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CJD fears prompt blood firm buyout
LONDON, England -- Britain has bought a U.S. blood supplier to guarantee its plasma is not contaminated with the human form of mad cow disease. In the first move of its kind, the UK has paid £49 million ($78 million) for Life Resources Incorporated, which will supply around 45 percent of blood plasma needs for the British National Health Service (NHS). A spokeswoman for the UK Department of Health told the Press Association the deal was "the most cost-effective means to make sure we have long term supplies of non-UK blood plasma." She said: "It was felt in order to make sure there was enough plasma, the best thing to do was to actually buy the company and make sure the supply continues. The decision is for the benefit of NHS patients." Britain has been using U.S.-based blood supplies since 1998 as part of efforts to reduce the risk of the spread of variant CJD (vCJD), the human form of mad cow disease (BSE). The U.S. is regarded as the only country able to supply the quantity of blood plasma needed in the NHS without the risk of vCJD. But Dr. Ian Gibson, chairman of the Commons Science and Technology Committee, told BBC Radio 4's Today programme he was "nervous" about the deal. He said: "The idea of blood being bought from some source that we don't have much control over, not knowing where it has come from and what tests have been carried out, what quality controls there are -- I am slightly nervous." There have been 117 confirmed and probable deaths from vCJD in Britain, according to government figures. But it is feared many more people could be infected with the illness because of its long incubation period. In August it was reported in the UK that the risk of the human form of BSE being transmitted through blood transfusions may be considerably higher than previously thought. (Full story) At the time the Department of Health said it was considering barring people who had previously received blood transfusions from giving blood. Around two million people in England and Wales donate blood to the National Blood Service, which needs around 10,000 units a day in order to supply hospitals carrying out transfusions. All blood given to humans already has white cells removed in a process known as leuco-depletion because they are regarded as the most likely carriers of vCJD. BSE and vCJD were first linked in the UK in 1996 despite previous denials that the cow strain of the disease could jump from species to species. A decade earlier BSE -- a disease itself similar to scrapie in sheep -- had been discovered. Experts believe BSE was created when cows were fed scrapie-infected feed and that eating infected beef is the most likely cause of contracting vCJD.
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