Plague: One Scientist’s Intrepid Search for the Truth about Human Retroviruses and Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (ME/CFS), Autism, and Other Diseases Reprint Edition

December 7, 2014

A Book Review of "Plague" by Kent Heckenlively and Judy Mikovits

By Russell Dobkins

This is a "Great Book"! I have read many "Great Books", including "Our Stolen Future" by Dr. Theo Colburn, "Silent Spring" by Rachael Carson, "Pandora's Poison" by Joe Thornton, "Radioactive Heaven and Earth" by IPPNW, "Nutrition and Physical Degeneration" by Dr. Weston Price, "The China Study"by Campbell, "Not On The Label" by Lawrence, "Harvest of Empire" by Juan Gonzalez, "Hypothyroidism, The Unsuspected Illness" by Dr. Broda Barnes, "The Death of Money" by James Rickards. "Plague", by Judy Mikovits, PHD and Kent Heckenlively, fits in this list of important books. They all shed light on what is going on. I studied Chemistry and Biology in College. All the things I have studied, Human Anatomy and Physiology, Microbiology, Genetics, Cell Biology, Toxicology, Immunology, Neurobiology, Organic Chemistry, Bio-Chemistry, Neurobiology, Pharmacology, Human Health and Nutrition, Genetics, Developmental Biology, Infectious Diseases, and Virology, have put me in a position to really appreciate the work Judy Mikovits has done. That she could write it, after all the horrible, illegal, dishonest, and so very stressful things that people in power, did to her, just because she was honest about revealing the truth of what she was finding, is astounding!

The Foreward; "A Disease Able to Affect the Economies of Nations", by Hillary Johnson, says it well. Dr. Mikovits found, using rigorous scientific method, first class and up to date, state of the art, laboratory techniques, a new man-made virus. She identified and characterized the virus using many different techniques, including genetic analysis, antibody tests, chemical analysis, and even got a picture of the virus budding out of an infected cell. She found this new virus in the blood of patients with Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, and children with Autism. She and other scientists found this virus in the blood of the "Well" Human population, and estimated that between 10-25 million Americans are presently infected with it. What is this virus? She calls it "XMRV like Virus". What does that mean? X stands for Xenotropic. That means "manmade and living". M stands for Murine Leukemia Virus, as it is found in mice, both wild mice and laboratory mice, of the kind that are used to make human vaccines and do virology experiments with. R stands for "Retrovirus" which is the family of viruses that HIV is one of. V stands for virus. Now, here's the important thing in her description, "XMRV-like Virus". The important thing to understand about retroviruses is that they mutate and change rapidly. Retroviruses invade the DNA of living cells, insert themselves into it, change it, and take over the controls of what the cell makes. Then they use the cell DNA/RNA to make more of themselves, using all the resources of the cell, which kills the cell, then they burst out of the cell, multiplied to spread through the host's body, via the bloodstream, and infect more cells in various tissues. When the XMRV-like virus gets into a new host, like a human or a monkey, it can be found in the blood, for a while. Then it disappears from the blood, by invading some tissues, like white blood cells, goes latent, and waits until the cells in that tissue start dividing, to wake up and grow. What can wake up such a latent virus hiding in a white blood cell? Mikovits describes how a stimulation to the immune system, from a vaccination will do it! Other infectious antigens, like a viral infection would also stimulate white blood cells to multiply, and wake a latent virus. Could this explain Autism suddenly appearing in children after a vaccination? Could the virus be latent in their white blood cells, then it gets turned on, by a vaccine, and replicates, and then infects the nervous system, and other body parts? Judy Mikovits documents how this happens in monkeys. Could it happen in Humans, too? I don't see why not.

It is known that there are certain parts of the body, that certain viruses, have an affinity for. The Mouse Leukemia Virus, MLV infects the white blood cells of mice, the "leukocytes", and causes them to replicate out of control, causing a cancer called "Leukemia". HIV has an affinity for White Blood Cells, too, the Helper T-Cells. Helper T-Cells are the go-getters of our immune system. They are active in destroying invading organisms, bacteria, viruses, parasites, and even cancerous cells, anything that sets off the alarm, that "this is not us", Helper T-cells destroy , and call in more immune cells to fight it. AIDS is caused when HIV invades and destroys the Helper T-Cells. Without Helper T-cells, a person can't fight off invading organisms and AIDS victims get all kinds of infections and rare cancers. Now, this new XMRV-like virus, is a strain of mutant viruses, that are like MRV, but because they are mutating with each replication, they are changing into a swarm of viruses, each different and changing, all the time. So, it is not one species of virus, it is many, closely related, but continually morphing, viruses. Dr. Mikovits found that the XMRV invades and kills another kind of white blood cell, the "Suppressor T-cells". They are also called "Regulatory T-cells". That is because they regulate and balance the immune system. Without the Suppressor T-cells, to stop the immune attack when the invaders are finished off, the other immune cells keep attacking and secreting messenger chemicals called cytokines and chemokines, which call in more white blood cells, macrophages, killer T-cells, and the immune attack continues and grows, along with inflammation. The Suppressor T-cells are needed to stop the attack when the war is over, when the is invader destroyed! Without the Suppressor T-cells the "attack" side of the immune system goes wild and destroys "Self" as well as "not self invaders". This is called a "Cytokine Storm", and also called "immune dysregulation". This is one of the most damaging parts of XMRV infection. It is also called an autoimmune attack. Mikovits hit on the possibility of Autoimmune Thyroiditis being caused by such an attack. It would be logical to look for XMRV in biopsied thyroid tissue in patients with Autoimmune Thyroiditis. Perhaps, MS and other autoimmune diseases like Rheumatiod Arthritis might be caused by such a virus?

Now, here's the really scarey part. Xenotropic, means man-made and living? How could that happen? Well, it turns out that to make vaccine, a human virus like polio is injected into a mouse, then infected tissue or blood is removed from the infected mouse, then that is injected into more mice, many times, and then into a monkey. Then if the monkey doesn't die, and antibodies are made to the original human virus, then that's a possible vaccine. Next they test it on Human subjects. But, what if the vaccine has something in it that is alive, unsuspected, unseen, unknown, unidentified, new, man-made, a hybrid virus? What if some vaccines have been contaminated with this XMRV-like virus? What if this happened back in the 1980"s when the disease described as ME/CFS first appeared in the Lake Tahoe area? What if this XMRV-like virus got into the MMR vaccine or others, back in the 80's? What if it is spreading in the population, through contact with saliva, bodily fluids, blood transfusions, could it be airborne? These are the possibilities that Judy Mikovits realized, and brings up in her book. This is important! Her book reads like a murder mystery, following the clues, examining the evidence, following all the leads, piecing together the picture, slowly, using modern laboratory techniques. It's really good scientific reading!

The family of Retroviruses are all related. It would be quite easy for a Human retrovirus like HIV, injected into a mouse, to combine with a mouse retrovirus MRV, to form a hybrid Human/mouse retrovirus, that would live, reproduce, and be contagious. It could spread to other human and mouse tissue cultures in the laboratory, as Dr. Mikovits documented that XMRV does. Could this new "Xenotropic" virus infect man, and spread. Has it already? That would be very serious! Dr. Mikovits realized it. She showed how it spreads, raised the alarm, described the tissues so infected, along with the methods of transmission, and characterized the symptoms of the disease it causes, ME/CFS and Autism. This is a Big Deal!

So why did the CDC try to deny, discredit, and cover up her work? What do they do at the Center for Disease Control? They send people around the world to find infectious diseases, collect specimens of the causative agents, like H1N1, SARS, HIV, and bring them back to the CDC labs, alive. Then they culture them. That is grow them, so they can study them and make vaccines from them. What if something got away from them? It has happened before. Remember Reston virus, "The Hot Zone"? Well, back in the 1980's the technology to identify such viruses was not so advanced as it is today. They didn't have genomic sequencing and PCR. Viruses and Micoplasma cannot be seen with a light microscope. They are too small. Viruses and Micoplasma cannot be filtered out of blood, plasma and vaccine, with the filters they had back then, and only barely with the new technology we have today. So, what if something they made, but couldn't see, while trying to make vaccines, like XMRV, escaped the laboratory, or Heaven forbid, got into the vaccines, and was vaccinated into millions of American children? Could it be possible? I think an investigation is warranted. Since, the CDC is trying to hide what Dr. Mikovits found, then we cannot depend on the CDC to conduct an investigation. It might lead to a HUGE problem, lawsuits, civil and perhaps criminal. I mean, if you knew that something you gave the public, to vaccinate the children was contaminated, and people were injured, like with Autism, and ME/CFS, well.... Class action Law suits would come forth. The CDC just makes the vaccine starter material. The big Pharma companies make the actual vaccines. Who's liable here? It depends on who knew what. Was someone negligent? Who can you trust? What can you trust? Doctors? The CDC? Vaccines?

Or, in another more sinister vein, did something escape from a US military "Germ Warfare" lab? The US military has experimented on uninformed American citizens, before. Or could it have come from somewhere else? This is possible. It would be so easy to make such a hybrid virus. Any good bio-chemistry lab could do it.

Whatever, the cause, we still have a Huge problem. Millions of people in America and world wide, are infected with a new man-made virus. Autism is striking one in fifty children in the US, now. Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome still has no treatment or cure. I know people who have it. They suffer terribly. Neither does Autism have a cure or treatment.

So where do we go from here? If enough people read this book, and give it to their doctors, and give it to University Professors, and talk about it with their friends and family, and write letters to the editors, and write book reviews, and post on facebook, and go on talk shows, and write and call your senators and congressmen, the story will get out. Call for an investigation! If a class action lawsuit were to come forward, a sharp legal team could subpoena all the files of virus research and vaccine programs done at the CDC during the 1980'-90's. Then, hire Dr. Mikovits to put together a World-Class research team to look over the research files. She knows what she is doing! Get access to the stored cultures both viral and tissue, frozen, at the CDC, and use modern techniques to look for the XMRV-like virus in the vaccines and viral cultures. They keep all this stuff frozen, so it is still there, and alive. Subpoena the emails and internal documents at the CDC. Follow the leads. There may be other federal agencies involved? Perhaps the pharmaceutical companies will be found to be complicit? I can tell you one thing, if this story gets out, people won't be getting their children vaccinated, or taking the flu shot. Until this all gets investigated and the Truth comes out nobody will trust the government, the doctors, or the big drug companies. The big pharma companies will lose tons of money! They'll fight it, dirty tricks and all. Congressmen and Senators will get lots of campaign contributions. It could get ugly. People could get hurt. Look what happened to Dr. Judy Mikovits. Without an arrest warrant, she was taken from her home, unlawfully imprisoned, and without a search warrant, her personal property was seized, i.e. all the files of her research, and her computers. She was imprisoned with no charges. Then she was sued, while being held in in jail, in another state, illegally, and because she couldn't show up at the out of state court, which was presided over by a Judge Adams, in Reno, Nevada, who was bribed by a $10,000 campaign contribution by Harvey Whitmore, and who was awarded a multimillion dollar default judgment against Mikovits! I'm not making this stuff up. She documents it in her book. This gal has balls! She stood up to the scoundrels! Bravo!

Harvery Whitmore, a high rolling Nevada developer and political wheeler/dealer, who sued Mikovits, and had her illegally arrested, seized her files and computers, and who also bribed the Judge Adams, with $10,000, was later convicted of making illegal campaign contributions to the Democratic Majority leader, Harry Reid, of Nevada, and was sentenced to two years in jail. Criminal charges were dropped against Mikovits when the facts of the case became clear to the Nevada District Attorney. But, the legal expenses Mikovits incurred trying to fight off Whitmore, left her financially bankrupt!

That Judy Mikovits was able to continue her work, give talks internationally, prepare her lectures to the other Public Health Professionals at the NIH, CDC, FDA, and write this book, is a testimony to her determination, strength of character, perseverance, and dedication to this very important work. I commend her compassion and her die-hard persistence in helping the people afflicted with this devastating XMRV-like virus in the ME/CFS and Autism communities!

I think her lawyers could and should sue the people who perpetrated a well documented injustice on her, and we should help her financially to do so! Some of us believe in Truth and Justice. However, as she documents in her book, the judges and politicians in Nevada are, well shall I say, "they can be influenced by money".

As a Health Care Professional and an Educator I think Dr. Judy Mikovits' book "Plague" should be required reading for all upper level Biology students, Health Sciences Majors, and Medical School students. All Health Care Professionals should read this book. It will help you protect yourself, your family, and your patients.

As I have been studying the molecular biology of viruses, and what can be done to treat such infections, I will leave you with some practical things you can do to prevent or recover from viral infections. One of the important things I have learned is that the amino-acid L-Lysine stops the growth of viruses. Makers of virus culture media are careful to not get L-Lysine in it because it is well known that L-Lysine inhibits the growth of viruses. The dosage of L-lysine needed to stop a viral infection is 1000mg, three times a day, with meals. Do not be afraid to use more or less as needed. L-lysine is effective against H1N1, and Herpes simplex. It should be effective against other viral infections, as well. L-lysine is an essential amino acid. It makes collagen, and is required to make connective tissue. A dosage of 3000 mg/day is not high. It also relieves anxiety, and improves mood and cognitive function. Athletes like it because it helps build connective tissue like muscle, cartilage, bone, ligaments, and tendons. It also makes more red and white blood cells. It makes you stronger! It is also needed to make the elastin in arteries and skin. Animals fed L-lysine grow more muscle tissue and are less susceptible to infections. It is safe and effective.

Next, Oregano oil is antiviral, both taken internally, and used externally. It is effective against Human papillomavirus, found in plantar warts and other warts. Oregano oil can be applied to a band-aid and put on plantar warts and other warts, daily, for some weeks until the wart disappears. Human papilloma virus is causing a new epidemic of oral cancer and warts, as well as genital warts. Oregano oil is strong, it works, and it tastes good in juice and tea!

Next, Resveratrol cream has been found to be as effective as 5% acyclovir cream on Herpes outbreaks. I expect it to be effective on papilloma viruses, too.

You should also know that sugar can disable our mannose binding lectins. They are our first line of defense against viral invaders. Animals and some plants make mannose binding lectins, which bind to the sugar molecules on the surface of invading micro-organisms, and if you have lots of sugar in your bloodstream, the sugar binds to and disables your mannose binding lectins. Avoid sugar like the plague, and don't give it to a sick patient, IV or otherwise. Sucrose or glucose is always added to viral culture medium to grow viruses. Sugar feeds the virus! Avoid sugar in your diet! Sugar also causes cancers to grow. Maybe that is because often a virus is in the tumor, causing the cancer. XMRV was first found in Human prostate cancer cells!

Another good antiviral herb is Andrographis paniculata. It has been used in India and China for thousands of years, and is strongly antiviral. It also helps to alleviate the inflammation in the "Cytokine Storm" which is so devastating to virus infected patients.

There is a book I recommend, "Herbal Antivirals, Natural Remedies for Emerging and Resistant Viral Infections", by Stephen Buhner. Plants have been developing chemicals to fight off invading organisms like viruses, bacteria, and fungi, for millions of years. We can use such plant medicines to heal humans and animals. It works! This book describes how viruses infect humans, how to strengthen the immune system, and has treatment protocols using the most potent natural antiviral herbs. Buhner is quite advanced in his understanding of virology and plant chemistry. I highly recommend it for health care professionals and the general public. There are not many drugs that are effective against viruses. But, there are many herbs that are. Most medicines were first discovered in plants. One such antiviral plant which Dr. James Duke, in his book "The Green Pharmacy", recommends, is Lemon Balm, Melissa officinalis. It is in the mint family, along with Oregano. It tastes delicious, and as all the mints do, has strong antiviral constituents. You can drink it in tea, take it in capsules, or tincture the leaves and stems, and take the extract.

Another thing that is important is to have a diet rich in the nutrient minerals zinc, copper, and manganese. These minerals are needed for proper immune system function. A deficiency weakens the immune system and predisposes one to infections.

Lastly, I recommend you research the things I have recommended. Use the internet, look up L-lysine on Wikipedia. Do a key word search on Andrographis paniculata, and oregano, and how vaccines are made. Follow the clues. Ask your questions, and search for the answers. Guide your own education, by what you need to know. Use the vast resources we now have available with the internet. Most good medical schools now have all their classes, lectures, and labs, online, for free, for anyone who wants to learn how to do something. Check it out.

I hope this helps. RD

I have waited for this book for well over a year, I read it in three days as I couldn't put it down! So many need to thank Judy Mikovits, PhD, for risking her carrer to fight as a scientst should, the fight to tell the truth. The ME/CF Community as well as other chronic illnesses owe a lot, to this Scientist. Judy was a twenty year veteran of the National Cancer Institute. She came up with a Retrovirus, not HIV but like HIV in that they are both retroviruses. The Scientific Community did not want to continue the research that would prove or disprove Dr. Mikovits findings. The CDC probably comes up highest on the list of those who have trashed the victims of those suffering from this disease. As a person who has been active in the ME/CF, Lyme community and other Diseases that affect the Neuro- Endocrine System, I applaud her sacrifice in doing her best to get the Scientific Community to listen As someone who watched what the HIV community went through in the early 80's. This was like de'ja'vu quest for an answer but we were dealing with ME/CF and a 21 Century search. The ME/CFCluster outbreaks were first noticed by the public and press in the early eighty's in Incline Village, Nevada. Other Scientist seemed to ignore the pain and suffering of many people who had lead healthy lives until they were sidelined by what many felt was a virus but not enough funds were going into the search for an answer. The book explores Autism and what may very well be the beginning of this disorder; For anyone wanting to learn how science can work for us or against us, this is a must read; for those suffering from a Chronic difficult to diagnose and treat disease this is a must read. I highly recomment this book!!! Carol Fisch, Retired Microbiology & Stealth Pathogen Research Background.

Not enough people are questioning the current pandemic of emerging degenerative disease. What is causing such an influx of autoimmune disease, different cancers, Autism, Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, ALS, Lupus, Fibromyalgia, Parkinson’s, thyroid problems, Multiple Sclerosis, allergies…etc.? When I was a child in the 50s, it was a rare person who was afflicted with allergies or a chronic illness. Now these diseases are commonplace and it’s almost as if they are being accepted as normal! Well….. this far-reaching plague of chronic illness is far from normal and we had better figure out the causes before the human race becomes extinct. This may not be an exaggeration. Here is a quote from Hillary Johnson who wrote Osler’s Web and the forward to “Plague”. “Any collective memory of just how suddenly and aggressively this disease (Chronic Fatigue Syndrome or CFS) emerged in the late 1970s and early 1980s, especially in large coastal cities like new York, Boston, Los Angeles, and San Francisco, recedes with each passing year. Anyone born after, say 1985 or 1990 will be unable to recall a period in their own lives when this scourge was virtually unknown.”

Diet plays a definite role in determining our health. Chemicals in the environment also factor into the equation….. and…. let’s not forget about genetically modified foods. However, the one main area that is basically being overlooked is the role that microbes are playing in the world’s fast deteriorating health. Our medical system does not focus on prevention or cures (despite the claim of all disease charities). Do you know of ANY disease charity that has found a cure for “their” disease? I haven’t come across any. Finding and treating causes of disease is not in the best interest of the medical system. The medical industry profits from chronic illness, not in curing it. This is why we only have drugs that treat the symptoms of disease while the real causes progress under the surface.

The new book “Plague” by Kent Heckenlively and Judy Mikovits may hold some of the answers to these crucial issues. Dr. Judy Mikovits was a respected and prominent molecular biologist who began her career researching cancer. As her research evolved, Mikovits discovered a retrovirus, named XMRV (xenotropic murine leukemia related virus), in much of the chronic illness population. XMRV has also been widely found in prostate cancer. This is a startling and important discovery. You would think there would be much discussion and research taking place so that a cure for these chronic illnesses could be found and implemented. Instead Dr. Mikovits’s research has been minimized, discredited and basically buried.

The basic theme of the book “Plague” centers on Judy’s discovery, her work with the chronic illness population, her job at the Whittemore Peterson Institute, her undeserved dismissal and arrest…and the discrediting of her important work. Money, power and vested interests appear to have fueled these actions against Mikovits. People whom she trusted turned against her. However, Mikovits will not be silenced, which is why she and Kent wrote this groundbreaking book. More and more people will be standing beside her as they realize the criminal activity taking place within our government health agencies, which are covertly funded by the drug companies.

The main argument of the scientific community…which formed the basis for the discrediting of Mikovits’s work, was that other scientists could not replicate her work and therefore it was falsely determined that her findings of XMRV in much of the chronic illness population, was due to lab contamination. However, one of the reasons scientists could not duplicate Mikovits’s findings was because they did not follow her protocols. Was this intentional? Mikovits also wrote a paper detailing the reasons why her XMRV findings were not due to lab contamination.

I was particularly interested in one of Mikovits’s research discoveries. Here is a quote from page 172 and 173, which shares this discovery. “ It’s a simple retrovirus, which means its expression, the on and off switch, is controlled by just –-- and we’ve learned this --- it’s unpublished data, by just three things. The response to hormones and the response to inflammatory cytokines. It’s called NF Kappa B element. Cortisol, which is the stress hormone, turns on the virus very rapidly, and continues to have it expressed. So do inflammatory events as caused by other pathogens. And so do hormones like androgens and progesterone, which also make sense with regard to prostate cancer.” I found it extremely interesting that CFS Patients and Lyme disease patients (who also harbor the XMRV virus) often become weaker and sicker when exposed to stress (which releases cortisol, which turns on the virus). The stress can be exercise, concentrated thinking, change in temperature, etc. This may be proof that CFS and “Chronic Lyme Disease” are not just a result of a “weak or malingering personality”, as some so-called experts on CFS profess.

Kent Heckenlively does a superb job of weaving together the many important elements in Mikovits’s riveting story of her suppressed efforts to share her important research findings concerning XMRV. Mikovits is calling for more honesty and openness in the scientific research community. How can we progress in finding causes of the rapidly increasing number of illnesses if only profitable research is allowed? Do we need to privately fund researchers to make sure we can investigate root causes instead of just looking for ways to come up with partial or false causes where only symptomatic treatments are offered? Here are some of the issues that need addressing with further research.

1. How is XMRV transmitted?
2. More real research is needed into what turns XMRV on
3. Is XMRV a main cause of our emerging degenerative diseases, could it work in collaboration with other bacteria and viruses, and/or is one of its main functions to turn off the immune system?

Until scientists are funded for looking into real root causes of disease, we are going to continue to experience a huge increase in disability and mortality. This book needs to be widely read to increase awareness and interest in the XMRV virus. “Plague” contains some technical information which I feel is necessary in order to get across the seriousness of this issue…. but it does not affect the readability for the average person. This book contains all the elements of suspense, corruption, betrayal, fearlessness, and is a definite page-turner. Let’s all come together to support Judy Mikovits in her quest for honesty and openness in scientific research. All of our lives depend on science being implemented for real human progress instead of only for profit. This admonition also holds true for the very people who are complicit in medical corruption. We are ALL affected.