was De Mulder. Overall more than 200,000 tons exported between 1988 and 1996 (at that point its use was banned and export banned by EC).

Independent 3.2.01 Joan of Arc on the run from BSE squad This is a bovine that managed to get away from a herd that was going to be completely slaughtered in Germany because a single case of BSE had been found.

Star (this is a Malasian Newspaper) 1.2.01 Korean may have mad cow disease. A 30 year old South Korean suspected by doctors to have vCJD. No autopsy result yet. (Unlike the 'vCJD' cases in USA it is the doctors that are saying this, not the relatives talking to the press - Ed)

January 2001

See Press Agency reports for January: 18.1.01, 11.1.01, 3.1.01

Guardian 30.1.01 Germany flouts BSE rules again. UK in row with Germany over the effectiveness of Berlin anti-BSE measures. Also the German regulations banning the eating of cattle over 30 months age now dropped to 24 onths following the discovery of a 28 month animal infected.

Independent on Sunday 28.1.01 Britain put 69 countries at risk of BSE A list of 69 countries with at attempt at estimating the levels of export of MBM from the UK. Revalation found in previously unpublished MAFF documents shows the extent of UK exports of potentially contaminated material. Between 1988 and 1996 large amounts sent to European nations such as Netherlands, France and Germany. Israels imported 31,000 tons and Russia 3,000. Large amounts sent to developing countries partiuclarly after EC banned UK MBM feed. Indonesia imported 60,000 tons between 1991 and 1996. Britain also exported more than 3 million live catte to 36 countries between 1988 and 1996 (most of these were calves for venison trade and slaughter - Ed). There have been claims that vCJD is beginning to spread (but no evidence yet - Ed). This data appeared from the Phillips Inquiry demand for paperwork from MAFF, which was then open to the public. MP described the export of the MBM as being irresponsible action.

Independent 27.1.01 UN sounds alarm on BSE epidemic . The UN Food and Agriculture agency warned developing nations yesterday to take action to prevent BSE becoming a world wide problem. This followed the tens of thousands of tons of MBM exported from the UK. Regions most at risk: Middle East, Asia but specifically Nigeria, S Africa, Kenya, Thailand, Malaysia, Taiwan, HK, Indonesia, Hungary and the Czech Republic.

Independent 26.1.01 McDonalds hit by BSE fears over Texan cattle feed. Fear of BSE hit the USA when there was an announcement of the movement into quarantine of some cattle in Texas. McD's shares immediately fell 7 percent. This followed the announcement by the FDA that a Texas feed mill had failed to follow regulations that forbid the feeding of MBM to other ruminants. 2 wks ago the FDA revealed that scores of mills across the US had not been complying with therules.

Observer 21.1.01 CJD families to receive 25,000 pounds. Health Secretary Alan Millburn announced that a no-fault agreement as a compensation and care package, which had been refused by the previous government now became demanded following the Phillips Inquiry report. Relatives arned that if the deal was the final offer it would be an insult but Whitehall sources stressed it was an interim payment. (The families are not happy seeing as the farmers have received 4 billion pounds. Also, it is currently unknown just how big the costs may end up as being to the Government - Ed)

Sunday Times 21.1.01 Calves of BSE cows in food chain. More than 8k calves born to BSE infected cows have been eaten by UK consumers in past 5 years. By rights the calves of BSE infected mothers should have been slaughtered. However the mother may develop BSE after the calf has been eaten. "For every BSE-infected animal entering the food chain it is estimated that two people could develop vCJD" (I am not sure where they got that - Ed). The current rules are that all calves born to dams that subsequently develop BSE will be culled.

Independent on Sunday 21.1.01 US hit by CJD scare and elk get the blame. CWD rates among some deer herds now announced as reaching 15 per cent. Also 3 unusually young CJD victims (e.g. Mr Ewan) that were venison eaters. Adbisory panel at the FDA recommended widening current measures forbidding anyone who has lived in Britain for 6 months or more since 1980 from giving blood. New provisions spread this to France, Ireland, Portugal for 10 yrs or more.

Guardian 19.1.01 CJD risk 'right to know' plan. Patients could be given more right to know that they may have contracted vCJD following a sustained rise in the rate of vCJD cases in the UK. Current guidance says doctors should not generally I nform patients because the uncertainty could blight their lives when there is no test, no cure and no treatment. With 13 of the 88 cases of vCJD in this coulntry now known to have been blood donors fears are growing about the number of people who could have been contaminated. Directors of haemophilia centrea are already offering advice after a 1996-7 batch of factor VIII used some plasma of vCJD patient. Same batch used in vaccines etc. 23 people known to have received transfusions with blood from implicated donors and blood products from these donors have gone into batches used in vaccines and clotting factors used on thousands of people. (All this is of no surprise in that the number of cases of vCJD is now rising 20 percent per month and cases found in the future will certainly be found to have already been blood donors - ed). Food Standards chiefs revieled that remnants of spinal cord have been found in two consignements of beef imported from Germany, in breach of anti-BSE controls.
Indpendent 15.1.01 Mad cows may have reached midwest Alarm growing in USA concerning the outbreaks of transmissible mink encephalopathy in 11 mink farms. (This is a high number but further data is needed. TME is probably caused by infected material fed to mink farms as almost all the mink die in a short period - ed)

Independent 14.1.01 France confronts Britain over BSE spread French magistrate to seek documentary evidence from Whitehall to substatiate claims that the Thatcher Government of 1987-90 was criminally negligent in alllowing BSE to spread to the continent. (by permitting the export of MBM that was known to be a risk). French Agriculture minister, Jean Glavany said that Britain bore a 'moral' responsibility for the spread of BSE to the continent. 'It is our English friends who exported this evil'. Glavany's comments were rejected as misleading in that the UK Government claimed that they had written to all the Governments warning them of the risk from the MBM and that it should only be fed to pigs and chickens. Phillips Inquiry reported that Britain was responsible for the spreading of BSE to the continent in the factual and scientific sense but that it was not morally or legally guildy of deliberately putting foreign animals or people at risk. Honnorat sees this as a whitewash.(The Judge Bertella-Geffroy was an experienced magistrate who led the inquire into the Aids contamination of French blood banks in the 1980s. It is dubious that the letters from the UK Government could be looked on as acceptable as a method to stop the spread of this type of disease and the UK should have realised this. When they get documents from the EC they will see quite clearly that misleading information was put to them by MAFF employees to get UK beef exported - editor). Farmers in Germany angered by switch to organic. Currenly this only represents 10 percent of the amount.

Independent 12.1.01 Matadors state their claim to BSE cash Bulls in Spain may not be possible to sell for meat because of their age...this was one of the sources of cash for the matadors' industries.

Independent 11.1.01 Meat -loving Germany gets Green minister to oversee farm revolution. Renate Kumans a 44 yr old former anti-nuclear protester takes over from Karl-Keinz Funke. Mr Schroder proclaimed 'chainges that have not been made in the past 50 years will be made now' in her first public statement as minister. There was a pledge to change to natural production and natural animal husbandry. The chaos in government ranks from the rivalry between the Agriculture and Health Ministers. As both ministers quit, it became clear that a new method of agriculture must be used to beware of further problems. New Health Minister Ulla Schmidt.(This actually will be more difficult than they think. The way the EC is organised currently is to produce large amounts of cheap food under heavy subsidy from them. Organic food is expensive partly because of the way the market is organised - editor)

Daily Mail 10.1.01 Europe's BSE crisis worsens as German ministers quit As below.

Times 10.1.01 Schroder shaken as two ministers quit in BSE row. The Agriculture and Health ministers (Andrea Fisher) and Karl Heinz Funke quit due to blaming from the Government that they were involved in not taking adequately aggressive action against BSE risks to the German population.

Guardian 6.1.01 European beef ban down under . This explains that the Australin and New Zealand food authority (ANZFA) said its request to suppliers to suspend the sale fo beef products from 30 Eurpean countries was a precaution. (It had been planned for some time. The rapid rise in cases in Europe recently brought it out - Ed)

Reuters 5.1.01 Farmers see delays in mad cow testing in Italy. This is that Italian testing will take a long time to impliment and the farmers want it to be speeded up to permit sales.

Guardian 5.1.01 Failure of BSE tests revealed. This follows the demand by the EC that cattle over 30 months that are to be eaten must be tested first and the testing of material to make sure that no spinal cord offal enters the human food chain. this is particularly concerning specific pieces of spinal cord (in this case more than 2 cm long) that were present getting through the system.

Guardian 5.1.01 Hospitals told to clean up over CJD. this is concerning the worry that vCJD may transfer through specific surgical instruments. Specific tonsillectomies etc, specific action to be taken to either incinerate or autoclave items. (It should be noted that Derriford, the Plymouth Hospital that first found the appendix with the prion of vCJD has already done all these things - Ed)

December 2000

Reuters 31.12.00 Schroeder promises inquiry into beef. This has followed the uproar in Germany after the rise in cases that has been seen.

Reuters 25.12.00 Japan bans import of European beef A wide measure and this may well ban the import of many other pharmaceutical products.

Independent 22.12.00 Germans turn to turkey as fifth BSE case sparks further consumer panic Although this is not a high number it is a jump for Germany (see Jan 15th 01) and the number of people taking beef has dropped to lower than 60 percent.

Guardian 21.12.00 CJD bill to soar as NHS cuts surgery risks. This concerns the changes that have been put forward to all infection control doctors in the UK by the NHS to do with the risks from surgery transfer of vCJD. The reason is that the disease could possibly be transferred by surgery from one patient to the next because it is difficult to sterilise the surgical instruments. Many instruments will have to be discarded as is true with those following surgery to vCJD patients at the moment. A person in UK who donated blood and then was found to have vCJD This was used to make polio vaccine and 83,000 doses used. Loopholes in food regulations permitting import of beef from France older than 30 months
Guardian 19.12.00 Civil serrvants blamed in BSE In quiry will not be disciplined. Specific CS that were shown to make errors and should have known better with the information that they had, will not be blamed. A new in quiry (under Shiela Forbes, a CS commissioner) has decided that they carried out their work under good will i.e. they did their best, even though it was inadequate. (This is fairly clear but the arrogance and determination of the CS to ignore information that they did not want to hear was abominable - Ed)

Independent CJD cluster fears after two deaths in one town This is in Stockport. Higher BSE risk in European products This is concerning the import of food that may not have gone through checks from Europe. Krebs from the FSA agrees to this and action is to be taken.

Lancashire Evening Telegraph 13.12.00 CJD mum may not have died in vain. Concerning the death of Mrs Bradshaw, aged 30 who died of vCJD

Independent 9.12.00 Professor in CJD admission cleared of misconduct. Professor Behan from the Southern General Hospital in Glasgow gave the press enough information that they managed to find out the name of a patient dying of vCJD. It was decided that he could not have realised the determination of the press. Behan now says he should have said nothing to the media. (I was invovled with Behan at the time. He was extremely worried about the determined denials coming from Government at the time that the disease was appearing. He should be praised in some way Ed)

Mirror 7.12.00 Mad cow disease 'cam from space'. Scientist Chandra Wickramasinghe of the University of Wales and backed by Fred Hoyle suggested that bacteria descended through the stratosphere in winter and you cant thinkn of a better way to mop it up than by cattle eating it. He feld that out-wintering of cattle in the UK meant that it happens here but not elsewhere first.

Indpendent 7.12.00EC admits BSE test is not a safety measure for beef. The EC have admitted that the tests for BSE in cattle over 30 months have not been tested themselves and weould be expected to produce false-negative tests. Richard Kimberlin said: To use a test for which you dont really know the sensitivity in order to reassure the public is downright dishonest'

Irish Independent 7.12.00 Fears grow over CJD link to polluted water. Fears of A CJD epidemic grew yesterday following EU claims that BSE may be passed through drinking water. (The reason for this worry is that such a high proportion of water in Ireland is contaminated with animal slurry and it is not destroyed by chlorination - Ed). Govt food quality report 'not surppressed'.

Irish Times 6.12.00 Ireland 'should cull its older cows' Patrick Wall of the Food Safety Authority of Ireland predicted that the number of BSE cases in the national herd will probably increase was made yesterday. The EU proposal to destroy all cattle oer 30 months unless tested for BSE and found to be free of prions could deliver consumer benefits he accepted. It would be funded 70 pc by the EU and 30 pc by the member states. (One of the greatest problems with this will be the disposal of the material that can no longer be used - Ed) Pat Wall said that Ireland's young animals had never eaten MBM can be considered safe for human sonsumption. Many were fattened between 30 and 36 months and should not be considerd a problem. Firm with 22 plants finds it has a product it cannot sell Ger,many's largest producers of MBM suddenly realises that all its produce cannot be sold concerning bovine production. In Germany the sale fo MBM was until last week widespread with over 700,000 tonnes sold last year. Now Germany's agricutlure ministry has asked energy utilities and concrete manufacturers should take it.

Telegraph 5.12.00 Europe bans beef over 30 months to combat BSE. Following demands from all around the EU, they have demanded that as of 1.1.01 there will be a banning of the use of meat and bone meal for the feeding of any animals in the EU, and no cattle over 30 months will be sold for human consumption unless it has been tested and shown to be negative for BSE.

Sunday Times 3.12.00 Tougher checks urged on Irish beef. Professor Harriet Kimbell from SEAC has criticised the focus on imports from France which sends britain just 5.500 tonnes a year. France sends 107k tonnes of mainly carcass meat. SEAC will meat in 2 days time. BBC program 3.12.00 On the Record. Nick Brown the minister of agriculture in the UK interviewed concerning the position that hte UK was going to take. He explained that the UK Government was to take more action than was demanded by SEAC, and that he accepted that cattle born after the feed ban in 1996 were not going to be infected adequately to be a risk to the public in Europe. As such they still demanded that France accept the import of UK beef. However, we has unhappy that the French were actually carrying out all the things needed to render the material exported to the UK as adequately risk free. As such he was going to back the EU if it wanted that all cattle over 30 months did not enter the food chain unless tested and found to be disease free. This can be looked up on www.bbc.co.uk/otr.

Guardian 2.12.00 Watchdog plans BSE checks in Ireland Food safety watchdogs are stepping up cheks on Irish beef and other processed meat from cattle to help reassure customers. The board of the FSA has asked the Government's BSE advisors to assess early next week whether present safeguards are good enough and has reinforced instructions. Much of French exports to the UK of beef are as processed meat. Only countries that have never had BSE are permitted to export cattle over 30 mo to the UK.

November 2000

Telegraph 30.11.00 Brussels demands BSE feed ban. This came through the EC demanded emergency action to stop the spread of BSE and restore confidence in beef. David Byrne, the food safety commissioner called for a six month ban on MBM in the feed of all animals despite opposition from countries that have never had BSE cases. He demanded that all cattle under 30 months would be the only ones that could be eaten unless tested for BSE and found to be negative. The commission is also calling for a ban on using hte intestings of slaughtered cattle, ending the practice in Germany and France of using it for sausages. The move will cost billions of pounds, damaging a whole sector of European agriculture. (have a look at the EC web site on this: http://europa.eu.int/comm/food/fs/bse/index_en.html)

During this week the panic in BSE in Europe has increased with the finding of 2 cattle from Germany that have BSE, and another increase in the numbers found in France.

Independent on Sunday 26.11.00 BSE panic - our new export to Europe 'Discovery of man cos cases in countreis that thought they were free of disease has triggered a consumer psychosis. The Azores Govt has demanded that all imported cattle be slaughtered. Beef sales in many countries around Europe have crashed.

All media 25.11.00 Announcement from Germany and Spain that they have found cases of BSE as well Originally all cases in Germany could be found to have been imported from Switzerland or UK. One announced here were from the Isenhoe area and were not imported. The Spanish one was its first and not imported. One in the Azores was imported from Germany and announced at the same time. The German Government, still arguing not to ban all MBM to be fed to other animals withdrew this immediately.

Guardian 24.11.00 UK to conduct BSE checks in France. The Food Standards Agency in the UK has accepted that it is difficult to check the meat coming into the UK as being from cattle under 30 months and so it has agreed wth French authorities to send people to French industries to check.

Guardian 23.11.00 Mad Cows and Manganese Mark Purdey's hypothesis is the only one which explains the spread of BSE. This article explains how an excess of manganese will take the place of copper (and presumably zinc also) in the prion capture mechanism. As a result the PrP changes into its abnormal form. Hence manganese poisoning was associated with the disease and he put this also to be associated with OP toxicity. (The author claims that this is the only way in which the French epidemic can be explained...but there are plenty more. Further research is needed into OP and divalent cations as little is known currently - Ed)

Times 22.11.00 Britain 'must ban older beef imports' Prof Mac Johnson of the Royal Veterinary College demanded an increase in audits of meat plants and abattoirs. He spoke out yesterday after Nick Brown wrote to Tony Blair warning that it was possible that beef aged more than 30 months thad disappeared into the food chain and expressing concern about enforecement of arrangement.

Times 22.11.00 EU to test older cattle for BSE The arrangement were to start as older cattle and then go on to all cattle at slaughter. They would have to use one of the 3 tests that had been given the OK from the EC.

Times 22.11.00 France's BSE outrage echoes British woes . The French media screaming that France is being got at because it actually looked for BSE and found it whereas other countries were not doing the testing.

Times 21.11.00 Blair pressed to ban unsafe French beef. This was because evidence had appeared that we could be importing beef older than 30 months into the UK and this could have been coming from France, where a large number of cases of BSE have appeared recently (around 100 this year). Krebs, the chairman of the Food Standards Agency has not agreed that the risk is great but has demanded that action is taken to make sure that it is not taking place.

Times 21.11.00 Why did CJD strike in Armthorpe? Three families in two streets of a former coal mining village near Doncaster have died of vCJD. Adrian Hodgkinson, 25, a former RAF policeman and at the peak of physcal fitness died in Feb 1997. Matthew Parker died in March 1997 but nobody connected the two until the third case, Sarah Roberts a 28 yr old accountant who died last month, appeared from the village. (At this point there is nothing connecting them apart from "beef" and it is quite remarkable that this has been possible - Ed) Guardian 21.11.00 CJD fears could lead to blood donor ban It has turned out that 7 of the 85 UK cases of vCJD have been blood donors (and none of the recipients have been told or offered prophylaxis - editor). The NHS is thinking of banning all people that have received blood transfusions themselves from giving blood themselves. It would stop about 10% of donations. So far the list of countries that have banned the donation by people that have visited UK for specific length of time: Belgium, Germany, Switzerland, UKA, Canada, Australia, NewZealand, Hong Kong. They are also discussing things with the Jehovah's Witnesses about the system of donating ones own blood for later transfusion at a later operation. (called autologous transfusion, quite popular in the USA - Ed)

Guardian 18.11.00 French families sue Britain over vCJD. As Italy announced a partial ban on French beef, the parents of Laurence Duhamel, 39, who died of vCJD in Feb 200 and Arnaud Eboli, 19 a suspected sufferer made it clear that they were to sue the UK, French and EU governments. At thispoint a hospital in Paris said yesterday that it had detected a fourth possible CJD case in a woman of 40.

Times 17.11.00 BSE court case The families of 2 French victims of vCJD are to open legal procedings against the French and British Gocts and the EU, accusing them ofpoisoning and manslaughter over alleged inaction on BSE.

Indpendent 16.11.00 CJD threat could last for 40 years says expert. Collinge quoted as saying "We may well see vCJD well into the second half of this century" in New Scientist. He takes this from the long incubation period of the disease, the fact that it has come from another species and because relatively small doses will have been eaten. Also at the moment we are only seeing MM cases...and the others may well just be incubating the disease for longer. (Not at all surprising. Others have said the same thing - Editor)

Independent 14.11.00 McDonald's sales in France slump amid BSE panic. Markets of beef dropped by 50 percent rapidly as it was released that the cases of BSE that were being seen to rise had a lot of rising yet to do. Cattle bone and meat meal which harboured the disease was thought to be fed to pigs and poultry and hence led back to being fed to cattle instead. The French Government was considering various measures to stop the problem.

Telegraph 14.11.00 Jospin forced into U-turn over BSE. French Prime Minister Lionel Jospin had originaly said that he would wait for a report from the French agency AFSSA which would have taken 4 months. However his hadn was forced by the public pressure. Chirac quickly picked up on gathering fears among French consumers about feeds containing bonemeal and called for them to be banned. Latest figures show that 80 percent of the French people were in favour of a ban on the use of MBM in any feed.

Evening Standard 14.11.00 The blood test we may be failing Explaining how the National Blood Authority in the UK did not import plasma from foreign countries although it was aware that there may well be a risk from CJD in using UK sourced plasma. It was also found that foreign countries would not accept UK plasma for their patients or to use on viral deactivating machines because it may contaminate them. 'Doctors are unimpressed with the NBA;s stumbling efforts to screen blood and plasma for virusses' 'This country has been slow to bring in a viral inactivating system. there is no evidence that any system reduces the number of prions bu there is no good reason for not having viral inactivation'.

Independent 13.11.00 'risk of CJD' in surgeons tonsil insturments. (This is one of the first articles I have seen so far actually making this plain - Ed) John collinge at Impoerial College School of Medicine in London said that the estimate had been made (of half the surgical instruments contaminated) by the ENT surgeons at Mary's. He said this at the BMA conference. The DofH has been putting a lot of thought and not much action into this one he said. French act to calm BSE fears they are expected to ipose a temporary ban on feeding meat bone meal to livestock this week. Sacre Boef Editorial. France has succumbed to a national panic over BSE. British consumers cannot envy in that we have had nearly 178,000 cases whilst the French have only seen nearly 200. That was not the point; the French have told their people that you cannot see all the cases and we must be eating a large number (unlike the UK Government - Ed) It is scandalous that the French Govt still refuse to stop the use of MBM in pigs and poultry; they say it would affect 2 billion worth of produce. The editorial says that this is reminiscent of the way the UK Govt refused to take adequate steps early enough and the country was put at risk. The editorial says: Act in Haste, Repent at Leisure being a motto dear to every beaurocrat...but it then says they are not doing it enough.

Sunday Times 12.11.00 French BSE crisis worsensFears over the safety of French beef rose again this weekend after the country's most senior civil scientific advisor on BSE confirmed that large amounts of infected meat were still likely to be entering the human food chain. This was from Jeanne Bugere-Picoux (notably not one of the researchers known in the field - Editor) said most of the country's farmers were incapable of recognising even the most obvious symptoms of the disease. "Of course there is infected meat passing for human consuption" he said. "It is either because of fraud or because our meat inspectors cannot diagnose BSE in its early stages". One of the important factors in this article from Jonathan Leake at the ST was to interview the Food Standards Agency. They said that although we imported 4800 tons into the UK from France we could not ban it, or ban even certain parts of the carcass that we thought represented a risk. What had actually happened was, of course that hte French has unilaterally (against regulations of EC) banned UK beef, Italy has threated a total ban unless there is an urgent meeting of the EU Vet Committee to discuss it. Hungar and Poland have banned French and Germany is threatening to do so. Spain has banned theimport of French cttle for breeding. Beef sales within France have declined 60 percent over the past week. France's meat inspectors threatened to strike over the lack of training equipment and manpower to monitor BSE. So far 88 cses of BSE this year...compared with 80 in all the years to 1999.. (The admission by the French Officials that most of the infected cattle were in fact being eaten before symptoms appeared is good simply because of the horror that it showed in the UK after the UK Government had denied this originally until they were forced to admit it by the media)

Sunday Times 12.11.00 CJD test breakthrough business. This must have come from a statement by the company (Proteomics). It explains that the test can be used to test for scrapie in sheep and will be tested in CJD Surveillance Unit in Edinburgh for CJD in humans. (At the moment there is a difficult and expensive test to carry out using high voltage electrophoresis to separate the PrPsc from the PrPc forms of the prion protein. Other contacts in this field have shown that the method is difficult and sometimes tough to interpret. However there are several other companies with ideas on the way currently and exactly what Proteomics are doing is unclear - Editor)

Urgent appeal over French BSE outbreak An urgen appeal went out to Europeean governments for BSE testing because of 'disturbing' levels found in France. A plea from David Byrne the European commssioner for health and consumer protection. He also encouraged the rigorous implementation of controls, the removal of specified risk materials, the processing of animal waste, the ban on feeding of any mammals with MBM.

Guardian 10.11.00 Swiss ban on blood donors in CJD fear Demanding that people that have lived in the UK for more than a few months should not be permitted to donate blood.

Times 9.11.00 Leiceser vCJD link investigated The report from Queniborough has been released with further information suggesting that the meat supply was associated with the 5 people that have died of vCJD. They are going to go further into this and investigate but it will be difficult. (this is really quite worrying in that the big cats that died of FSE seem to have been fed the meat of old cattle and not the offal (except perhaps spinal cord), the thing that connects the cases in Doncaster seems initially to be the meat also - Editor)

Times 8.11.00 Chirac seeks feed ban as BSE panic spreads. The French president intervened yesterday in a rising French panic over BSE by calling on the Socialist Government to ban immeidately the use of meat and bone meal for all animals. "No economic objection or technical constraint can be accepted inthe face of this imperative" he said. (So far 86 BSE this year, 33 last year and 3 cases of vCJD). Jospin promised only to ban as soon as possible. The problem is that the cost would be 400 million pounds to replace animal parts with vegetable protein. Opposition Mps announced their own inquiry into thehandling of theepidemic as government Mps accused the Gaullists of exploiting the food alarm. Dominique Gillot, the Health Minister fanned fears by predicting several dozen vCJD cases. She tried to take this back later. A boycott of beef by school canteens spread from Paris to more than 15 cities and towns. Panic was ignited by the rise in BSE cases and a rash of disclosures and claims that the State had until recently failed to impose adequate controls. e.g. lax controls that allowed the illegal import of Uk feed to continue for years after the 1990 ban.

Guardian 9.11.00 French farmers call for slaughter. The major worry amongst French consumers have led to this call from the french farmers. But Jean Glavany insisted that beef was safe "I eat beef, my children eat beef, all the scientists who are mad cow disease experts eat beef and so do their children" he said "I thik we are now in the realm of psychosis and irrationality". (I am aware of certain scientists on BSE that do not eat beef - Ed)

Guardian 8.11.00 Mother says CJD victim was 'devil for McDonalds' 20yr old Kirsty Garven.

Guardian 8.11.00 Chirac back feed ban as France braces for more CJD deaths Although the politicians felt that an element of this was consumer histeria, he felt it better to have done something about it. Jose Bove wants every agriculture minister since 1988 put in the dock as 'accessories' to the illegal importation of 14,000 tonnes of MBM into france. A harrowing French TV documentary boradcast 2 days ago. Parent of vCJD accused the government of having poisoned their son.

Indpendent 7.11.00 French CJD victim's family to sue government for 'poisoning' The dying 19 yr old's family is to sue. The lecal action and aharrowing tV documentary on the dying teenager, Arnaud, screened last night will add to the BSE psychosis that has gripped France in recent days. The panic including a 20-30% fall in beef sales is partly justified and partly exaggerated. 86 BSE cases in French cattle this year (3 times last year). The Government has admitted that its precautions against BSE are inadequate. The french consumers are being told by the mediat that they are less protected thant he UK customers. All current cases of BSE in France can be traced to accidental or deliberate 'cross over' use of such feed to fatten cattle as should have been used on pigs or chickens (I find this exceedingly difficult to believe - Editor). France may go ahead and ban beef onthe bone. (there are some major informatiuon sites in France that will give further data - Ed).

Sunday Times 5.11.00 British organ donors face ban This simply says that the USA has decided to turn down all tissue donations for transplantation if the donor does not fit the same criteria as the blood transfusion. At the moment the USA will not accept blood donation from UK nationals or people that have visited the UK for a specific period.

Independent on Sunday 5.11.00 Sirloin steak is off the menu as BSE panic reaches France. The dealer had already sold 13 cattle for slaughter when a cow was diagnosed with BSE. Carrefour took all beef off its shelves that might have come from there. Buffalo Grill the country';s biggest chain of steakhouses announces that its is withdrawing Tbone and rib steaks. They were followed by Hippapotamus chain.

Times Higher Education Supplement 3.11.00 Following that Whitehall instinct. This goes through the first book of the Phillips report and makes it clear that the errors made were inherent in the Whitehall system. Don's Diary The story of the scientist that stood up to give information out through the BSE epidemic and shows how incompitence in government stands out. While talk might be cheap, silence is deadly. This is the editorial style indication that academics should have given information out to the public themselves and should have complained directly to Parliament and Government of the errors that were made. As it was they did not dare to do this because of the way in which research funding depended on 'near industry' action and MAFF payment. It says that this must in some way stop.

Telegraph 2.11.00 Third victim of vCJD linked to pit village. Adrian Hodgkinson, who died of vCJD age 24 in 1996, used to eat roast beef with his grandmother at Armthorpe, near Doncaster when young. This was only a few roads away from Matthew Parker, 19, and Sarah Roberts, 24, who went to the same school and played in the same street. They lived only 5 door apart. There is now great worry in the village because it is only a small place.

Times 1.11.00 Second CJD death triggers fear in village. This describes how Matthew Parker died 3 years ago and Sarah Roberts (28 yrs) died in September 2000. Apparently her symptoms started wit pain in her legs such that gradually it was simply too painful to walk. Initially this was felt to be psychological, then it was realised to be neurological as further symptoms appeared. Scrapie could hide the killer The Food Standards Agency announced that scrapie could mask BSE insheep because experimentally they had the same symptoms. (In other newspapers it is suggested that the FSA said that all the sheep might be slaughtered if BSE was proved to be in just one - this was probably going over the top but the determination of the FSA to bring back the trust from the public has meant that this sort of statement is likley to be made - Editor) Food chief urges ban on animal cannibalism. Sir John Krebs from the FSA put this forward and it is to be discussed at a BSE stakeholders group including the meat industry tomorrow. He suggested this simply because any further TSE that appeared out of the blue would produce similar epidemics in the other species.

If you have any data that you think should be available on this news site, please let me know on deal@airtime.co.uk. Many thanks, Steve Dealler, Editor.