CDC looking for XMRV & MLV in Lab Workers!

[Guest guest]

Video *18th Conference on

Retroviruses and Opportunistic

Infections* can be found at:

http://app2.capitalreach.com/esp1204/servlet/tc?c=10164 & cn=retro & s=20445 & & dp=pla\

yer.jsp & e=13744 & mediaType=podiumVideo

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I have not had time nor energy to see the video or

to verify the accuracy of the text below.

~jan van roijen

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http://on.fb.me/dZuVom

Switzer - CDC looking

for XMRV and MLV in lab

workers!

By XMRV Global Action

Fryday 4 March 2011

Thanks to CBS on the Phoenix Rising forum for

highlighting this part of the Q & A session of the

CROI.

Switzer - CDC looking

for XMRV and MLV in lab

workers!

What a bunch of naive fools we've been. We've been

working on the assumption that the threat of XMRV

in the blood supply would get the government's

attention and force then into action when in truth it

has forced them into a defensive posture.

What is really going to get the scientists going is

the threat that they themselves have been infected

as they have been handling murine retroviruses for

the last 35 years.

In fact, this is the first time that I have actually

heard Switzer use the phrase:

*....we share your concern....*

in reference to XMRV and MLVs but he's talking about

lab workers and what now seems to be the

consensus that XMRV ad MLVs were human created

and that they are highly contagious!

But don't worry, these highly contagious man-made

retroviruses aren't in the general population but we

do get the occasional odd positive in a pedigreed

negative (lab worker) that we've simply ignored until

now.

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Themed Discussion: XMRV: New Findings and

Controversies

3/2/2011 1:00 PM

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http://app2.capitalreach.com/esp1204/servlet/tc?c=10164 & cn=retro & s=20445 & & dp=pla\

yer.jsp & e=13744 & mediaType=podiumVideo

I haven't seen much discussion on the Q & A portion

of the XMRV section of the CROI conference.

I'll get right to the bit I want to discuss. At minute

50:45 a very interesting discussion starts about the

future studies in XMRV.

Two comments stood out:

*....Dusty and Steve Goff have shown some

pretty convincing evidence that this virus behaves

differently than other MLVs....*

*....Is preXMRV-2 infectious?....*

*....Currently the only experiments underway are

trying to figure out if this virus, pre-XMRV-2 is

infectious. When you look at the full length sequence

it seems to have open reading frames and so there

seems to be no reason for it not to be infectious.

But we don't have any results on that....*

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You can mostly ignore the large self absorbed guy.

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*....I know a number of people who have been

working with these mouse viruses for years and it

(XMRV) does seem to be behaving differently....*

*....At least in culture, this is a replicating virus that

can cause an infection in primary human cells in

addition to cell lines and can pass to other cells and

it is different from a lot of known MLVs so from a

basic science perspective there is some interest in

this virus....*

Mike Bush - Director, Blood Systems

Research Institute:

*....I think that there is no doubt after this meeting

that this virus arose from a recombination when an

original prostate tumor was explanted and

propagated and it's extraordinarily infectious.

In vitro it is clearly demonstrating infectivity and in

explants and a variety of human cell lines and it can

transmit into non-human primates....

I'm a little concerned, this was human created

in the laboratory and its a highly infectious

retrovirus....

And subsequent to that event, could it transmit to

humans?....

We've been doing studies in pedigreed negative

controls, some of whom happen to be lab workers

working with this virus who intermittently score

positive in one lab or another and I've just ignored

that but now I'm beginning to be a little concerned

that might there be transient infections in

humans....

Has anyone embarked on studies to look at nucleic

acid or serologic detectability in lab workers who

have or are working with these cell lines?....*

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Again, ignore the large obnoxious self-absorbed guy

(who reassures himself that the test he did on

himself was not a false negative).

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Switzer - CDC - @ 54:55 min. -

(look at how anxious he is to get his hands on the

mike)

*....I just wanted to add to that, we share your

concern Mike and we (THE CDC) have started a study

looking at some archived specimens that we've

screen and found other simian retroviruses for

example and we're going to look for XMRV and other

MLVs....*