Harney wrong, says vCJD victim’s father

THE father of a young man struck down with variant CJD yesterday confirmed he was willing to meet Health Minister Mary Harney to voice his concerns over how the horrific disease is being tackled.

Don Simms, whose 20-year-old son Jonathan is the world’s longest recorded survivor of the human version of mad cow disease, spoke out against Ms Harney’s handling of the emergence of a new case of the degenerative brain disease.

Ms Harney last week insisted that the national blood supply was safe after it emerged a suspected vCJD carrier was allowed donate blood.

Mr Simms said Ms Harney was dangerously wrong in saying all the possible safeguards against the disease were in place and that the blood supply was safe.

“The fact is that no-one knows, there is no definite test,” the west Belfast man said. Mr Simms, who said he would be happy to take Ms Harney up on her invitation to meet, claimed there was a possible test for screening people before giving blood to check if they have the disease.

“That was derived from the animal tests that were carried out among cattle, where it was predicted 10 months in advance of clinical symptoms,” he said.

Mr Simms said if that test was to be used in human cases, experts have speculated the disease could be picked up five years in advance of symptoms.

Mr Simms stressed: “There is no risk in giving blood, you can’t get vCJD from giving blood but you can from receiving it.”

It emerged last week that a young man, who was being treated in a Dublin hospital for a probable case of vCJD, had given blood. Two people received blood from the man and one has since died from an unrelated condition.

Ms Harney said the blood supply was secure and it was always predicted that there would be a number of cases of vCJD in this country.

Mr Simms has been critical of the way the medical profession dealt with his son after they discovered the disease in 2001. “It goes further than that,” Mr Simms said. “I was extremely unhappy that anyone has ever come down with variant CJD. It was preventable.

“I am not anti-farmer but the fact is that dead animals were broken down into proteins and they were fed into cattle because the feed manufacturers said it was safe. It was unregulated.”

Mr Simms said many people may be walking around with the disease.

“The fact is the enormity of this may not be realised for many years.”

Mr Simms said his son’s condition has stabilised after two years of experimental treatment for the degenerative brain condition.