ME, or chronic fatigue syndrome, 'not caused by the XMRV virus', say researchers

The virus is thought to derive from mice

US scientists linked the condition, also known as ME, to a mouse-like virus in 2009 after finding it in blood samples.

Now, UK experts say the discovery was a "false positive", caused by cross contamination in the lab.

The illness may still be caused by a virus, they say, but not the one at the centre of recent controversy.

"Our conclusion is quite simple: XMRV is not the cause of chronic fatigue syndrome," said Professor Greg Towers, a Wellcome Trust senior research fellow at University College, London, who led the research.

"It is vital to understand that we are not saying chronic fatigue syndrome does not have a virus cause - we cannot answer that yet - but we know it is not this virus causing it."

Mouse DNA

XMRV (xenotropic murine leukemia virus-related virus) is a virus found in mouse DNA.

It was discovered in 2006, and was later found in samples from some patients with prostate cancer and chronic fatigue syndrome.

This lead to suggestions that the virus might be the cause of these conditions .......................................................................

Read the article in full at http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-12041687

By Helen Briggs, Health Reporter