I certainly hope this is a hoax. Found it over at Rense's...

Mad Dog Disease

The supposed CIA documents also are alarming, as one seems to imply that the outbreak is related to a possible release of a human engineered biological agent...

Sounds like a setup for a new sci-fi book or movie, sort of a Blair Witch Project thingy... sure hope it is.

-- Anonymous, April 19, 2001

Answers

Carl, I think the document is a hoax, but the problem in dogs may be real.

-- Anonymous, April 19, 2001

I'm with you, Brooks. Both titles typed on the bottom of the letter are misspelled: "epedemiological" instead of "epidemiological." Those misspellings are a dead give-away. I've heard something about this and will see if I can find something in ET.

-- Anonymous, April 19, 2001

ET April 97

Tests on labrador could prove BSE has spread to dogs
By Roger Highfield, Science Editor

BRAIN sections from a dog have been sent to Britain by Norwegian pathologists to confirm that it is the first example of canine spongiform disease, akin to BSE.

The move came as Labour accused the Government of excessive secrecy for not publishing results of a 1991 study to investigate the possibility of BSE being transferred to dogs.

The 11-year-old labrador suffered nervous symptoms, lack of muscle co-ordination and seizures. A post mortem examination showed that its brain had a spongiform appearance, said Prof Jon Teige, a pathologist at the Norwegian College of Veterinary Medicine in Oslo.

"To our surprise, we saw these lesions in the brain similar to those observed in scrapie in sheep and mad cow disease," said Prof Teige. If confirmed, it would mark the first example of the disease in a dog.

Samples have had been sent to the Institute of Animal Health's neuropathogenesis unit in Edinburgh for a second opinion. "Although there are some features of the pathology in common with spongiform encephalopathies, a number of other conditions have similar aspects," said Dr Chris Bostock, of the institute.

If confirmed, it is also important to determine if it is the spontaneous form of BSE or if the dog had been infected in its diet and had a transmissible disease. About 95 per cent of Norway's dog and cat food is imported, mainly from Britain. Parts of bovine material, which could contain BSE, were removed from the animal food chain in 1990.

Scientists are interested in whether dogs are susceptible but confirmation would not change the big picture of BSE, Dr Bostock said. Dr Gavin Strang, shadow food minister, yesterday accused Douglas Hogg, the Agriculture Minister, of secrecy over BSE research. "This work on possible BSE in dogs was funded by the public," he said. "Results should have been made public."

The Government ruled out further research on dogs yesterday despite disclosures in a report six years ago that there was a possibility that they could catch a form of mad cow disease from contaminated food. "It is unnecessary," said a spokesman. "There is no threat to human or animal health."

Tests six years ago by ministry experts on the brains of 444 hunting hounds found some abnormalities called fibrils. However, some brains had started to degenerate, making the results ambiguous.

The results were passed to the Spongiform Encephalopathy Advisory Committee, which agreed that they were inconclusive and ruled out further research because there was no public health issue. "We don't eat dogs in Britain," the spokesman said.

Mr Hogg said that the research on dogs and BSE "adds nothing to human knowledge" during a tour of the North-East which included a visit to a sausage factory in marginal Stockton South.

-- Anonymous, April 19, 2001

Sharp eye Git... the spelled it right on top, but screwed it up in the signature titles.

-- Anonymous, April 19, 2001

Sightings is now calling it a hoax, but because the CIA letterhead had the wrong state listed....

-- Anonymous, April 19, 2001

OG - Nice find. I have been a bit suspicious of animal feeds including dog food. Many of the ingredients include renderings for the protein content. This would seem to be an easy disease vector for Prions. Just a thought with no hard data.

-- Anonymous, April 19, 2001

My newly adopted dog must have it. What was she thinking to let another dog give her 9 puppies!

;)

Seriously, this is something that should concern us all. Cause one way or another, it'll cross over into the human animal if we aren't careful. We'll get it from the meat we eat that was fed meat that was fed meat that was fed chicken droppings.

-- Anonymous, April 19, 2001

As far as this particular document, Borogrove has posted a slew of reasons (like the misspellings) (did I spell that right?) on the other boards. My own intuition comes from an extensive familiarity with FOIA (freedom of information act) documents, and the way this document has been redacted doesn't look legit.

OTOH, plenty of reports of a BSE-type disease being discovered, and more importantly, produced in a whole variety of other species.

-- Anonymous, April 20, 2001

Sheeple, I think the problemo in your household is Mad Owner Disease.

-- Anonymous, April 20, 2001