Tournament of Pandemics- Smallpox vs Tuberculosis by Craig Kiebler

Craig Kiebler talks of Ghidorah, the Three-Headed Monster that is Tuberculosis. . He is a DVM/MPH student at Colorado State University, as well as the Vice President and Co-Founder of The Global Resource Initiative. He previously completed a MS in Biotechnology at The Johns Hopkins University and received a BA in Biology from Cornell University. Prior to entering the veterinary program at CSU, he served in the military and as a civilian government employee during which time he lived and worked overseas; in Europe, the Balkans and the Middle East. He blogs at VethnoGraphy.

TB is an insidious disease that can infect people without causing obvious disease - in fact, in an otherwise healthy person, only 5-10% of infected people show signs of the disease. These are the individuals that can spread the disease through aerosol, requiring only a small infectious dose. However, those persons who are infected may experience changes to their immune status at some point in life and progress to the fulminant form of TB - a weakened immune system is responsible for the high prevalence of TB in HIV infected persons. As already described, TB tends to affect the poor, with less access to antimicrobials. Add to this the fact that some protocols require treatment of up to two years and you get a situation where continued propagation of the disease is nearly inevitable. The other ‘heads of Ghidorah’ are the emergence of multi-drug resistant (MDR) and extremely drug resistant (XDR) strains of TB, thereby further diminishing our arsenal for combating the disease. The emergence of such strains has become an even more important global health concern as exemplified in 2007 when an American lawyer contracted XDR TB abroad, with resulting chaos surrounding quarantine procedures and personal rights.

Our Ghidorah also has a secret weapon. The World Health Organization lists Mycobacterium bovis (Bovine TB) on its list of ‘Seven Neglected Endemic Zoonoses’. Bovine TB can infect cattle, goats, sheep, cats, dogs, pigs, buffalo, badgers, possums, deer, elk, bison, horses, foxes, hares, ferrets, antelope, camels, llamas, alpacas, non-human primates, and yes…humans. The global burden of disease is unknown, but it can cause disease that is indistinguishable from Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Human TB). Additionally, it can be spread by aerosol from animals to humans or humans to animals, by drinking blood or unpasteurized milk from an infected animal, or through direct inoculation. Research has also shown the capacity for human-to-human transmission. Ingestion of the organisms can cause a myriad of other conditions, such as cervical lymphadenitis, urinary or reproductive tract lesions, bone or joint infections and infections of the brain. Like M. tuberculosis, infection with HIV increases the risk and speeds progression of Bovine TB.

Bovine TB may not be as much of a problem in developed countries; however, when we look at socio-economic risk factors in poorer nations, it becomes more of a problem. In the same areas that do not have regular access to treatment, we often see a larger number of individuals reliant on livestock for their individual consumption and/or for their livelihoods. Additionally, many of these areas do not regularly pasteurize dairy products, some households co-habitate with their livestock, and some local customs entail drinking of animal blood - all risk factors for transmission of the disease. In those cattle that have been diagnosed with Bovine TB in many developing nations, we also see a reluctance to cull the animals because they are the primary wealth of the owners. So, we have another form of TB, of which the global disease burden is unknown, and where social and cultural risk factors for the disease converge in areas that have high HIV burdens and very limited access to diagnostics and treatment.

Much like Ghidorah, TB is a ‘monster’ that has many heads and multiple forms and has a predilection for the countryside - represented here as people living in locations and conditions where they do not have access to diagnostics and treatment. Increases in travel, global burden of HIV infection, and lack of health infrastructure in areas that need it most, all conspire to make TB a continuing risk to global health.

Sorry, smallpox…I think you can continue to be confined to your cage.

Police officers secretly trained by animal rights group to enforce hunt ban.

The disclosure that Cumbria Police were coached by activists from the animal rights group has triggered fury among hunt supporters.

The IFAW set up the Political Animal Lobby which gave £1 million to the Labour Party before the 1997 election because it was committed to banning hunting. It donated a further £147,000 after the election. . They really have their priorities right don’t they. .

Kate Hoey, the Labour MP and chairman of the Countryside Alliance, has written to Craig Mackey, the Chief Constable of Cumbria, to raise concern about the involvement of animal rights activists in ‘training’ their officers.

The FOI trawl revealed that Thames Valley Police underwent similar training with the League Against Cruel Sports.

WESTERN MORNING NEWS. August 9th 2008

‘Fears have been raised about the spread of bovine TB after the disease crossed species and infected a Cornish woman.
The patient, who has not been identified but is believed to be a veterinary nurse, is undergoing treatment for the serious respiratory infection.
It is understood that her daughter and the family dog have also been tested for the disease.

A spokesman for the Health Protection Agency, which monitors public health, yesterday confirmed the case to the WMN.
Bovine TB (BTB) is the variant of the “tubercle” bacteria which many animals are susceptible to, but which commonly affects cattle. It is rare for a human to catch it. Last year, just two people in the South West; from Bristol and Wiltshire down to the Isles of Scilly, contracted it. In the same area in 2006, a total of six people were infected.
The spokesman said there was no cause to panic. “The current risk posed by bovine TB to human health in the UK is considered negligible,” she said.
According to experts, year on year increases of as much as 15 per cent have been reported in bovine TB.
But while cases in cattle have been spiralling, those among humans have remained steady.
In the past 14 years, 44 people have been confirmed as having the disease in the South West, which represents a tenth of the national figure for the same period.
Jan Rowe, NFU spokesman on BTB, said those in direct contact with livestock, such as herdsman and vets, would be at risk.
“There is always a risk with people who work closely with cattle of possibly picking this up. It is very rare but it has happened in the past.”
The human form of TB is responsible for an estimated 1.6 million deaths each year, mainly in the developing world. It is curable with a six-month course of antibiotics.’

( That is only if it is not one of the increasingly antibiotic resistant strains; and there is no guarantee that it could not take alot longer than 6 months.)

“TB is a strange disease,” said Mr Rowe. “There is virtually no difference in the symptoms and behaviour [between animals and humans]. The treatment would be exactly the same.”
BTB can occur in many animals, but badgers are seen to be the main carriers in the wild. The threat they pose to livestock, which have to be destroyed if infected, has led farmers to call for a mass cull of badgers; a plea controversially rejected by the Government.
Mr Rowe said it was estimated that up to 50 per cent of the wild badger population was infected with TB. “They are the main reservoir of the disease in the wild,” he said.
However, he was keen to point out that there was absolutely no risk of Bovine TB going into the food chain due to pasteurisation and stringent inspection controls.
Andy Biggs, a Tiverton-based vet and British Cattle Veterinary Association spokesman on the subject, said the Cornish woman infected with BTB might have picked it up from a number of different sources.
He said it was possible to catch it from direct contact with cattle, however, because of early testing of herds this was unusual.
“One possibility is that the dog has come across a dead badger and the family has been infected,” he said. “It is also possible that the nurse has come across a cow with TB in the course of her work.”
The TB bacillus cannot survive the pasteurisation process, so cannot be passed on through dairy products such as milk. Equally, Mr Biggs said all meat is rigorously inspected and the infection could not be passed on in that way.
He said research had shown that most people infected with BTB had actually caught the disease from another human, who was usually infected decades ago before modern safeguards were in place.

He said BTB was on the rise, with around 27,000 cases reported last year. If that trend continues, it could be an estimated 40,000 cases this year.
Yet this has not been reflected in cases of humans being infected with the bovine strain. “Human transmission cases are almost negligible in terms of numbers,” he said.

That is at the moment, but it is increasing. . People have been trying to warn us of this but the Government just keep ignoring it. . It has been clearly stated by experts that the risk of a Bovine TB epidemic should not be disregarded.

. . Charles Henry 1945-(diuturnity)

Editor
Western Daily Press

First published 17th. May 2001

Dear Editor,

How depressing it is that so many commentators in the media who influence opinion have no real understanding of a market economy.

A quarter point cut in base lending was greeted with gleeful anticipation, ignoring completely the relevance of this rate set against an inflation rate of 2% and falling.

“Not all that tempts, Your wand’ing eyes, And heedless hearts, Is lawful prize; nor all that glisters gold.” Wrote poet Thomas Gray.

Japan has a zero lending rate but has chronic deflation, meaning their bankers are happy to let others carry the deflationary loss whilst protecting themselves.

Similarly our borrowers are being seduced into contracts that are designed to make the bankers rich.

Inflation is always portrayed as the absolute evil, but its capricious vagaries will never match the debilitating consequences of a deflating economy.

Yours

Charles Henry

Interest rates were cut to 5.25% at that time with inflation at 2% and FALLING. . The 3% ‘Real’ rate apparently adopted by the Bank of England monetary committee since ‘independence’, was clearly designed to favour the Bankers, and not in the best interest of borrowers or the country in my view.

. . Charles Henry 1945-(diuturnity)

“That doesn’t mean, of course that the pound here in Britain—in your pocket or purse or in your bank—has been devalued.”

Ministerial Broadcast, 19th.November 1967

. . Sir Harold Wilson 1916-1995

Despite certain disadvantages ‘Errol’ has certainly learnt how to count his pennies.

. . Charles Henry 1945-(diuturnity)

Western Daily Press. . News.

Church leaders say a badger cull is “necessary” to stop the out-of-control TB virus ruining the West’s farming industry.

The Anglican Church in Somerset has now called for urgent talks to help solve the problem of TB in cattle.

And the Bath and Wells Diocese has made it clear it considers a cull an essential move; despite campaigners’ pleas that it is not the answer.

Chairman Tom Done said: “No one, including most farmers, wants to see a mass cull of all badgers but in the interest of cattle, badgers and farmers it will be necessary to control the badger population so that we can have healthy setts and herds.”

TB is out of control across the South West and is threatening to engulf the rest of the country.

There have already been devastating consequences for livestock: last year 20,000 cattle had to be slaughtered on the region’s farms, 2,816 new TB cases were reported; a 40 per cent increase on 2007; and at the end of the year there were 4,000 herds under restrictions.

Farmers are compensated for animals compulsorily slaughtered but the Government has imposed lower payments in an attempt to reduce the millions of pounds it spends on the disease each year. One Somerset farmer recently received £200-a-head less for a group of slaughtered animals than he had paid for them at auction weeks before.

Churchmen want urgent talks between farmers, badger groups and the Government to find a way out of the problem; even though Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Secretary Hilary Benn has repeatedly refused to order a badger cull, the last time just two weeks ago when he met a deputation of Devon farmers.

But Mr Done said the situation was leading to bankruptcies and depression for many farmers, including those unable to sell their stock because of positive tests.

“Let us believe we can have a positive debate between the badger groups, farmers and Defra with all sides looking at the interests of one another so we can have healthy wildlife and cattle for the benefit of those of us who love our countryside” he said.

TB was eradicated from the countryside 50 years ago but has reappeared. Pro-badger groups say it is spreading because cattle are farmed more intensively and kept in larger herds. But trial badger culling in Ireland has seen a reduction in cases.

Farmers say the problem exploded since badgers were given legal protection in 1992, a move which led to a big leap in the animals’ population.

Badger campaigners said the TB problem could be reduced if cattle were tested before they were moved to market or from farm to farm. Despite the extra expense for farmers; who opposed the idea; the testing regime was introduced in 2005, but TB cases have continued to soar.

Farmers are now warning dairy and beef cattle numbers are reaching a tipping point beyond which it will be impossible to breed up enough replacement animals, risking shortages of milk, cheese, butter and beef.

The Badger Trust remains as opposed as ever to a cull.

Spokesman Jack Reedy said: “A diseased badger is extremely difficult to identify. Unless there is a sure and certain way of doing it, we remain against a wholesale cull of badgers. We have always considered it extremely unfair for anyone to consider the wholesale destruction of an indigenous wildlife species for what, on the basis of trials, is a marginal effect on the problem.

“We do want to see bovine TB eradicated as it was perfectly satisfactorily 50 years ago, but we also want to see a measured, comprehensive approach to the control of this disease.”

Very sadly too many people still seem to be determined to allow bigotry and sentiment to cloud the very serious situation with Bovine tuberculosis, and try and confuse the issue. . . Anyone in any doubt that the badger population needs to be seriously culled, and maybe yet many other specious like Roe Deer, needs only to research the subject themselves. . The very nature of TB with its protracted effects, make it a particularly insidious disease that can be very difficult and sometimes impossible to cure.

Simple research will tell people that Bovine tuberculosis is caused by the bacterium Mycobacterium bovis, and is different from the normal strain Mycobacterium tuberculosis that usually affects humans. . Its primary host once appeared to be cattle, but the organism has been isolated from a wide range of species, including deer, pigs, sheep, horses, dogs, cats, badgers and humans. However, humans and most other species are normally only spill-over hosts in which infection is not self-maintaining.

Transmission of M.bovis within and between species is thought to be mainly by the airborne route, but animals may also become infected if they ingest the bacterium. Infected cattle are considered the main source of M.bovis infection for other susceptible cattle, however, in recent years, the badger has clearly emerged as a significant source of M. bovis infection for cattle in the UK and Ireland.

May I be allowed to draw everybody’s attention to some quite prophetic quotes from Dr. Jerome Harms. University of Wisconsin-Madison back in 1997.

Mycobacterium bovis the cause of Bovine Tuberculosis;

“In contrast (to 1 in 10 immunocompetent humans), nearly all cattle infected with M. bovis develop active disease and can transmit the organism to other animals or humans.”

“Recently, there have been many outbreaks of M.bovis caused tuberculosis in humans especially HIV+ patients. Most have occurred in countries where M.bovis is endemic in the animal agriculture population. Multi-drug resistant strains of M.bovis are now appearing as well. The significance of this TB threat from M.bovis has not been taken as seriously as the threat from M.tuberculosis (Human TB)”

“However, the scientific and medical community must not ignore the potential of an M.bovis TB epidemic.”

He wrote this back in 1997 and we are all now aware of recent events with XAR TB (extremely antibiotic resistant). .The 24th March is World TB day.

The thing the badger groups cannot seem to accept is that we once conquered this problem by clearing badger setts in the locality of herds and culling any reactor cattle. . The national herd was clear of disease and all herds in the UK were officially designated ‘Brucellosis Free’ in October 1985. . That is ‘all such pathogens’.

With anti-biotics, Streptomycin, the Tetracyclines and other drugs; we had beaten tuberculosis and all the sanatoriums had long been closed. . . Then some in their mistaken wisdom decided the risk from badgers was ‘now’ minimal. . With the explosion in the badger population we can all now see just how ‘minimal’ that was.

The gassing of badgers ceased in the late 1970’s and testing of cattle continued. . In 1986, a total of 38,000 herds comprising 3,200,000 cattle were tested, resulting in the slaughter of 506 cattle that reacted to the test. . The latest unsustainable position has been explained again above.

Charles Henry 1945-(diuturnity)