http://www.cfids.org/xmrv/default.asp
XMRV is only the third human retrovirus yet discovered and was first discovered in prostate cancer tissue in 2006. Then in October of 2009 it was linked to CFS by the National Cancer Institute, Cleveland Clinic and WPI (Whittemore Peterson Institute) in a published study and apparently also linked to breast cancer in as yet unpublished studies at the University of Utah.
The lead WPI researcher, Dr. Judy Mikovits, has been quoted as saying:
January 2010 (can't find exact link)
“We very much expect that some of the breast cancer incidence — we hypothesize that inflammatory breast cancer a lot like what we saw with the inflammatory prostate — but yes, it is a very real hypothesis because the incidence of breast cancer in young women that you’ve never used to see before, is rising at levels that suggest something environmental, and not necessarily genetic.”
This is what Mikovits said supposedly at the same time per this link:
http://www.prohealth.com/library/showarticle.cfm?libid=15139
• The good news is, XMRV is the first simple human infectious retrovirus known – much simpler than HIV and apparently less changeable.
• All three known human retroviruses (HIV, HTLV, XMRV) are infectious, are associated with neurological diseases and cancer, increase susceptibility to opportunistic infections, and are not airborne like “contagious” diseases.
• Both HIV & HTLV have variants, some less pathogenic or with different profiles, so XMRV may well have variants also. Also geographic distribution might vary a lot. HTLV for example is common only in certain parts of the world.
• If you think you might be infected, follow the HIV precautions. Don’t donate blood or tissues, don’t share razors or toothbrushes to avoid blood transmission, use safe sexual techniques, and don’t breastfeed after six weeks when the maternal antibodies go away.
Thanks for the enlightening info.
I’ll add that to my store house of sometimes useful knowledge.