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  • From: "Tradingpost" <tradingpost@gilanet.com>
  • To: livingontheland@lists.ibiblio.org
  • Subject: [Livingontheland] Widespread Infection with Leukemia Virus from Meat and Milk
  • Date: Fri, 19 Mar 2004 09:10:11 -0700


Widespread Infection with Leukemia Virus from Meat and Milk
karl theis jr

One little Holstein dairy cow from a Yakima, Washington farm
introduced mad cow into America's food supply and changed the world
forever. Can you imagine the response when consumers discover 9 out
of 10 of the herds in the US (89%) are infected with leukemia virus?
This means millions of cows presently have live, infectious,
leukemia viruses ? bovine leukemia virus ? living inside them. These
viruses are known to cause cancers of the immune system, called
leukemias and lymphomas, in these cows. More startling will be the
reaction when they learn that consuming tainted beef has already
infected as many as 74% of people living in the US.1

Hopefully, this will be a wake-up call that turns people from
sausages to sweet potatoes and porterhouse to potatoes. A revolution
is long overdue, especially since scientists have known about this
health hazard for more than 35 years. Yet, you have heard little or
nothing about leukemia viruses infecting your food supply because of
the spin placed on this information by the cattle industry and the
United States Department of Agriculture. They have taken the
position: "until proven guilty beyond any doubt, eating live leukemia
viruses is perfectly safe." Crude testing methods available during
the past two decades have failed to find evidence of widespread
infection in humans from this cancer-causing virus.

Now however, that excuse for keeping the public in the dark is gone
forever. Using state-of-the-art detection methods, in December of
2003 researchers from the University of California, Berkeley
published their findings that three-fourths (74%) of people from
their community ? a study population of 257 humans ? have been
infected with bovine leukemia viruses. This conclusion was based on
the discovery of antibodies against this infectious agent in the
people's blood.1 The investigators hedged on the relevance of their
conclusions by taking the position that this common presence of
antibody could have been from dead, thoroughly cooked, viruses, as
well as live, highly infectious ones. Anyone who remembers eating
burgers or steaks "pink on the inside" knows exposure to live viruses
is universal. The virus resides in white blood cells (blood
lymphocytes) where circulating antibodies are unable to neutralize
it. Therefore, once an animal is infected with the virus, it is
infected for life. (This is the case with humans, too.)

Disregard for the importance of this widespread problem is not
universal. Many European countries have conducted programs to
eliminate infected herds. For example, in 1996, after thirty years of
effort, Finland completely eradicated the infection from its
cattle.2 Obviously, the Finns take eating live leukemia viruses
seriously. However, in other countries, where the beef and dairy
industries make up a large part of the economy, there has been no
effort to clean up this cesspool of infection; for example 84% of
herds in Argentina and 70% in Canada are found to harbor the bovine
leukemia virus.3-5

The spread of infection in cattle arises from accepted practices in
the cattle industry, such as feeding blood from slaughtered cows as a
formula and feeding pooled colostrum (early milk) to calves ? and the
use of syringes, tattooing, and de-horning instruments on multiple
animals without proper sterilization between uses.6 BLV is also
passed directly from mother to calf through her milk. Most infected
cattle do not live long enough to develop actual disease ? they
remain "healthy" and therefore, are not separated from the herd.
Approximately 1% to 5% of infected cattle do develop leukemia or
lymphoma ? many of these obviously diseased animals still become part
of our food supply. This virus is easily spread from cow's milk to
other species of animals, and once infected they can become ill with
leukemia. For example, in 1974 it was reported that when 6 infant
chimpanzees were fed infected cow's milk 2 died of leukemia within a
year.7 So what more evidence could there be that these well-known
animal infections are a threat to you and your family (who, by the
way, are also animals)?

In the laboratory this virus can infect the cells of many species of
animals, including humans.8 The bovine leukemia virus has been
classified in the same group as the Human T-cell
Leukemia/Lymphotropic virus type 1 (HTLV-1), which is known to cause
leukemia and lymphomas in humans (Adult T-cell leukemia/lymphoma).9
Nationwide and worldwide, leukemia is more common in higher dairy-
and beef consuming populations.10,11 An increased incidence of
leukemia has been found among dairy farmers in multiple studies.12-
15 A recent study of Canadian workers found that those individuals
working in occupations associated with cattle have approximately
twice the risk of developing leukemia and lymphoma.16

In addition to infecting white blood cells, these viruses also attack
other cells in the body, such as cells of the breast and the lymph
nodes. Leukemia viruses infect the cells of a cow's mammary gland
(udder).17 One recent worrisome study found the virus in the breast
tissues of 10 of 23 human breast cancer patients.18,19 Beef and dairy
product consumption in various populations has been found to
correlate directly with an increasing incidence of another cancer of
the immune system called lymphoma.20-24

Meat from a thousand beef cattle often makes up a single hamburger
patty, because many body parts from many different cows are processed
at a single meat packer. Most milk, cheese, and other dairy products
are infected with these viruses, since the milk from many dairy farms
is mixed in large vats at the dairy factory before processing and
packaging. Pasteurization of milk kills many types of
microorganisms, but it is not foolproof. There is also concern that
pasteurization may break the viruses into fragments that may become
even more dangerous.25

If you live in the United States, Canada, Argentina or any other
country whose government is indifferent to this problem, you can be
pretty sure you will be consuming beef with live whole viruses, and
dairy products containing whole viruses or fragments. Avoiding meat
and dairy products is the most effective means to prevent future
infection. You are maybe thinking that the smart move is to switch
to chicken and other poultry. Unfortunately, they are also infected
with cancer causing viruses.26 Your only safe choice is a pure
vegetarian diet.

Each year about 30,000 new cases of leukemia and 70,000 new cases of
lymphoma occur for "unknown reasons" in the USA. I find it hard to
believe that none of these are due to infection with bovine leukemia
viruses. Viruses causing leukemia should not surprise people ? after
all, you take your cat to the veterinarian for feline leukemia virus
vaccinations in order to prevent leukemia in your cat. As always,
the burden of proof of safety of a product lies with those selling
the food to you and your family. It has not been proved safe to eat
leukemia viruses ? and the evidence is even more damning now that we
know these viruses infect the vast majority of people who eat meat
and milk products.

Don't despair. If you live in a country where people follow the
Western diet, your risk of developing leukemia or lymphoma each year
is only one in 3000. Plus, these are primarily diseases of children
and the elderly, suggesting the strength of our immune system largely
determines whether or not we will develop this kind of cancer. Our
diet is the major controllable asset we have for strengthening this
defense system. Even if you are infected with bovine leukemia
viruses already, a change to a plant food based diet, like the
McDougall diet, will still reduce your risk of developing leukemia.
27 Preventing infections in the first place is the most sensible
action parents can take with their children by never feeding these
tainted foods ? meats and dairy products ? to their children.
Clearly, there is sufficient evidence to take action; furthermore,
there are no negative nutritional consequences from removing these
hazardous foods from your diet.

References:

1) Buehring GC, Philpott SM, Choi KY. Humans have antibodies
reactive with Bovine leukemia virus. AIDS Res Hum Retroviruses. 2003
Dec;19(12):1105-13.

2) Nuotio L, Rusanen H, Sihvonen L, Neuvonen E. Eradication of
enzootic bovine leukosis from Finland. Prev Vet Med. 2003 May 30;59
(1-2):43-9.

3) Sargeant JM. Associations between farm management practices,
productivity, and bovine leukemia virus infection in Ontario dairy
herds. Prev Vet Med. 1997 Aug;31(3-4):211-21.

4) VanLeeuwen JA,. Seroprevalence of infection with Mycobacterium
avium subspecies paratuberculosis, bovine leukemia virus, and bovine
viral diarrhea virus in maritime Canada dairy cattle. Can Vet J.
2001 Mar;42(3):193-8.

5) Trono KG. Seroprevalence of bovine leukemia virus in dairy cattle
in Argentina: comparison of sensitivity and specificity of different
detection methods. Vet Microbiol. 2001 Nov 26;83(3):235-48.

6) Gonda M. Bovine immunodeficiency virus. AIDS. 1992 Aug;6(8):759-
76

7) McClure HM, Keeling ME, Custer RP, Marshak RR, Abt DA, Ferrer JF.
Erythroleukemia in two infant chimpanzees fed milk from cows
naturally infected with the bovine C-type virus. Cancer Res. 1974
Oct;34(10):2745-57.

8) Graves DC, Ferrer JF. In vitro transmission and propagation of
the bovine leukemia virus in monolayer cell cultures. Cancer Res.
1976 Nov;36(11 Pt 1):4152-9.

9) Johnson J. Molecular biology and pathogenesis of the human T-cell
leukaemia/lymphotropic virus Type-1 (HTLV-1). Int J Exp Pathol. 2001
Jun;82(3):135-47.

10) Hursting SD. Diet and human leukemia: an analysis of
international data. Prev Med. 1993 May;22(3):409-22.

11) Howell MA. Factor analysis of international cancer mortality
data and per capita food consumption. Br J Cancer. 1974 Apr;29
(4):328-36.

12) Kristensen P. Incidence and risk factors of cancer among men
and women in Norwegian agriculture. Scand J Work Environ Health.
1996 Feb;22(1):14-26.

13) Reif J. Cancer risks in New Zealand farmers. Int J Epidemiol.
1989 Dec;18(4):768-74.

14) Blair A. Leukemia cell types and agricultural practices in
Nebraska. Arch Environ Health. 1985 Jul-Aug;40(4):211-4.

15) Donham KJ. Epidemiologic relationships of the bovine population
and human leukemia in Iowa. Am J Epidemiol. 1980 Jul;112(1):80-92.

16) Fritschi L, Johnson KC, Kliewer EV, Fry R; Canadian Cancer
Registries Epidemiology Research Group. Animal-related occupations
and the risk of leukemia, myeloma, and non-Hodgkin's lymphoma in
Canada. Cancer Causes Control. 2002 Aug;13(6):563-71.

17) Buehring GC, Kramme PM, Schultz RD. Evidence for bovine
leukemia virus in mammary epithelial cells of infected cows. Lab
Invest. 1994 Sep;71(3):359-65.

18) GC Buehring, KY Choi and HM Jensen. Bovine leukemia virus in
human breast tissues. Breast Cancer Res 2001, 3(Suppl 1):A14

19) Buehring GC Evidence of bovine leukemia virus in human
mammary epithelial cells Semin Cell Dev Biol 199735: 27A; Abstract V-
1001.

20) Sarasua S, Savitz DA. Cured and broiled meat consumption in
relation to childhood cancer: Denver, Colorado (United States).
Cancer Causes Control. 1994 Mar;5(2):141-8.

21) Zhang S, Hunter DJ, Rosner BA, Colditz GA, Fuchs CS, Speizer FE,
Willett WC. Dietary fat and protein in relation to risk of non-
Hodgkin's lymphoma among women. J Natl Cancer Inst. 1999 Oct 20;91
(20):1751-8.

22) Fritschi L, Johnson KC, Kliewer EV, Fry R; Canadian Cancer
Registries Epidemiology Research Group. Animal-related occupations
and the risk of leukemia, myeloma, and non-Hodgkin's lymphoma in
Canada. Cancer Causes Control. 2002 Aug;13(6):563-71.

23) Chiu BC. Diet and risk of non-Hodgkin lymphoma in older women.
JAMA. 1996 May 1;275(17):1315-21.

24) Cunningham AS. Lymphomas and animal-protein consumption.
Lancet. 1976 Nov 27;2(7996):1184-6.

25) Ferrer JF. Milk of dairy cows frequently contains a
leukemogenic virus. Science. 1981 Aug 28;213(4511):1014-6.

26) Johnson ES. Poultry oncogenic retroviruses and humans. Cancer
Detect Prev. 1994;18(1):9-30..

27) Zhang SM, Hunter DJ, Rosner BA, Giovannucci EL, Colditz GA,
Speizer FE, Willett WC. Intakes of fruits, vegetables, and related
nutrients and the risk of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma among women. Cancer
Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev. 2000 May;9(5):477-85.




karl theis jr


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  • [Livingontheland] Widespread Infection with Leukemia Virus from Meat and Milk, Tradingpost, 03/19/2004

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