 What was the response to the revelation that as many as 37% of breast cancer cases may be attributable to exposure to bovine leukemia virus, a cancer-causing Calvirus found in the milk of nearly every dairy herd in the United States? The industry pointed out that some women without breast cancer harbored the virus, too. Indeed, the virus was also found in the tissues of 29% of women who did not have breast cancer, to which the researchers replied, yet. It can take decades before breast tumor can be picked up by mammography, so even though they're harboring this virus in their breast and feel perfectly fine, the cancer may still be on its way. That's how other cancer-causing delta retroviruses appear to work. These viruses can make proteins that interfere with our DNA repair mechanisms, infected cells are then more susceptible to carcinogens, and slowly accumulate mutations over time. Therefore, the evidence of BLV in normal breast tissues prior to malignant and pre-malignant changes would be expected, kind of like what you see with cervical cancer, in which the causative virus is not just found in the cancerous tissue, but also the pre-cancerous tissue and the normal tissue surrounding the malignant tumor. If bovine leukemia virus is really causing thousands of cases of breast cancer every year, then, hey, since it's a retrovirus, maybe some of the antiretroviral therapies, like some of the AIDS drugs, may be able to counter the virus, but best to not get infected in the first place. The cattle industry appeared more concerned about consumer confidence than consumer cancer, a public relations brouhaha. Concerned that they might actually be forced to control these diseases in dairy cattle and how the public would perceive it. What would control look like? Well, bovine leukemia virus is a blood-borne virus. Wait a second, then how is it spread? Is Bessie sharing dirty needles? Yes, blood-contaminated needles and saws and gougers, pliers, taggers, knives, and tongs that they don't disinfect between animals. So if you're gouging or sawing at their heads instead of burning, they're likely to drive blood into the next animal. Or when you're sticking your arm into herrectum for artificial insemination, it's not uncommon for rectal bleeding. And then they just go from one cow to the next. More than 20 countries have successfully eradicated bovine leukemia virus from their herds by changing their practices, whereas in the US it remains an epidemic, in part because we're not cleaning and disinfecting blood-contaminated equipment for things like supernumerary teat removal. See, extra teats detracts from the beauty of the cow, so gently pull it from the udder and cut it off with a pair of scissors. Just make sure you clean those scissors, otherwise you could be spreading bovine leukemia virus from calf to calf, and ultimately into someone's breakfast, lunch, or dinner. Of course you could just not slice off their teats at all, but then how would you improve the appearance of their udders?