Slow Transmissible Diseases of the Nervous System

Significant zoonotic diseases have appeared with increasing frequency in recent years. At a symposium held in Galveston, Texas, in March 2004, many outstanding virologists and others presented papers under the broad theme of "emergence". The intent was to elucidate the diseases themselves, the mechanisms by which they have emerged, the publication perception and response to the diseases, and the possibility of prevention or prediction. The papers in this book summarize the talks of this meeting. Among the many timely papers are those by Nobel Prize winner Peter Doherty, influenza epidemiologists Robert Webster and Jeffery Taubenberger, and important contributions by Neal Nathanson, Esteban Domingo, Barry Beaty, David Walker, James Hughes, and others of world expertise.

The term "unconventional virus" refers to virus-like agents that differ from conventional viruses in significant respects--resistance to agents that inactivate normal viruses, for example. Certain rare and fatal neurological disorders, such as the Creutzfeldt-Jacob syndrome and the Gerstmann-Straussler syndrome, are clearly produced by virus-like infectious agents, but the nature of these agents is not understood. This volume brings together the latest information on one such disease: Scrapie, a disease occurring in sheep. It discusses the nature of this infectious agent and insights gained through new techniques in molecular genetics. The work as a whole focuses on the implications of animal data for research on human disorders, such as the possible connection between unconventional viruses and Alzheimer's Disease. The discussions represent the work of specialists from a broad spectrum of fields including virology, neuropathology, and molecular biology.

Bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) has become the most publicly recognizable example of a group of fatal neurodegenerative diseases caused by proteinaceous infectious particles called prions. The contributors to this volume, all internationally recognized experts in their fields, provide an introduction to prion biology, followed by reviews of the latest information on BSE, vCJD, and chronic wasting disease, an animal prion disease that has recently emerged in North America.

In Advancing Prion Science, the Institute of Medicine's Committee on Transmissible Spongiform Encephalopathies Assessment of Relevant Science recommends priorities for research and investment to the Department of Defense's National Prion Research Program (NPRP). Transmissible spongiform encephalopathies (TSEs), also called prion diseases, are invariably fatal neurodegenerative infectious diseases that include bovine spongiform encephalopathy (commonly called mad cow disease), chronic wasting disease, scrapie, and Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease. To develop antemortem diagnostics or therapies for TSEs, the committee concludes that NPRP should invest in basic research specifically to elucidate the structural features of prions, the molecular mechanisms of prion replication, the mechanisms of TSE pathogenesis, and the physiological function of prions' normal cellular isoform. Advancing Prion Science provides the first comprehensive reference on present knowledge about all aspects of TSEs' from basic science to the U.S. research infrastructure, from diagnostics to surveillance, and from prevention to treatment. This report summarizes the progress thus far.

Received document entitled: SERVICE OF COPY OF FIRST AMENDED COMPLAINT IN FEDERAL DISTRICT COURT

Significant zoonotic diseases have appeared with increasing frequency in recent years. At a symposium held in Galveston, Texas, in March 2004, many outstanding virologists and others presented papers under the broad theme of "emergence". The intent was to elucidate the diseases themselves, the mechanisms by which they have emerged, the publication perception and response to the diseases, and the possibility of prevention or prediction. The papers in this book summarize the talks of this meeting. Among the many timely papers are those by Nobel Prize winner Peter Doherty, influenza epidemiologists Robert Webster and Jeffery Taubenberger, and important contributions by Neal Nathanson, Esteban Domingo, Barry Beaty, David Walker, James Hughes, and others of world expertise.