February 7, 2007

Cow milk can have prion protein
 

Fears that cows with BSE could pass on the disease to humans via proteins in their milk have gained more credence from a new study, which has encouraged stricter analysis of dairy products.

Scientists at a Swiss biotech firm, Alicon detected prion proteins in the milk of cows, humans, sheep and goats, for the first time.

Their study would help us understand whether the prion proteins responsible for BSE are also present in the cow's milk.

Prions were recently found in both pasteurised and homogenised milk on supermarket shelves, using new analytical equipment from Alicon, but it remained unclear whether those detected were harmful.

The Alicon team pointed out that the mere presence of normal prions opens the possibility that disease-carrying prions would also be present in milk from an infected cow.

Scientists have now been conducting tests to identify prions in milk.

Incidentally, milk is the only product available for public consumption that is derived from BSE-susceptible animals over 30 months of age.