Mad Cow Human Blood Mix

MAD COW HUMAN BLOOD MIX

September 29 1996 A substitute for human blood made from cows' blood is being tested on patients in America, writes Roger Dobson Cows' blood is tested on humans HUMAN TRIALS of a blood substitute derived from cows are beginning in America and could soon take place in Europe. BioPure, the American company developing the substitute, claims it is free of BSE and other contamination, but one big pharmaceuticals company working on a rival product has warned that there may be problems with using animal products.

It says the safety of blood taken from cows can never fully guaranteed. Baxter Healthcare is working on a similar product, but made from out-of-date human blood. It says: "Viruses present in animal blood are not as well characterised and are therefore more difficult to detect than those in human blood. Animal-sourced products also must be subject to rigorous purification procedures since contamination with animal-derived proteins can cause allergic reactions." Researchers point out, too, that there is no foolproof test for detecting BSE. BioPure, which uses haemoglobin processed from cows' blood, is carrying out trials in America. Other studies are planned for Europe. A spokesman says: "We are very aware of the BSE issue and we have a very significant herd-management programme that really prevents that from being a problem. We also have a proprietary process that we believe would take it out even if it was in there.

To date BSE has not been detected in America." BioPure is testing one of two bovine blood products that use haemoglobin taken from cows. A big attraction is that animal haemoglobin is in almost limitless supply and is cheap. The BioPure product is one of the first-generation blood substitutes in development that are based on haemoglobin from various biological sources, including human and cows' blood, or are entirely synthetic, made from a solution of petrofluorocarbons. The substitutes, which have a limited life, offer two distinct advantages. In operations, much transfused blood is lost and these substitutes can be used instead of blood during surgery.

Second, in trauma cases the synthetic blood can be administered immediately without losing precious time blood-typing and cross-matching as is required with real blood. And unlike real blood, which keeps for only six weeks, the new haemoglobin materials can be stored for six months to a year and stockpiled for disaster relief. The substitutes may also reduce the risk of viral transmissions and may be more beneficial for a range of patients, including victims of strokes and heart attacks, because they get oxygen to areas that blood alone cannot reach and protect the functioning of vital organs. The range of new substitute products, so far used in trials on up to 1,000 patients worldwide, has the potential to change the way millions of casualty and other acute patients are treated. And the worldwide market for such products is estimated to be worth as much as #3 billion a year.

As many as eight different companies worldwide are currently working on trials of substitute blood. This synthetic blood is made in a variety of ways, processing haemoglobin taken from real blood that has passed its use-by-date - as Baxter is doing - or by using haemoglobin taken from cows or from bacteria. For decades scientists have been looking for a good blood substitute that is free of viral infections and that can be given to patients without fear of side-effects, and that will help to conserve stocks of donated blood. Natural blood carries out a number of functions, including transporting oxygen around the body. Haemoglobin, the iron-containing protein that gives blood its red colour, picks up the oxygen at the lungs and circulates it around the body, serving vital organs and tissue.

When the patient loses a large amount of blood, the blood pressure drops and tissue and organs can be deprived of oxygen. Doctors usually give salt or protein solutions to patients who have lost a great deal of blood. They have the effect of expanding the volume of the remaining blood so that the heart can pump effectively, but in large doses there can be side-effects. Baxter Healthcare, which is involved in trials in hospitals in Britain, is already building the world's biggest factory for making blood substitutes. Construction of the plant in Switzerland will be finished next year with commercial production starting up in 1998. At the end of this year the company expects to apply to the regulatory authorities in Europe for marketing approval. Baxter Healthcare extracts haemoglobin from outdated human blood.

Because haemoglobin breaks in half when removed from the red blood cell, Baxter's researchers are using an aspirin-type drug and patented technology to keep it bonded together. This chemically stabilised haemoglobin solution - brand name HemAssist - can be subjected to anti-viral processes that cannot be applied to real blood. Since doctors carried out the first blood transfusion in 1667, there has been a search for a truly artificial blood. When haemoglobin was first separated in the mid 18th century, hopes were raised, but now researchers believe they are on the right track.

ftp://ftp.win.net/winnet/tetra/pub/MAD_COW_HUMAN_BLOOD_MIX.txt

Mad cow jumps over the world

UN warns BSE risk could be global
By James Blitz in Rome and Michael Mann in London
Published: February 7 2001 22:08GMT | Last Updated: February 8 2001 00:48GMT

Mad cow disease could spread to as many as 100 countries across the globe and should not be dismissed as purely a European phenomenon, the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation warned on Wednesday.

As the European Union struggles to calm consumer panic that has seen beef consumption fall by more than a quarter since October, the FAO urged countries that imported meat and bone meal (MBM) or cattle from the EU to ban the feeding of MBM and increase surveillance to try to eradicate the disease.

"Our research suggests that at least 100 countries are at risk from BSE because of cattle or meat meal imported from Europe during the 1980s," said Jacques Diouf, director-general of the FAO.

"The regions that imported large quantities of meat meal from Britain during this period are the near-East, eastern Europe and Asia."

The FAO's warning will send shockwaves through the beef industry in countries that still see BSE as an exclusively European problem.

The introduction of a cattle testing programme across the EU has uncovered the first cases of the disease in countries such as Germany, which long claimed to be BSE-free.

The FAO is reluctant to spell out the individual countries that might be at risk. But Andrew Speedy of the FAO noted that countries like Egypt, Iran, Iraq and India imported MBM from the UK during the 1980s and have intensive livestock industries. "So that is a situation we are worried about," he said.

http://news.ft.com/ft/gx.cgi/ftc?pagename=View&c=Article&cid=FT3N5SSKXIC&live=true&tagid=IXLMS1QTICC&subheading=global%20economy

(USA)Woman dies from mad cow disease...

Wednesday, 31-Jan-01 20:18:10

       24.14.28.77 writes:

       (USA)Woman dies from mad cow disease...

       Just this last sunday we here in MN saw a death
       notice of a woman who too died
       from mad cow disease and she had NOT been to Europe
       in fact has not been out of
       the country at all. I heard this morning that in
       Germany people are going into grocery
       stores with empty meat counters as well as a lot
       less on the shelves it's gotten so bad
       there the country is in a panic.

       This is a lot more wide spread than the government
       lets on. I also believe it was intentional as a way
       to meet UN mandates to cut population...it's working.
       Add this to the ariel spraying, the poisionus vaccines....

       Sherry - mugwump@hutchtel.net

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