What is coming through that needle? The problem of pathogenic vaccine contamination

Townsend Letter for Doctors and Patients, Oct, 2003 by Benjamin McRearden

In recent times we are experiencing a situation never previously encountered, that being the threat of release of pathogens intended to kill or disable large numbers of people. That danger has prompted certain health agencies to prepare for possible mass vaccination of the populace. The purpose of this report is to examine the existing scientific evidence of pathogenic contaminants in vaccines. This summary, while making no claim of being a complete review of the subject, will point out sufficient examples and illustrations of contamination with bacteria, viruses, and their components, so as to enable the reader to make a more informed decision regarding accepting a vaccination (or forcing others to receive one). It is presented in a format intended for the public, their physicians, and their agency or governmental representatives, and may be freely copied in its entirety.

If you as an individual are too busy to read this brief summary in one sitting, please be aware there is ample evidence in the scientific literature that serious viruses, bacteria; or components and toxins therefrom; as well as foreign animal or cancer-related proteins and DNA are finding their way into the commercial vaccines intended for humans, pets, and agricultural animals. If you are interested in the short and long-term health of yourself and those you care about, or serve as a public servant or medical advisor, you do owe it to yourself to be informed.

In the production of viral vaccines on a commercial scale, the virus of concern must be reproduced in large quantities. Viruses cannot survive or reproduce without being introduced into cells that nourish them, which enables the viral reproductive activity. In that sense all viruses can be considered parasitic on other cells. Living cell types commonly used to reproduce viruses in the lab include monkey kidney cells, chicken embryos, as well as other animal and human cells. These cells must also be nourished with food, and are most often fed with a nutrient mix containing in large part, bovine (cow) calf serum (usually, serum extracted from fetal calf blood). This product can carry many types of bovine blood-borne viruses, and is one of the primary sources of vaccine contaminants. A journal article states, "a potential risk associated with the production and use of biological products is viral contamination. This contamination may be present in the source material, e.g. human blood, human or animal tissues, cell banks, or introduced in the manufacturing process through the use of animal sera ..." (1)

Bovine viruses

The viruses and other agents that can contaminate bovine calf serum are numerous. One of the most prominent is a pestivirus called bovine viral diarrhea virus. (2) More specifically, we see in several scientific journal sources these types of statements: "contamination of a vaccine as a consequence of infection of fetal calf serum" (3); "many batches of commercially available serum are contaminated with viruses such as BVD" [bovine viral diarrhea] (4); "virus was isolated from 332 of 1,608 (20.6%) lots of raw fetal calf serum obtained specifically for the Center and 93 of 190 (49%) lots of commercially available fetal calf serum (5); "agents most frequently detected in CCL's [continuous cell lines] have been bovine viral diarrhea virus and mycoplasma. Our laboratory has consistently found that the source of bovine viral diarrhea contamination of CCLs has been the use of contaminated fetal bovine cell culture enrichment serum" (6); and finally, "In conclusion, most commercially available bovine sera are contaminated with BVDV and, although there is no evidence that the virus is infectious, bovine sera should be screened for this virus for the development or production of vaccine." (7)

Can this virus cause infection or disease in humans? New evidence shows this is possible, as researchers have found a new strain that was isolated from human cells, and it is very closely related to the bovine strains. (8) One study finds that an alarming 75% of all laboratory cell lines examined were contaminated with pestivirus strains; of these, all of the bovine cell lines were contaminated with one of three possible BVDV strains; cell lines from other animal sources including primates, sometimes contained one of these BVDV strains. (9)

There is now heightened concern that this virus and others can cross species lines, creating new strains as they adapt to their new hosts, and this would include passage of the virus to and from humans. Whether the human strain of BVDV causes overt illness is uncertain, because physicians may be uninformed and not even be looking for this virus. It may be useful however, to compare the infection patterns in cattle. They can be persistently infected at a low level for their entire life with a non-pathogenic strain of the virus. Under these conditions, they consistently create and shed virus into the surrounding environment, which then infects other animals. The virus can nonetheless become lethal to the animal if it mutates, with the new form also causing "visible cell damage and death" in cultured conditions. (10) The animal succumbs to gradual or acute deterioration of the gastrointestinal mucous lining, which produces diarrhea and its eventual demise. However, mutated virus is not always necessary to provoke debilitating illness and death, an ordinary virus can be isolated from the cow's pancreas, adrenal glands, and pituitary glands (11); the virus has also been documented as causing serious pulmonary illness. (12) A study describes an outbreak of disease among goats due to a vaccine contaminated with a bovine pestivirus; oddly, these animals experienced reproductive failure and lesions to the central nervous system. (13) So, can these disease symptoms in varied organs and tissues also occur in humans when they carry this virus short or long-term?