Oz wrote:
...
tissue transplantation is on a different scale from organ transplantation,
and so any virus or prion disease may be transferred in a greater dose in
a whole organ transplant.

So? The trick is to get them virus-free in the first place.

Mind you, you should be a LOT more worried about transplants from
humans. These people have not been carefully bred, maintained in a
disease-free environment and regularly checked, but are known to carry a
host of human diseases.


The patient with the transplant is the only ones that suffers
or dies when transplanted with a sick human organ.
In the case of animal transplantation into humans, a few pigs are
multiplied in an industrial setting to suit thousands of patients.
The risks grow exponentially.


Xenotransplantation of live tissue is clearly a high risk area which needs
careful consideration. Some eminent virologists remain to be convinced of its
safety. Robin Weiss of the Institute of Cancer Research, London, issues a note
of caution when he states that "the ethical and technical problems of
maintaining vigilance over Xenotransplantation should not be underestimated."
...

Of course the same applies to human-human transplantation but more so.
It IS being carried out, isn't it?

Don;t even THINK about 100 years of blood transfusions ....

If it had been possible to produce human blood in pigs, say 20 years
ago, think about the additional damage that a then unknown HIV virus
would have caused to humanity.


--
Oz
This post is worth absolutely nothing and is probably fallacious.
Note: soon (maybe already) only posts via despammed.com will be accepted.