Olaf
DIS Cast Member
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This is an old article, but it showed up in my e-mail box this morning. I know this probably doesn't affect any of you, but I though it was interesting. I lived in Europe during 1980s, and made several visits to the UK. Can't remember if I had any beef, although I'm sure I did. I know I ate some fish. Oh well.
DOD Tightens Blood Donation Rules Due to Mad Cow Disease
by Gerry J. Gilmore
American Forces Press Service
08/10/01 - WASHINGTON (AFPN) -- Defense Department officials say they believe stepped up recruiting efforts will make up for a narrowed blood donor pool caused by restrictions that begin in September because of mad cow disease concerns.
The new DOD restrictions dovetail with tightened U.S. Food and Drug and Administration donor guidelines, now in draft form, that are designed to prevent possible contamination of the U.S. blood supply by the human variant of mad cow disease, said Army Col. Mike Fitzpatrick, director of the Armed Services Blood Program.
The FDA licenses DOD's blood donation centers, he said.
The new restrictions don't signal increased danger to troops and families living in Europe, who are still considered to be at low risk from contracting the disease, Fitzpatrick said.
The European Union maintains very strict standards for blood products, he said.
"People should not be concerned about the quality of blood they might receive in Western European hospitals," Fitzpatrick said. "Remember, a blood transfusion is only performed under extremely dire circumstances. And the consequences of not receiving blood far outweigh the minor theoretical risk of acquiring the disease from the transfusion."
According to the new DOD restrictions, all personnel -- including active-duty military, civil service employees, and family members -- will be indefinitely banned from donating blood if they:
-- Traveled or resided in the United Kingdom for a cumulative total of three months or more at any time from 1980 through the end of 1996;
-- Received a blood transfusion in the United Kingdom at any time from 1980 to the present;
-- Traveled or resided anywhere in Europe for a cumulative total of six months or more at any time from 1980 through the end of 1996; and
-- Traveled or resided anywhere in Europe for a cumulative total of five years or more at any time from Jan. 1, 1997, to the present.
Mad cow disease, first identified in the United Kingdom in 1986, is a fatal, brain-wasting ailment medically known as bovine (cow) spongiform encephalopathy, said DOD veterinary officials. The disease is believed to have spread through contaminated animal feed. Fewer than 100 cases of the human form of the malady, called variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, have been reported, mostly in Britain. There is no vaccine or cure for the disease. It usually kills its victims within 18 months from the onset of symptoms.
Humans who have contracted variant CJD seem to have ingested contaminated meat, DOD veterinary officials said. However, those officials said they believe servicemembers and their families living in Europe have little risk of getting the disease by eating commissary meat products, since those products are procured outside the United Kingdom.
The Defense Department currently bans blood donations from people if they had lived in the United Kingdom between 1980 and 1996 for a cumulative total of six months or more, officials said. The new DOD blood donor rules basically mirror standards proposed by the FDA. American Red Cross rules that start in September are even stricter, barring donations from anyone who has been in Europe for more than six months from 1980 to the present.
Navy Lt. Cmdr. Rebecca Sparks, Armed Services Blood Program deputy director, estimated the changes would reduce DOD's donor pool by about 18 percent. Each year DOD collects about 130,000 pints of blood to obtain 110,000 usable blood units, she said.
"We need a vigorous donor recruitment campaign, and that is currently under way," Sparks said. "We are going to get out there and encourage our DOD donors and beneficiaries to donate so that we can make up this deficit."
Current American Association of Blood Banks rules allow people to donate blood up to five times a year, or roughly once every 10 weeks, Fitzpatrick said.
Plans are also under way to add blood recruiting and collection personnel at key military donation sites at basic training facilities at Lackland Air Force Base, Texas; Great Lakes Naval Center, north of Chicago; and Fort Jackson, S.C., Fitzpatrick said.
The military blood program would receive almost $3 million in additional funding to pay for the information program and the hiring of additional blood donor recruiters and other people, he said.
Fitzpatrick estimated replacing the blood of newly ineligible donors would cost DOD up to $8 million on the civilian market.
DOD Tightens Blood Donation Rules Due to Mad Cow Disease
by Gerry J. Gilmore
American Forces Press Service
08/10/01 - WASHINGTON (AFPN) -- Defense Department officials say they believe stepped up recruiting efforts will make up for a narrowed blood donor pool caused by restrictions that begin in September because of mad cow disease concerns.
The new DOD restrictions dovetail with tightened U.S. Food and Drug and Administration donor guidelines, now in draft form, that are designed to prevent possible contamination of the U.S. blood supply by the human variant of mad cow disease, said Army Col. Mike Fitzpatrick, director of the Armed Services Blood Program.
The FDA licenses DOD's blood donation centers, he said.
The new restrictions don't signal increased danger to troops and families living in Europe, who are still considered to be at low risk from contracting the disease, Fitzpatrick said.
The European Union maintains very strict standards for blood products, he said.
"People should not be concerned about the quality of blood they might receive in Western European hospitals," Fitzpatrick said. "Remember, a blood transfusion is only performed under extremely dire circumstances. And the consequences of not receiving blood far outweigh the minor theoretical risk of acquiring the disease from the transfusion."
According to the new DOD restrictions, all personnel -- including active-duty military, civil service employees, and family members -- will be indefinitely banned from donating blood if they:
-- Traveled or resided in the United Kingdom for a cumulative total of three months or more at any time from 1980 through the end of 1996;
-- Received a blood transfusion in the United Kingdom at any time from 1980 to the present;
-- Traveled or resided anywhere in Europe for a cumulative total of six months or more at any time from 1980 through the end of 1996; and
-- Traveled or resided anywhere in Europe for a cumulative total of five years or more at any time from Jan. 1, 1997, to the present.
Mad cow disease, first identified in the United Kingdom in 1986, is a fatal, brain-wasting ailment medically known as bovine (cow) spongiform encephalopathy, said DOD veterinary officials. The disease is believed to have spread through contaminated animal feed. Fewer than 100 cases of the human form of the malady, called variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, have been reported, mostly in Britain. There is no vaccine or cure for the disease. It usually kills its victims within 18 months from the onset of symptoms.
Humans who have contracted variant CJD seem to have ingested contaminated meat, DOD veterinary officials said. However, those officials said they believe servicemembers and their families living in Europe have little risk of getting the disease by eating commissary meat products, since those products are procured outside the United Kingdom.
The Defense Department currently bans blood donations from people if they had lived in the United Kingdom between 1980 and 1996 for a cumulative total of six months or more, officials said. The new DOD blood donor rules basically mirror standards proposed by the FDA. American Red Cross rules that start in September are even stricter, barring donations from anyone who has been in Europe for more than six months from 1980 to the present.
Navy Lt. Cmdr. Rebecca Sparks, Armed Services Blood Program deputy director, estimated the changes would reduce DOD's donor pool by about 18 percent. Each year DOD collects about 130,000 pints of blood to obtain 110,000 usable blood units, she said.
"We need a vigorous donor recruitment campaign, and that is currently under way," Sparks said. "We are going to get out there and encourage our DOD donors and beneficiaries to donate so that we can make up this deficit."
Current American Association of Blood Banks rules allow people to donate blood up to five times a year, or roughly once every 10 weeks, Fitzpatrick said.
Plans are also under way to add blood recruiting and collection personnel at key military donation sites at basic training facilities at Lackland Air Force Base, Texas; Great Lakes Naval Center, north of Chicago; and Fort Jackson, S.C., Fitzpatrick said.
The military blood program would receive almost $3 million in additional funding to pay for the information program and the hiring of additional blood donor recruiters and other people, he said.
Fitzpatrick estimated replacing the blood of newly ineligible donors would cost DOD up to $8 million on the civilian market.
