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October 30, 2002

INTERNATIONAL IMMUNIZATION NEWS

"Canadian Military Checks on Potential for Mad Cow in Encephalitis Vaccine" Canadian Press (www.canpress.ca/english/hp.htm) (10/29/02); Brewster, Murray

Over 5,000 peacekeepers--mostly those who went to Bosnia during the past decade--are being traced by the Canadian military after Health Canada warned this summer that there is a very slight possibility that the tickborne encephalitis vaccine they received may carry traces of Creutzfeld-Jakob disease, the human form of mad cow disease.  The vaccine was made from European blood products and is still in use; however, the military must inform potential recipients about the risks.  Commander David Carpenter, of the Canadian military's medical branch, noted that "it is a theoretical possibility" that someone could get sick from the shots, although "it has never been shown to have happened."

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