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Ireland not alone in human 'mad cow disease' scare
Many countries got suspect blood products, but no contamination confirmed
In this story:December 15, 1997
- Precautionary withdrawal in November ...
- ... but patients only now being told
- Related stories and sites
Web posted at: 11:02 a.m. EST (1602 GMT)LONDON (CNN) -- Blood products made from the plasma of a British donor infected with the human form of "mad cow" disease were distributed in about 40 countries, the manufacturer said Monday.
The donor later died from the brain-wasting illness called Creutzfeldt Jakob Disease (CJD). More than 200 patients in Ireland alone were given the blood products, but there were no reports of blood contamination or related deaths there.
Citing studies done in the United States over the past 30 years, the American Red Cross says it has never had a case of CJD contamination through blood products.
The manufacturer of the suspect blood products, the British company Nycomed Amersham, said it could not immediately name all the countries which received them but "we know that there were consignments to Ireland, the United Kingdom, and Scandinavian countries," said spokesman Alan Huw-Smith in London.
The Amerscan Pulmonate products were sold "between June and September or October of this year. Almost certainly other European countries" need to check, he said.
Precautionary withdrawal ...
It was revealed on Sunday that Ireland's Department of Health withdrew three batches of the blood product "as a precautionary measure" last month following confirmation that the British donor subsequently developed CJD.
"While there is no evidence that CJD has been transmitted by blood products, this particular donor had the new variant of the condition and against this background, recall of the product was seen as a sensible precaution," the department said.
Amerscan Pulmonate Two, which is used to diagnose lung disease, was given by transfusion to 268 people in nine Irish hospitals before being withdrawn when the possible contamination was discovered, the department said.
... but patients now being told
The department, which has come under fire for failing to inform patients caught up in the CJD scare, said it was making arrangements to tell them in "the most sensitive, prudent and sympathetic way possible after the consideration of ethical and practical matters".
Nycomed Amersham, informed by British medical authorities in November, said it had immediately alerted its customers to return the suspected consignments. But it could not say if all the products had been returned.
Huw-Smith said "there is no evidence that the blood was contaminated, no evidence that the serum was contaminated and no evidence that this particular batch of our product was contaminated."
He said it was understood the blood donation was made in the early 1990s. "There is a considerable delay between the time when this donation was given and the time when the donor was diagnosed as having contracted CJD."
CJD has killed at least 20 people in Britain since the first beef scare in March 1996.
Related stories:
- Irish patients get blood product linked to 'mad cow' disease - December 14, 1997
- EU ban on animal parts upsetting Greek appetites - September 28, 1997
Related sites:
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