October 11, 2002 AAP Newsfeed by Jon Henley
|
The chance of catching the human form of mad cow disease through
vaccines was extremely low, the National Health and Medical Research
Council (NHMRC) said today.
The human form of mad cow disease, or vCJD, has been linked to the consumption of contaminated beef in Britain but no cases have been reported in Australia. A committee of the NHMRC was established to review the relationship between vaccines originally derived from processes that used foetal calf serum from the UK and Europe, and the risk of the transmission of vCJD. Committee chairman Graeme Ryan said the review had found the risk of any vaccines being contaminated with mad cow disease was extremely low. "My committee is satisfied that the benefits of vaccines used in Australia to prevent diseases far outweigh any risks," Professor Ryan said. "Australians are acutely aware of the benefits of immunisation, especially vaccines used to prevent potentially life-threatening diseases in children. "Despite the obvious benefits of vaccines, my committee felt it was important to update Australia's risk assessment of vCJD based on the latest information." Professor Ryan said the committee supported the policy of the Therapeutic Goods Administration, which plans to source future vaccines from processes that do not use foetal calf serum. |
[We also received European shipments of fetal calf serum contaminated
vaccines in the United States--BSE coordinator]
Home | News | Organics | GE
Food | Health | Environment | Food
Safety | Fair
Trade | Peace | Farm
Issues | Politics
Forum | Español | Campaigns | Buying
Guide | Press | Search | Volunteer | Donate | About Us | Contact
Us | Email
This Page
Organic Consumers Association - 6771
South Silver Hill Drive, Finland MN 55603
E-mail: Staff · Activist or Media
Inquiries: 218-226-4164 · Fax: 218-353-7652
Please support our work. Send
a tax-deductible donation to the OCA
Fair Use Notice: The material on this site is provided for educational and informational purposes. It may contain copyrighted material the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. It is being made available in an effort to advance the understanding of scientific, environmental, economic, social justice and human rights issues etc. It is believed that this constitutes a 'fair use' of any such copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, the material on this site is distributed without profit to those who have an interest in using the included information for research and educational purposes. If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use', you must obtain permission from the copyright owner. The information on this site does not constitute legal or technical advice.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
