From: Terry S. Singeltary Sr. <flounder@wt.net>
To: <whale@whaleto.freeserve.co.uk>
Sent: Friday, September 29, 2000 9:15 AM
Subject: vCJD (aka madcow disease) or vaccineCJD???
Greetings,
came across your site, thought i would pass a bit of research i
have been doing, since the death of my mother to hvCJD
(Heidenhain Variant Creutzfeldt Jakob disease;
Louping-ill vaccine (scrapie transmission by vaccine)
http://www.vegsource.com/talk/lyman/messages/7634.html
transmission of BSE to sheep via whole blood
http://www.vegsource.com/talk/lyman/messages/7638.html
transmission study of CJD, by blood and urine, into mice
http://www.vegsource.com/talk/lyman/messages/7650.html
VACCINES and CJD
http://www.vegsource.com/talk/lyman/messages/7622.html
http://www.vegsource.com/talk/lyman/messages/7631.html
BSE NEWS
http://www.vegsource.com/wwwboard/lyman/wwwboard.html
CJD NEWS
http://www3.bravenet.com/forum/show.asp?userid=qn99925
Moms death from hvCJD
http://www.vegsource.com/talk/lyman/messages/7252.html
'MOMS AUTOPSY REPORT'
http://www.vegsource.com/talk/lyman/messages/7548.html
======================================================
FYI;
I am writing to try to warn the Government of the potential epidemic
of CJD/BSE aka madcow disease in man and animal in the United States.
I implore you to PLEASE submit more funding for research into
human/animal Transmissible Spongiform Encephalopathies. There is work
presently being done to try and bring about a blood test to detect
these TSE's. Some people inside the government are trying to hinder
this research, for the fear of what will be found in the United
States. Once again, i implore you to stop this, and to move forward.
The next person to die from this hideous disease could be your mother,
daughter, son, father, wife, or anyone of your Family members, or
just a friend, or maybe even you.
My Mom died from Heidenhain Variant Creutzfeldt Jakob
disease, and i wish you would please take the time to read what
i have dug up over the last 3 years, through the F.O.I.A.
i will paste some info. below, and several URL's you can go read some
of my research. please believe me when i tell you,
it's here, i have seen it;
thank you,
kind regards,
Terry S. Singeltary Sr.
P.O. Box 42
Bacliff, Texas 77518 USA
<flounder@wt.net>
-----------------------
SOMETHING TO CHEW ON
http://www.bmj.com/cgi/eletters/319/7220/1312/b#EL2
In reading the recent article in the BMJ about the potential BSE tests
being developed in the U.S. and Bart Van Everbroeck reply. It does not
surprize me, that the U.S. has been concealing vCJD. There have been
people dying from CJD, with all the symptoms and pathological findings
that resemble U.K. vCJD for some time. It just seems that when there is
one found, they seem to change the clarical classification of the
disease, to fit their agenda. I have several autopsies, stating
kuru type amyloid plaques, one of the victims was 41 years of age.
Also, my Mom died a most hideous death, Heidenhain Variant
Creutzfeldt Jakob disease. Her symptoms resemble that of all
the U.K. vCJD victims. She would jerk so bad at times, it would
take 3 of us to hold her down, while she screamed
"God, what's wrong with me, why can't I stop this." 1st of symptoms to
death, 10 weeks, she went blind in the first few weeks. But, then they
told me that this was just another strain of sporadic CJD. They can call
it what ever they want, but I know what I saw, and what she went
through.
Sporadic, simply means, they do not know. My neighbors Mom also died
from CJD. She had been taking a nutritional supplement which contained
the following; vacuum dried bovine BRAIN, bone meal, bovine EYE, veal
bone, bovine liver powder, bovine adrenal, vacuum dried bovine kidney,
and vacuum dried porcine stomach. As I said, this woman taking these
nutritional supplements, died from CJD. The particular batch of pills
that was located, in which she was taking, was tested. From what I have
heard, they came up negative, for the prion protein. But, in the same
breath, they said their testing, may not have been strong enough to pick
up the infectivity. Plus, she had been taking these type pills for
years, so, could it have come from another batch?
CWD is just a small piece of a very big puzzle. I have seen while deer
hunting, deer, squirrels and birds, eating from cattle feed troughs
where they feed cattle, the high protein cattle by products, at least up
until Aug. 4, 1997. So why would it be so hard to believe that this is
how they might become infected with a TSE. Or, even by potentially
infected land. It's been well documented that it could be possible,
from scrapie. Cats becoming infected with a TSE. Have you ever read
the ingredients on the labels of cat and dog food? But, they do not
put these tissues from these animals in pharmaceuticals,
cosmetics, nutritional supplements, hGH, hPG, blood products,
heart valves, and the many more products that come from bovine, ovine,
or porcine tissues and organs. So, as I said, this CWD would be a small
piece of a very big puzzle. But, it is here, and it most likely has
killed. You see, greed is what caused this catastrophe, rendering and
feeding practices. But, once Pandora's box was opened, the potential
routes of infection became endless.
No BSE in the U.S.A.? I would not be so sure of that considering that
since 1990;
Since 1990 the U.S. has raised 1,250,880,700 cattle;
Since 1990 the U.S. has ONLY checked 8,881 cattle brains for BSE, as
of Oct. 4, 1999;
There are apprx. 100,000 DOWNER cattle annually in the U.S., that up
until Aug. 4, 1997 went to the renders for feed;
Scrapie running rampant for years in the U.S., 950 infected FLOCKS, as
of Aug. 1999;
Our feeding and rendering practices have mirrored that of the U.K. for
years, some say it was worse. Everything from the downer cattle, to
those scrapie infected sheep, to any roadkill, including the city police
horse and the circus elephant went to the renders for feed and other
products for consumption. Then they only implemented a partial feed ban
on Aug. 4, 1997, but pigs, chickens, dogs, and cats, and humans were
exempt from that ban. So they can still feed pigs and chickens those
potentially TSE tainted by-products, and then they can still feed those
by-products back to the cows. I believe it was
Dr. Joe Gibbs, that said, the prion protein, can survive the
digestinal track. So you have stopped nothing.
It was proven in Oprah Winfrey's trial, that Cactus Cattle feeders, sent
neurologically ill cattle, some with encephalopathy stamped on the dead
slips, were picked up and sent to the renders, along with sheep
carcasses. Speaking of autopsies, I have a stack of them, from CJD
victims. You would be surprised of the number of them, who ate cow
brains, elk brains, deer brains, or hog brains.
I believe all these TSE's are going to be related, and originally caused
by the same greedy Industries, and they will be many. Not just the
Renders, but you now see, that they are re-using medical devices that
were meant for disposal. Some medical institutions do not follow proper
auto-claving procedures (even Olympus has put out a medical warning on
their endescopes about CJD, and the fact you cannot properly clean these
instruments from TSE's), and this is just one product. Another route of
infection.
Regardless what the Federal Government in the U.S. says. It's here, I
have seen it, and the longer they keep sweeping it under the rug and
denying the fact that we have a serious problem, one that could surpass
aids (not now, but in the years to come, due to the incubation period),
they will be responsible for the continued spreading of this deadly
disease.
It's their move, it's CHECK, but once CHECKMATE has been called,
how many thousands or millions, will be at risk or infected or even
dead. You can't play around with these TSE's. I cannot stress that
enough. They are only looking at body bags, and the fact the count
is so low. But, then you have to look at the fact it is not a reportable
disease in most states, mis-diagnosis, no autopsies performed. The fact
that their one-in-a-million theory is a crude survey done about 8 years
ago, that's a joke, under the above circumstances. A bad joke
indeed........
The truth will come, but how many more have to die such a hideous death.
It's the Government's call, and they need to make a serious move, soon.
This problem, potential epidemic, is not going away, by itself.
---------------------------------------------------------------
http://www.bmj.com/cgi/eletters/320/7226/8/b#EL1
In reading your short article about 'Scientist warn of CJD epidemic'
news in brief Jan. 1, 2000. I find the findings in the PNAS old news,
made famous again. Why is the U.S. still sitting on their butts,
ignoring the facts? We have the beginning of a CJD epidemic in the
U.S., and the U.S. Gov. is doing everything in it's power to conceal
it.
The exact same recipe for B.S.E. existed in the U.S. for years and
years. In reading over the Qualitative Analysis of BSE Risk Factors-1,
this is a 25 page report by the USDA:APHIS:VS. It could have been done
in one page.
The first page, fourth paragraph says it all;
"Similarities exist in the two countries usage of continuous rendering
technology and the lack of usage of solvents, however, large differences
still remain with other risk factors which greatly reduce the potential
risk at the national level."
Then, the next 24 pages tries to down-play the high risks of B.S.E. in
the U.S., with nothing more than the cattle to sheep ratio count, and
the geographical locations of herds and flocks. That's all the evidence
they can come up with, in the next 24 pages.
Something else I find odd, page 16;
"In the United Kingdom there is much concern for a specific continuous
rendering technology which uses lower temperatures and accounts for 25
percent of total output. This technology was _originally_ designed and
imported from the United States. However, the specific application in
the production process is _believed_ to be different in the two
countries."
A few more factors to consider, page 15;
"Figure 26 compares animal protein production for the two countries.
The calculations are based on slaughter numbers, fallen stock estimates,
and product yield coefficients. This approach is used due to variation
of up to 80 percent from different reported sources. At 3.6 million
tons, the United States produces 8 times more animal rendered product
than the United Kingdom."
"The risk of introducing the BSE agent through sheep meat and bone meal
is more acute in both relative and absolute terms in the United Kingdom
(Figures 27 and 28). Note that sheep meat and bone meal accounts for 14
percent, or 61 thousand tons, in the United Kingdom versus 0.6 percent
or 22 thousand tons in the United States. For sheep greater than 1 year,
this is less than one-tenth of one percent of the United States supply."
"The potential risk of amplification of the BSE agent through cattle
meat and bone meal is much greater in the United States where it
accounts for 59 percent of total product or almost 5 times more than
the total amount of rendered product in the United Kingdom."
Considering, it would only take _one_ scrapie infected sheep to
contaminate the feed. Considering Scrapie has run rampant in the U.S.
for years, as of Aug. 1999, 950 scrapie infected flocks.
Also, Considering only one quarter spoonful of scrapie infected
material is lethal to a cow. Considering all this, the sheep to cow
ratio is meaningless. As I said, it's 24 pages of B.S.e.
To be continued...
Terry S. Singeltary Sr.
http://www.bmj.com/cgi/eletters/319/7220/1312/b#EL2
http://www.bmj.com/cgi/eletters/320/7226/8/b#EL1
just speaking of human TSE's;
"different strains (of same disease), different routes of infection
(of same disease), different infectivity levels (dose rate) of the (same
disease) = different symptoms, different lengths of illness from 1st
onset of illness to death, (of the same disease) + different cultures =
different geographical locations = different strains (of same
disease)...TSS"
Kind regards,
Terry S. Singeltary Sr.
Bacliff, Texas U.S.A.
<flounder@wt.net>
if you want the truth, please read the research i have dug up through
the F.O.I.A. PLEASE read this page and the data it involves completely,
if you dare.
BSE NEWS
http://www.vegsource.com/wwwboard/lyman/wwwboard.html
CJD NEWS
http://www3.bravenet.com/forum/show.asp?userid=qn99925
Moms death from hvCJD
http://www.vegsource.com/talk/lyman/messages/7252.html
'MOMS AUTOPSY REPORT'
http://www.vegsource.com/talk/lyman/messages/7548.html
it's here, trust me, and it is spreading fast.......TSS
kind regards,
Terry S. Singeltary Sr., Bacliff, Texas USA
---------------------------------------------
I have been on a crusade so to speak, for going on to 3 years. trying
to convince the world of the threat of human TSE's. The U.S. is not
immune to these deadly disease's. My name is Terry S. Singeltary Sr.,
and on 12/14/97 i lost my mother to heidenhain variant creutzfeldt
jakob disease.
Exactly one year earlier, to the day 12/14/96, my neighbor lost his
mother to CJD. Both cases confirmed, in fact my Mothers brain is
scattered across America for research.
To cut to the thick of things, i am writing this particular letter in
reference of the meetings on nutritional supplements and their potential
risks of human TSE, through desiccated animal tissue/organs. This
industry is mostly unregulated, and only regulated as foods, and this is
not good enough. Since when is BOVINE SCROTUM/100% natural herb? it's
not. and these manufacturers of these drug also claim, without proof,
that their supplement will cure everything from the common cold to aids.
This must stop as well.
Now, i do not know how my Mother became infected with the prion protein
or hvCJD, personally i think it was through contaminated instruments
during a surgery. I don't know how my neighbors mother became infected
with the CJD prion protein, but i will tell you she could have become
infected through the nutritional supplements she had been taking for
years, (IPLEX).
Iplex ingredients;
Vacuum Dried Bovine BRAIN, Bone Meal, Bovine EYE, Veal Bone, Bovine
Liver Powder, Bovine Adrenal, Vacuum Dried Bovine Kidney, Vacuum Dried
Porcine Stomach.
This is just one of many supplements that contain these potentially
lethal organs, if infected with a TSE. With what little is known about
human/animal TSE's, it would be wise to stop these ingredients from
being introduced to the public, with no apparent or proven method of
assuring the product is free of the prion protein. it is urgent, that
this is done immediately.
they have known of this potential route of infection since 1992, or
longer. the letter below from Fred Shank about this problem, is not
intended to intimidate anyone, but only to prove they were worried
back then and nothing was done. they are still worried 8 years later,
and _still_ nothing has been done.
this is very much long overdue about the nutritional supplements.
once again, i will post, how the public has been mis-lead by this
industry. This industry has _very little_ regulations. They are not
regulated as pharmaceuticals, but as foods. The Herbal/Nutritional
Supplements industry have been responsible for many sickness/deaths, do
to the FDA lack of control over this industry.
Another fine example would be; they are still to this day,
allowed to claim complete HERBAL INGREDIENTS/ALL NATURAL.
Since when is a bovine scrotum, all natural, re-METABLOLIFE ingredient.
they list this product as all natural '100% HERBAL'.
Ingredients-bovine complex/glandular system, ovaries,
prostate, scrotum, and adrenal.
An interesting note about this supplement. Most of us
know by now, my mother died from heidenhain variant creutzfeldt jakob
disease, but, my neighbors mother had been taking these Iplex
supplements for years, and she _also_ died from creutzfeldt jakob
disease. The particular batch of these supplements that was located
after her death, were tested. of those, no contaminants of the prion
agent were found. But, in the N.I.H. same breath, they said that their
testing techniques may have not been strong enough to pick up low
infectivity levels. Also, could have been another batch. She had been
taking these for a long period of time.
So, the possibility is there? I also would like to post a letter about
this from the Gov. to the Industry;
Letter to Manufacturers of Biological Products -
Recommendations Regarding Bovine Spongiform
Encephalopathy (BSE)
Department of Health and Human Services
Public Health Service
Food and Drug Administration
1401 Rockville Pike
Rockville, MD 20852-1448
April 19, 2000
To Manufacturers of Biological Products
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has issued letters (date May 3,
1991, December 17, 1993, and May 9, 1996) and
a guidance document (September 1997) requesting that materials derived
from ruminants which have resided in or originated
from countries where Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE) has been
diagnosed not be used in the manufacture of
FDA-regulated products intended for administration to humans. The United
States Department of Agriculture (USDA) also
issued an interim rule on January 6, 1998, restricting the importation
of ruminants, meat and meat products from ruminants, and
certain ruminant products and byproducts from all countries of Europe.
Because of the serious nature of this issue, the Center
for Biologics Evaluation and Research (CBER) believes it critical to
update the current recommendations.
CBER strongly recommends that manufacturers take whatever steps are
necessary to assure that materials derived from all
species of ruminant animals born, raised or slaughtered in countries
where BSE is known to exist, or countries where the
USDA has been unable to assure FDA that BSE does not exist, are not used
in the manufacture of FDA-regulated products
intended for administration to humans. The Agency has previously
recommended that manufacturers take the following steps to
prevent this occurrence:
1.Identify all ruminant-derived materials (e.g., culture medium,
transferrin, albumin, enzymes, lipids) used in the
manufacture of regulated products. FDA considers the manufacture of
biological products to include the preparation of
master (including the original cell line) and working cell banks,
as well as materials used in fermentation, harvesting,
purification and formulation of the products.
2.Document the country of origin and all countries where the live
animal source has resided for each ruminant-derived
material used in the manufacture of the regulated product. The
regulated-product manufacturer should obtain this
information from the supplier of the ruminant-derived product. The
regulated-product manufacturer should also obtain
the appropriate veterinary regulatory inspection certification of
slaughter, as required by the country of origin of live
animals, from the supplier. Documentation should be maintained for
any new or in-process lots of licensed, cleared or
approved products; products pending clearance or approval; and
investigational products intended to be administered to
humans.
3.Maintain traceable records for each lot of ruminant material and
each lot of FDA-regulated product manufactured using
these materials. These records should be part of the product batch
records and available for FDA inspection. Such
records should be maintained for products manufactured at foreign
as well as domestic facilities.
It is the responsibility of the manufacturer to obtain up-to-date
information regarding countries where BSE is known to exist, or
countries where the USDA has been unable to assure FDA that BSE does not
exist. This information is available from the
USDA's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) at telephone
number 301-734-8364, website address
http://www.aphis.usda.gov/ncie, and codified
at 9 CFR 94.18 (see
attached).
Specific product-related questions should be directed to the appropriate
application division within CBER's product offices.
The phone numbers are:
Dr. David Asher, Office of Blood Research and Review
301-827-3524
Dr. Paul Richman, Office of Vaccines Research and Review
301-827-3070
James Crim, Office of Therapeutics Research and Review
301-827-5101
Thank you for your attention to this matter.
Sincerely,
---- signature ---
Kathryn C. Zoon, Ph.D.
Director
Center for Biologics Evaluation And Research
Attachment
http://www.fda.gov/cber/ltr/bse041900.htm
better late than never, but leaving regulation up to the industry, will
be like telling the wolf to guard the hen house. allowing that to happen
with some pathogens is one thing, but we better think twice about
human/animal TSE's. This same letter has been around for ten years with
nobody taking heed to the potential dangers...TSS
http://www.vegsource.com/talk/lyman/messages/7318.html
kind regards,
Terry S. Singeltary Sr., Bacliff, Texas USA
---------------------------------------------------------------
Subject: Metabolife
Date: Mon, 7 Dec 1998 14:21:35 -0800
From: Randy Smith <rsmith@metabolife.com>
To: "'flounder@wt.net'" <flounder@wt.net>
Dear Sir,
We are looking at reformulation. I agree that slow virus diseases
present a problem in some areas of the world.
Our product uses healthy USDA inspected cattle for the glandular
extract.
If you have any links to more information on this subject I would like
to examine them.
Thank you for your interest and concern,
Dr. Smith
[[[uses healthy USDA cattle??? i would not be so sure of that,
considering that we know of TSE's in the U.S. and in U.S. cattle.
1.25 billion cattle raised since 1990, and only 9,000+ checked for
BSE? this industry needs to be regulated by the Gov. FDA, and the labels
should be truthful, and list _all_ ingredients. Also, the myths of these
herbal/nutritional supplements, and their false statements to cure most
anything, should be banned...TSS]]]
kind regards,
Terry S. Singeltary Sr., Bacliff, Texas USA...
also, you can go to this FDA dockets page, and skroll down until
you see EMC 597 'Terry S. Singeltary Sr.' highlighted in blue.
this also has some very interesting information. It is a PDF file;
http://www.fda.gov/ohrms/dockets/dailys/00/mar00/030100/030100.htm
Subject: ANNEX 1 to Witness statement 410 of Dr. Helen Grant
Date: Wed, 19 Jan 2000 15:58:39 -0600
From: "Terry S. Singeltary Sr." <flounder@wt.net>
Reply-To: Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy <BSE-L@uni-karlsruhe.de>
To: BSE-L@uni-karlsruhe.de
######### Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy <BSE-L@UNI-KARLSRUHE.DE>
#########
Greetings List Members,
I have often wondered about scrapie and it's possible relationship to
sporadic CJD. A few things I thought interesting in this statement from
Dr. Helen Grant, I would like to share with you.....
I will list a few of her credentials on BSE and CJD;
BSE Inquiry / Statement No 410
Statement of Dr. Helen Grant MD FRCP
Issued 13/05/99 (not scheduled to give oral evidence)
1. Credentials in the matters of BSE and CJD
A. 1970-1982 Consultant Neuropathologist at the Middlesex Hospital.
B. 1985-1989 Consultant Neuropathologist at the Charing Cross
Hospital.
C. I have carried out six autopsies on CJD victims and reported on a
similar number of cerebral biopsies from CJD patients.
2. Through my interest in slow viruses (particularly with reference to
multiple sclerosis) I was one of only a few people to be aware of both
Scrapie and CJD in 1988.
3. I have never had any formal links with the farming community,
renderers, pet food manufactures, etc. However, slaughterhouse workers
began telephoning me as early as February 1989 after they learned
through the media of my concern and knowledge about TSEs. Several of
them rang me because they had had no instructions from the Health and
Safety Executive about precautions to be taken to avoid infection from
BSE carcasses. (I have kept some of the correspondence with these
workers together with my list of precautions to be taken in abattoirs).
4. I asked the slaughterhouses workers in detail to explain the routine
slaughtering practices and was astonished to learn that sheep's brains
were generally left inside the skull whereas cattle brains were
routinely removed to be added to our "meat products" -- meat pies,
pates, tinned items and stock cubes. I therefore feared that this almost
indestructible infective agent was being swallowed by all beef eaters in
the UK in large doses which would inevitably infect genetically
susceptible people.
5. I was horrified because I suddenly realised why Government
assurances about BSE -- namely "we have lived with scrapie for
two-and-a-half centuries and it has not done us any harm so we won't
have any trouble with BSE" -- were based on a false premise which was
that cattle brains and sheep's brains were dealt with in the same way in
the abattoirs which they obviously were not. Since sheep's brains were
seldom removed from the skulls (which is why cattle caught scrapie in
the first place) we humans have never been seriously exposed over the
centuries to the scrapie agent. Simple economics is the reason: sheep's
brains are too small to make the intricate process of their removal
worthwhile.
6. I appeared on the BBC nine o'clock television news on February 27,
1989 (the day the Southwood Report was published) in my capacity as
consultant neuropathologist at Charing Cross hospital. I was asked among
other things to comment on the possible human hazard of BSE and I warned
that I thought there was a risk because cattle brains were going into
our food chain. I added: "Who knows? Some of us may be incubating it
already." Some of us were.
7. I was called to give evidence to the House of Commons Agriculture
Select Committee on 13 June 1990 (IBD 1 Tab 7 p 42). On re-reading it, I
see not reason to change anything in my evidence except the numbers of
animals mentioned. The Government of the day was hardly disposed to ask
my advice about BSE on a regular basis given my critical attitude since
early 1989. But the then Labour Opposition, understandably anxious for
information, turned to me frequently. Opposition Members included David
Clark MP, Ron Davies MP and Ian McCartney MP. It was my technical
information which helped Ron Davies MP to make his effective speech
about BSE in the House of Commons on 17 May 1989
(M 7 Tab 7). Shortly afterwards, the Minister for Agriculture, John
MacGregor, announced that legislation would be brought in to ban all
cattle brains from human food (YV 89.6,13.5,1-5,2). The long summer
recess delayed this legislation and the "specified offals" ban was
finally enacted on 9 November 1989 (L2 Tab4) (9 February 1990 in
Scotland) (L10 Tab 9). Of course this was more than a year (15 months)
after cattle had been protected in the same way.
8. Apart from my involvement with CJD I have of course been interested
in that worldwide scourge, multiple sclerosis (MS). This led me to
ponder the question of "slow virus infection -- now labelled "prion
infection" (an inaccurate title. In my opinion prion is a short title
for an organism which causes Transmissible Spongiform Encephalopathy
(TSE) such as scrapie, CJD, BSE, Kuru and others. Prion diseases has
therefore become widely used instead of the cumbersome alternative (YB
94/4.25/10.1) -- which is one of the aetiological factors involved in
MS. Scrapie, the ovine TSE, was then and still is by far the most
extensively researched slow virus infection. I therefore read up all the
papers on the subject as they appeared during the 1950's, 60's, and 70's
and was therefore immediately aware of the human hazard posed by the BSE
catastrophe. Vets generally did not know about CJD (why should they?)
and neuropathologists were mostly ignorant of scrapie. I happened to
know about both in those early days due to my interest in
"slow viruses".
9. I was in receipt of no extra funds beyond those provided by the NHS
and the University of London to run my laboratories and pay my salary as
a senior lecturer/honorary Consultant and I suffered no constraints over
my publications, lectures to my students, or statements to the media.
However, I became increasingly aware after 1988 that questioning
official dogma about BSE brought difficulties to one's career. I was
myself about to retire from the Charing Cross Hospital, where I worked
as a Consultant Neuropathologist, but I observed with horror that the
good reputations of dissenting scientists in the field, not least Dr.
Stephen Dealler and especially Dr. Harash Narang were systematically
undermined.
10. My Primary function has been to teach medical under-graduates and
post-graduates about diseases of the brain and nervous system and, of
course, to fulfill my clinical functions as a consultant
neuropathologist at two London teaching hospitals. This, of course,
meant that I conducted both biopsies and autopsies including those on
patients with CJD: it was not primarily to publish scientific articles.
My scientific publications include only one case which I think in
retrospect may be CJD before that was known to be an infection with this
agent.
("Post Traumatic Dementia": Helen C Grant, Behrman et al. Archiv Fur
Psyciatre und Zeitschrift fur die ges. Neurologie. 1965; 207: 128)
More importantly I have carried out several biopsies and autopsies on
CJD patients. My duties also included the initiation and supervision of
research projects. When my trainees and PhD students published their
resulting scientific papers I took the view that the work was theirs,
they should get the credit (not I) and therefore I made it a matter of
principle not to add my name as co-author.
11. I corresponded frequently from February 1989 onwards with
Government ministers including John MacGregor, Donald Thomson, Gillian
Shepherd and Angela Browning. But I received only short and reassuring
replies containing what I believed to be inaccurate information. Because
official bodies treated my early warnings with hostility, I soon learned
that the only way to convey my concerns was to contribute relevant
letters to the broadsheet newspapers and to speak to responsible members
of the press, the broadcasting services and informed members of
Opposition parties.
12. Since February 1989 I have answered innumerable letters from
members of the public understandably anxious -- if not panicky -- about
the effect on their diets of the outbreak. The came/come from a
cross-section of the community: parents ("is the milk safe?"),
restaurateurs, doctors, butchers, journalists, Education Committees.
Since I retired finally in March 1989 I have had the time to answer them
all eventually.
13. The BSE/CJD problem is quite incomprehensible without knowledge of
the facts set out in Annex 1.
The infective agent has unique and sinister properties.
______________________________________________________________________
ANNEX 1 to witness statement 410 of Dr. Helen Grant
Annex 1
Unique Properties of the scrapie/BSE/CJD Agent, the so-called "prion"
A. The transmissible organism which causes all the transmissible
spongiform encephalopathies (TSEs) -- scrapie, BSE, CJD and Kuru -- is
almost indestructible, unlike any other virus, bacterium, protozoon,
fungus or parasite. For example, it still transmits scrapie after being
'fixed' in formaldehyde for ten years. Heating it to a very high
temperature, exposing it to enormous doses of ultraviolet light, or to
ionising radiation, do not affect it. Incineration is the only way of
destroying it and even then the temperature must be very high indeed.
B. It proliferates only in the brain, eyes, spinal cord, pituitary and,
in some mammals, the placenta. The transmission of these diseases is
dose-related and although the virus usually enters the bloodstream from
the stomach, and then visits all tissues for a few hours, it lingers and
proliferates only in the brain etc. The red meat (muscle) of
BSE-infected cattle has never transmitted the disease in the laboratory
and we have not had any trouble from eating scrapie-infected muscle over
the centuries.
C. It lurks for years in an outwardly completely healthy individual.
D. During this long 'incubation period' the brain etc. is infective
which is why it was necessary to ban the brains etc. of all cattle from
human foods.
E. It raises no antibodies -- which might then be tested for -- in the
infected host.
F. There is officially no live test to reveal infected individuals.
"Officially" because a live (urine) test has recently been devised and
has been used successfully in 15 out of 15 humans who were subsequently
shown to have suffered CJD. MAFF's vets refuse to make use of this live
test and denigrate it whenever they are asked about it. It could also be
used to screen blood donors.
G. Individuals' susceptibility to this organism is genetically
determined. Not all types of sheep develop scrapie; not all types of
cattle develop BSE and only some humans -- those of an unusual genotype
-- will, if infected, develop CJD.
H. Scrapie, the orginal disease in sheep, has been easily transmitted
by mouth to many experimental mammals including primates.
Humans are primates.
Items b (placenta), c, d and f establish that the Government's present
'culling' policy, which is not based on science, cannot possibly
eradicate BSE.
______________________________________________________________________
[I don't have the time to print all of the text from the Discussion
document for session on epidemiology of BSE 14 October 1999, but I would
like to point out a few things.....TSS]
INACTIVATION DURING RENDERING PROCESS
21. The next issue for consideration is the extent to which, first, the
introduction of continuous rendering and, second, the decline in the use
of hydrocarbon solvents for fat extraction, may have caused the BSE
epidemic by virtue of decreased inactivation of the scrapie agent.
Change from batch to continuous rendering
22. The survey of rendering plants carried out in September and October
1988 indicated that the timing of the change from batch to continuous
rendering (first continuous plant commissioned in 1972 and other plants
changed to this type of process gradually over a period of years) was
not consistent with the estimated time of onset of exposure (i.e. winter
1981/1982: see para 16 above). Additionally, the results of the survey
did not reveal a difference between the mean maximum temperature in the
two process, and the particle size of the raw material was found to be
smaller in the continuous rendering plants, which was thought likely to
enable greater heat penetration and therefore inactivation of the
scrapie-like agents.
23. The Committee understands that for these reasons it was concluded
that the changed from batch to continuous rendering had not contributed
to the emergence of the BSE epidemic.
Decline in use of hydrocarbon solvents for fat extraction
24. With regard to the theory that the effect of the decline in the use
of hydrocarbon solvents for fat extraction was to remove partial
deactivation steps for the scrapie agent and to allow enough infectivity
to survive in MBM to cause the BSE epidemic to emerge, a number of
factors call for discussion:
A. Taylor and others conducted experiments to measure the effect on the
scrapie agent of 12 rendering procedures that were in use within the EU
in 1991. Greaves were produced from scrapie-spiked raw materials and
subjected experimentally to solvent extraction with hot heptane in a
commercial solvent extraction plant in Scotland and then exposed to
steam to drive off residual solvent. These greaves demonstrated no
reduction in infectivity as a result of the treatments with hot heptane
and steam. Experiments carried out by Schreuder and others using
hyperbaric steam on both scrapie and BSE infected material consistently
indicated that the BSE agent was more resistant to these inactivation
procedures than the scrapie agent(s). Taylor also carried out
laboratory-based experiments to study the effect on the BSE agent and
scrapie agents of exposure to hot solvents, followed by exposure to dry
heat and steam. No single process was found to be significantly more
effective than any of the others, and they all produced only a slight
inactivation. After exposure to hot solvents, dry heat and steam, the
average loss of titre for both the scrapie (22A) and BSE (301V) strain
used was only 0.8 of a log. Tissue samples were exposed to one of four
solvents at a particular time and temperature combination, and also to
saline for the same time and at the same temperature. The average loss
of titre after treatment with hot solvent was generally comparable with
that after exposure to hot saline. Samples exposed to hot solvent were
then treated with dry heat and steam, and compared with samples treated
with dry heat and steam only (i.e. without a hot solvent/saline step).
Again the average loss of titre was generally comparable. These results
suggest that it was the heat, rather than the solvents, that caused the
reductions in the levels of infectivity.
B. In addition the cessation of solvent extraction was not universal --
in around 30% of UK rendering plants solvent extraction had never been
used. It has been estimated that between 10% and 30% of meat and
bonemeal produces went back to cattle. Mr. Field, former president of
UKRA, referred in oral evidence to historical position in the UK,
stating that during wartime the MBM produced was certainly not solvent
extracted. He posed the question why scrapie had not transferred to
cattle during that period before solvent extraction was widely used.
C. Northern Ireland produces approximately 60,000 tonnes of MBM
annually, more than 85% by two major rendering plants. No solvent
extraction has been used in either plant since before 1973 and
importation of MBM from GB during the 1980's appears to have been on a
limited scale. The change from batch to continuous rendering occurred in
1983-1984. On the basis that this latter change does not have an
appreciable effect on infectivity, appropriate conditions in rendering
plants for the emergence of BSE in Northern Ireland appear to have been
present from 1973 onwards. However, the incidence of scrapie in Northern
Ireland is thought to have been very low compared with that in Great
Britain.
[something else I find interesting, is under 'Alternative Hypotheses For
The Origin of BSE'....TSS]
38. It is to be noted that reports from the US suggested that
transmissible encephalopathy in mink might be due to the feeding of
so-called 'downer' cattle. One possible explanation of this is the
occurrence of a sporadic case or cases of spongiform encephalopathy in
cattle in the U.S.
_______________________________________________________________________
[now lets look at a few points the Qualitative Analysis of BSE Risk
Factors in the United States has to offer. It does not have much as to
the specifics of the process, this most likely is listed in the APHIS-VS
Quantitative Risk Assessment of BSE in the United States. It contains a
more in-depth quantitative analysis of these and other factors. That is
why I have been trying relentlessly to receive these documents from the
APHIS * USDA through the FOIA, and the reply from the E.U. in 1998. What
is their current status on this (BASES system)? I have had no luck
receiving either one. But the Qualitative Analysis of BSE Risk Factors
in the U.S. does point out one specific point...TSS]
In reading over the Qualitative Analysis of BSE Risk Factors-1, this is
a 25 page report by the USDA:APHIS:VS. The first page, fourth paragraph;
"Similarities exist in the two countries usage of continuous rendering
technology and the lack of usage of solvents."
"In the United Kingdom there is much concern for a specific continuous
rendering technology which uses lower temperatures and accounts for 25
percent of total output. This technology was _originally_ designed and
imported from the United States. However, the specific application in
the production process is _believed_ to be different in the two
countries."
"The application of solvent in the production process requires an
additional reheating of product in order to burn off any ramaining
solvent residues. Whether it is the application of solvent or the
reheating of product that may reduce any potential infectivity is
uncertain. If all mature sheep meat and bone were fed to dairy cows it
would amount to 3.4 pounds per cow per year, in the United Kingdom, and
2.8 ounces per cow in the United States."
[I believe they have now found the dose rate for BSE and scrapie to be
much less, than previously thought. So the 2.8 ounces per cow in the
United States, could be lethal, and enough to spread to who know's
where???TSS]
Kind Regards,
Terry S. Singeltary Sr.
P.O. Box 42
Bacliff, Texas USA
______________________________________________________________________
Subject: [CJD-L] BSE? * Scrapie * CJD * TEXAS -- question please
Date: Sun, 30 Jan 2000 16:28:52 -0600
From: "Terry S. Singeltary Sr." <flounder@wt.net>
Reply-To: Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease <CJD-L@uni-karlsruhe.de>
To: CJD-L@uni-karlsruhe.de
############ Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease <CJD-L@UNI-KARLSRUHE.DE>
#############
Greetings list members, I have tried to send this message to the experts
on the BSE-List, but it seems to be down. So I thought I would just pass
it through this list, as to most of the experts on this list as well.
Thank You,
I would like to ask this question please;
What would the risk of B.S.E. be, if any, if the following risk factors
were to have occurred?
Lets say in the state of Texas, where there have been several
undocumented clusters of CJD, and one documented cluster of CJD victims.
Lets say that this state is in a category of the 'highest' risk of
B.S.E., due to the risk categories based on Scrapie reported and the
ratio of Dairy Concentrates Fed to Sheep MBM Produced.
*The ratio is inversely related to potential risk,
i.e. (F.) is highest risk
**Meat and bone meal from sheep > 1 year.
Texas Risk category -- [1.] Highest
Risk Level [1.] Analysis = Scrapie is reported in the same or adjacent
counties as milk cows having a ratio less than 999.
Texas
Number of Ewes - (A.) 1,321,967
Number of Flocks - (B.) 6,714
'Scrapie' infected Flocks - (C.) 10
Incidence per 100 Flocks - (D.) 0.15
Incidence per 10K Ewes - (E.) 0.08
Number of Cows with Ratio*
20-99 (F.) 4,153
100-999 (G.) 2,572
1,000-9,999 (H.) 36,972
Milk Cow Inventory
(I.) 356,538
F+G+H/I Percent
(J.) 12.3
Thank You,
Terry S. Singeltary Sr., Bacliff, Texas USA
plus, the U.S. just declared a STATE OF EMERGENCY due to Scrapie;
docket 99-061-1
http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/getdoc.cgi?dbname=
2000_register&docid=fr17mr00-44
Subject: RESEARCH & FUNDING FOR HUMAN/ANIMAL TSE'S... [part 1]
Date: Thu, 06 Jul 2000 12:36:36 -0700
From: "Terry S. Singeltary Sr." <flounder@wt.net>
To: Dan.Glickman@usda.gov, President@whitehouse.gov,
Vice.President@whitehouse.gov, First.Lady@whitehouse.gov,
Mrs.Gore@whitehouse.gov
Dear Mr. Glickman,
could you please tell me, why certain people in your department
(cutlipp, caughey, o'rourke, just to name a few)
would be willing to hinder the research of certain people?
this is well known publicly (around the globe), that this is what
these people are doing, so why do _you_ allow this?
why would your people NOT want a BSE test in the U.S.?
why slow this research down?
(i know the answer to that, but would like to hear it from you,
but really don't expect a reply. hell, i cannot even get a reply
from my state reps. on this issue, but i promise you, i am going
to light a fire, that will be seen around the globe).
why is it, all this money can go for all sorts of other things,
but very very little for research of human/animal TSE's?
it's not going away, it's only going to spread...
kind regards,
Terry S. Singeltary SR.
THIS IS A WORLD PROBLEM...TSS
DECLARATION OF EXTRAORDINARY EMERGENCY BECAUSE OF AN ATYPICAL T.S.E.
(PRION DISEASE) OF FOREIGN ORIGIN IN THE UNITED STATES
http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/getdoc.cgi?dbname=2000_register&doci
d=fr20jy00-32
DECLARATION OF EXTRAORDINARY EMERGENCY BECAUSE OF AN ATYPICAL T.S.E
(PRION DISEASE) OF FOREIGN ORIGIN IN THE UNITED STATES [2]
http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/getdoc.cgi?dbname=2000_register&doci
d=fr20jy00-31
Research on BSE and Scrapie 'confidential'
http://www.vegsource.com/talk/lyman/messages/7531.html
Research on BSE and Scrapie {part 2}
http://www.vegsource.com/talk/lyman/messages/7532.html
In Confidence - Perceptions of unconventional slow virus diseases
of animals in the USA - APRIL-MAY 1989 - G A H Wells
http://www.vegsource.com/talk/lyman/messages/7535.html
part 2
http://www.vegsource.com/talk/lyman/messages/7536.html
http://www.mad-cow.org/00/jul00_dont_eat_sheep.html#hhh
http://www.vegsource.com/talk/lyman/messages/7538.html
Research on BSE and Scrapie 'confidential'
http://www.vegsource.com/talk/lyman/messages/7531.html
Research on BSE and Scrapie 'Confidential' {part 2}
http://www.vegsource.com/talk/lyman/messages/7532.html
In Confidence - Perceptions of unconventional slow virus diseases
of animals in the USA - APRIL-MAY 1989 - G A H Wells
http://www.vegsource.com/talk/lyman/messages/7535.html
part 2
http://www.vegsource.com/talk/lyman/messages/7536.html
BSE transmission to Sheep by Whole Blood
http://www.vegsource.com/talk/lyman/messages/7638.html
Louping-ill vaccine blunder to scrapie
http://www.vegsource.com/talk/lyman/messages/7634.html
'v' CJD could it be vaccineCJD???
http://www.vegsource.com/talk/lyman/messages/7622.html
kind regards,
Terry S. Singeltary Sr., Bacliff, Texas USA
=======================