News from WPI symposium: Name change to be proposed for XMRV

Hi, all.

I just received the following message from Dr. Joe Burrascano. I checked with him, and he responded that this information can be made public. I don't have any additional information about this, so won't be able to answer questions, but it sounds like a major development, and I think people here will want to know about it.

Best regards,

Rich



Hello all from Dr. B.
I just returned from the first official scientific symposium of the Whittemore-Peterson Institute on the topic of XMRV.
We formed a working group to be in constant touch and we plan to meet regularly because advances are coming so rapidly.
Big news that everyone should know and adopt is that we have proposed a name change for the virus.
This virus is a human, not mouse virus, and it is the first and so far only gamma-retrovirus known to infect people. Also, it is clearly not an "endogenous" retrovirus (one that is present in all genomes due to ancient infection).
Because of all of this, and because of the desire to begin on the right track, the new name of the virus is HGRV- Human Gamma Retro Virus. The illness caused by this infection is named HGRAD- Human Gamma Retrovirus Associated Disease.
We plan to announce this at the upcoming NIH retroviral conference this September.
Definitely stay tuned- the volume of new and important information about this virus and its disease associations is increasing rapidly and in my opinion should be a concern to every patient with chronic neuro-immune diseases, including those with chronic Lyme.

Joseph J. Burrascano Jr. M.D.
Water Mill, NY, USA

Interesting! Thanks, Rich.

WOW! Thanks, Rich.

First reaction: WOW!!!!!!!!

Second reaction: How in blazes are you supposed to pronounce "HGRAD"?

Thanks for the top-off. My only question is what to we call the second human gamma retrovirus/disease? Does seem a bit too general...

Hagrid!! (Harry Potter character)

Oh my lord. Otis bite your tongue. Hagrid?????

Third reaction: HE SAID "THE ILLNESS CAUSED BY THIS INFECTION."

not "the illness strongly associated with the presence of this retrovirus but causation not proven" ---

"THE ILLNESS CAUSED BY THIS INFECTION"

I'm sorry, I don't know who Dr. Burrascano is. Is he a wholly reliable source??

I would say, "H" "GRAD" ( 2 syllables, same "a" sound as in graduate)

I must second this.

Brown-eyed Girl - I would say it H GRAD too.

I was thinking H-grad (like college 'grad'), but Hagrid would be much more fun to say.

But then we go from the despised f word to a warm fuzzy kooky character, so I don't know about that Otis.

But you did make me smile on a bad day, so thanks!

Exciting news, thanks for sharing Rich!

Shelley

Which illness? ME or prostate cancer or ....?

See, I don't think that means prostate cancer!!!

Rich, can you confirm with the source that he means ME/CFS (or at least when associated with the retrovirus?)

Hey Joey...thanks for the confirmation on HGRV/HGRAD. Do you have a source for the PNAS paper being publishd 8/23? Thanks!

HGRAD what happens when they find a second one which im sure they will down the line . hmm think i prefer xmrv to be honest can you imagine telling folk you had HGRAD,

it doesnt roll off the toungue does it . Id rather have mikovits nuero immune disease thankyou very much that way it distinguishes from the link with prostate cancer

With Dr. B sounding so excited, it really seems that he thinks lyme is closely related to, or caused by, this HGRAD illness.

I know I am stating the obvious, but that is big big big big news.

If this fight can include CFS and Lyme patients in ONE effort, we just doubled our army.

My source said things reported here and also Aug 23rd for paper.

Well, I'll admit I do look a bit HaGRAD today. (grins)

Thanks for confirming Mentalist. Sorry Rebecca, my source requests anonymity.

i can't believe how freaking excited i am right now!

I haven't even got my own source.