BSE might be caused by virus

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Beef News

BSE may be caused by a virus, Yale says

By Tom ston on 2/2/2007 for Meatingplace.com

Researchers have discovered more evidence indicating that a virus -

not the malformed proteins known as prions - cause bovine spongiform

encephalopathy, Bloomberg News reported.

idis, a neuropathologist at Yale Medical School in New

Haven, Conn., said nerve cells infected with variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob

disease, the human version of BSE, contained a virus-size particle that

doesn't appear in uninfected cells. Cells infected with scrapie, a sheep

disorder related to BSE, contained the same germ.

The findings could lead to vaccines, but challenge 25 years of

research showing the disorders are spread by prions.

idis published research in 2005 that showed infections with a

mild form of vCJD protected mice against more severe infections with the

same disease, suggesting vaccines against such human and animal diseases

might be possible.

& Debbie Chikousky

Manitoba, Canada

gdchik@...

http://www.winnipegbeach.com/chikouskyfarms/