Pine needles good for Bird flu - recycle those Christmas trees!

[Guest guest]

SAINT CATHARINES, Ontario -- Some Canadian tree

recyclers hope to do their part in cutting down bird

flu cases in humans.

 

The main ingredient of Tamiflu, a drug believed to

treat human bird flu cases, is shikimic acid.

Currently, a worldwide shortage of that acid has

triggered a run on Tamiflu, which is in short supply.

 

The acid traditionally comes from anise, a cooking

spice. But a recent discovery indicated that certain

trees also contain the acid.

 

As a result, Canadian tree recycler GroBark has

started processing pine, spruce and fir trees to

extract the acid from the trees' needles.

 

" We're grinding the trees first to try and break down

into finer pieces, so we can extract the needles, "

said Jim Peterson, of GroBark.

 

Once the needles get to the lab, they are dried,

pulverized and eventually chemically-extracted.

 

Brigitte Kiecken, the CEO of Biolyse Pharma Corp.,

said she worries there will not be enough Tamiflu to

go around in an emergency.

 

" We shouldn't waste any time right now to produce as

much as we can, in case there is something that

happens, " she said.

 

Swiss company Roche Pharmaceuticals owns the patent on

Tamiflu and is the world's only manufacturer.

 

Biolyse hopes to sell the shikimic acid to drug firms

in developing countries not covered by the Roche

patent. It could also be used in the United States and

elsewhere in the case of emergency.

 

" People are trying to work out contingency plans to

make sure there's a more equitable distribution. I'm

sure it will never be perfect, but without work now,

it'll certainly be chaotic later, " said Dr. William

Schaffner, of Vanderbilt University's School of

Medicine.

 

Biolyse hopes to get needles from about 500,000 trees,

which they say would make about 5 million doses of

bird flu medication.

 

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Blessings,

Doreen

 

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