Death as a result of a prion disease?

Stranded and dead whales on the North sea, the Baltic sea and Britain’s coasts

It makes affected, the image of the largest mammals on earth, stranded and died on our shores. They were starved to death? Or by Sonar lost? In shallow water, crushed by the weight?

But this cruel death could also have other causes?

So sheep are diseased, for example, Ireland or Cyprus to Scrapie, translated, the sheep scrape and scrub. The German name of this disease is called “scrapie”. The sheep have been blessed with a “stack”, of lofty gait, lose balance, fall, and rowing with the legs.

The causative agent is the Prion, for “proteinaceous infectious particle” is a protein-like infectious particles. Carcasses of this type of scrapie, hekrankten sheep were to animal flour are processed and in the UK, fed to cattle. Thus was born the BSE, the bovine (the beef of your own) spongiforme (a sponge, in this case, the brain) Enzephalopathie (a disease of the brain). Infection with prions manifests itself in a progressive, always fatal destruction of brain tissue.

On Papua new Guinea Kuru disease occurred in the ‘ 60s, the people of the Fore. The Fore-operated Endo-cannibalism, i.e., eating of mystical reasons also, one of their ancestors. Also, Kuru is a prion disease. After this people have been banned cannibalism, was eradicated this disease.

Image source: Marco Görlich/pixelio.de

Back to the UK: BSE carcases of cattle were burned: about the ventilation, the cattle of other, surrounding stables have been infected. Now BSE beef carcasses were transported by Bulldozer under the earth, with the effect that cattle were infected in other stables on the ground water with prions. Thus, the contaminated meat and bonemeal were exported to Zoos in the United States. It concluded that there are wildebeest, antelopes, Zebras, giraffes and elephants came down with a spongiform encephalopathy. Subsequently, this contaminated animal meal was disposed of, that is to say, it was by ship – in the specific case in the North sea disposed of. But here, too, mammals, which could harm these prions live a little: it May be that the local bottlenose dolphins (bekanntete species of Dolphin) and one species of Dolphin, pilot whales in the Atlantic are affected. Many of these animals dead on the beaches. A few years ago “lost” whales in the Thames. Also in Australia and new Zealand coasts dead whales. And now, stranded and dying sperm whales to Britain’s coasts and also in the North sea and the Baltic sea.

It was, in my view, a rich error, and a vegetarian to feed the bovine animal flour.

What has all this have to do with the health and care of the elderly?

In the field of neurology, increasingly, patients are treated who suffer from a “Creutzfeldt-Jakob-disease”. In the final stage these Patients are in the last half a year of your life in General, not responsive, have to be artificially and stored feeds and are completely incontinent. This disease is a prion disease. The first symptoms of this disease, speak with memory loss and depression. Some nurses associations to diseases dementia? The main routes of transmission are via the cerebrospinal fluid, lacrimal fluid and stool. The spleen, the lymphatic tissues and also the blood plasma to be described as contagious.

Eventually, it is also ensured that the “Placenta barrier” acts as a fabric filter. It could be concluded that the pathogens from the maternal blood circulation, can be transferred, for example, in cattle the fetal circulatory system of the embryo. The pathogen could also be in the mother’s milk or in dairy products is undetectable.

The incubation period in humans of up to 40 years. There is a connection between BSE and Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease was explored. The pathogen made the “species jump” from cattle to people. The disease has been described as a “new variant” of CJD, vCJD-Prion disease that affects mainly younger people.

The transmissible, i.e., transmissible spongiform encephalopathies can also be through injections of growth hormones, by the Transplantation of human brain and eyes cornea is transferred to the skin. Possibly the eyes would be the internal pressure measurement to the eye doctor less by applanation tonometry, but rather by a blast of air-Nonkontakt tonometry infection resistant. Thus, a direct contact of the instrument with the cornea of the eye would be in this investigation excluded.

The Prion: It is history in the Era we are living much older than viruses and bacteria. From the ashes of a with a temperature of 600 ° C eingeäschertem hamster living prions could be removed. Bath of acid, radio-active irradiation and steam sterilization had no effect on prions, little. Neuro Surgical instruments could be after surgery on a prion-infected brain for the next surgery, patients fatal. To secure the diagnosis of CJD should not necessarily be done a dissection on the dead brain, for the diagnosis of a protein, comparative study on living people is possible.

For the safety of nurses, the nursing staff and Doctors of hygiene measures and education, as well as information about the sources of infection and dangers of this disease are urgently needed. The commissioning of the facility’s own sewage treatment plants. From my point of view, in a vote of 33 recommendations adopted by the Federal Ministry for health are not far-reaching enough, to the further spread of the vCJD curb.

If a prion disease should be a cause for the Death, would be the current activities of the animal carcass utilization is not sufficient, additional foci of infection to be excluded. Currently, the whale carcasses for the duration of 20 minutes to be processed at a pressure of 3 bar with a temperature of 133 degrees””. In this method, prions are not killed. The processing of these recovery products may pose a risk of infection for humans and animals.

Epidemiologically, the pig is very close to man. As a species, jump from man to pig and back to the people is a very dangerous factor.