This Wednesday, Jan. 3, would have been the 88th birthday of Dr. Alson Sears, who discovered how to use Newcastle Disease Vaccine to save dogs from canine distemper.
Dr. Sears wanted nothing more in life than to stop canine distemper. Although he lived to see a lot of progress made against this disease, he did not get to see his discovery of NDV serum tested in the early stages of the disease and published in a scientific, peer reviewed journal.
But we could still see that goal reached. We ask that anyone who had been helped by Dr. Sears and his treatments — or anyone who admired the man — to donate any amount, to honor his birthday and his life.
The money raised will be collected by Kind Hearts In Action and will
be put towards a new foundation in Dr. Sears’ name, which we hope will
someday defeat canine distemper.
In the meantime, we are also running a special promotion on the book, which will be available until Jan 7, 2024.
Thank you,
Ed Bond project director for Save Dogs From Distemper Kind Hearts In Action
Dr. Alson Sears wanted nothing more in life than to stop canine distemper. Although he lived to see a lot of progress made against this disease, he did not get to see his discovery of NDV serum tested in the early stages of the disease and published in a scientific, peer reviewed journal.
But we could still see that goal reached. We ask that anyone who had been helped by Dr. Sears and his treatments — or anyone who admired the man — to donate any amount, now.
The money raised will be collected by Kind Hearts In Action and will be put towards a new foundation in Dr. Sears’ name, which we hope will someday defeat canine distemper.
In the meantime, we are also running a special promotion on the book, which will be available for free until June 18, 2023.
Thank you,
Ed Bond project director for Save Dogs From Distemper Kind Hearts In Action
I received this email from Dr. Sears’ son, Skip, on Saturday:
“My Father passed away quietly at his home in Park City. 1/3/36-6/3/23. He had entered the hospital May 1, and had an aortic value replacement on May 8, he never really got a break after that. Just a slow decline. Your friendship and book meant the world to him and from his entire family, thank you. Best of luck in the future, Skip Sears”
We met in 1997, a few months after he had saved my dog’s life. As a then-reporter for the L.A. Times, I wanted to know how he did it. He was shy about having a spotlight placed on him because he had been burned in the past, but he finally agreed to an interview.
I drove up to the Sears Veterinary Clinic in Lancaster, California to have lunch with him and his wife Ruth. [Ruth died in October 2022]. He came out to the lobby to greet me. He was a big, friendly man in his early 60s with a full head of white hair. He held out his hand. “Call me Al,” he said as we shook hands. He spoke with a direct, country-wisdom, often punctuated with humor and a deep belly laugh.
This began an association with Dr. Sears that would outlast my relationship with the Los Angeles Times, my career in journalism, our residency in California, and even the lifetime of my dog, Galen, who he had saved. Meeting Dr. Sears changed my life in ways neither of us would have expected. Either out of an abundance of politeness or a desire to give him respect, I always called him “Dr. Sears.”
We changed each other because of hope. He taught me to have hope for dogs who the experts had deemed to be hopeless. He showed me repeatedly that dogs could be saved from canine distemper. Even though he lacked the expertise and contacts to get his discovery published in a scientific journal, the plain truth of what he had found became impossible for me to ignore. More than that, I had to do something about it.
As a non-scientist, I knew I had no place in advocating for an unpublished treatment. But when a vet in Romania followed Dr. Sears’ protocols [which I had posted on my little-known website] and found they had the same life-saving properties Dr. Sears had seen, I became a full-throated advocate. Doing nothing would cause harm. Doing nothing meant letting dogs die when I knew at least some of them could be saved.
Dr. Sears and I then spent years working together to record what he had done to the best of our abilities and spread the word about his treatments. More dogs were saved than lost, but the ultimate goal had always been to see some scientist put his NDV serum to the test to determine its effectiveness in saving the lives of dogs in the pre-neurologic stage of the disease. Then, the hope would have been to see those results published in a peer-reviewed scientific journal.
That would have been the most reliable path to acceptance. I believe that would have ultimately saved the lives of most dogs.
That still has not happened. He always knew it would be a long road to acceptance, a destination he likely would not reach in his lifetime.
“You know what? I’m going to be long gone by the time that this is accepted by my profession,” he said with a laugh in 2011. “I don’t expect it to be accepted within the next 10 years, OK? I’ve been playing with this for 50 years, and I still can’t get them interested. It boggles my mind.”
But in the years since we began our campaign, something else did happen. People began to have hope that their distemper dogs could be saved. They became more willing to try new techniques and more vets became more willing to support new treatments. Some dogs lived simply because the extra care gave them the time to eventually beat the virus. Some dog advocates have begun to push for further scientific research into how and why distemper dogs survive. This is all useful and encouraging.
But I still hold out the hope that someone will do a full and proper study of Dr. Sears’ NDV treatments and tell the world in no uncertain terms what they have found.
This is a sad story, but like many distemper stories, it ends with an enormous dose of hope.
When Pawel Hardej’s puppy Ginger came down with distemper last month, he went looking for a way to save her and he found the Wag Out Loud podcast on distemper.
That led him to this page and to a vet in Houston and to Austin Pets
Alive who tried their best to save Ginger’s life. Ginger didn’t make it,
but her story may help save countless other dogs.
Throughout the struggle, Pawel was reading “Save Dogs From Distemper: The ‘Impossible’ Cure of Dr. Alson Sears”
and learned about the problems of documenting the effectiveness of
distemper treatments. That inspired Pawel to take action. He’s launched a
fundraiser for Austin Pets Alive, and his plan is to work with them and
other vets to document the outcomes of distemper dogs treated with NDV.
This could lead to the acceptance that we have all worked for.
Please support his fundraiser. Donate if you can. Or just share and spread the word to any dog-loving friends.
“Our beloved puppy Ginger fought hard against Canine Distemper but
ultimately passed on Jan, 16th 2022. She was a special pup who brought
so much love into the lives of those around her. Her story doesn’t end
here, instead it has inspired us to join APA in the fight against
distemper. Ginger would be honored to know that her story helped other
pups win the battle against this tragic disease. “Your donation will
directly support APA, who takes care of those most vulnerable to this
disease. The treatment of dogs with distemper can get expensive, with
many medications and procedures required to give these pups the best
chance at survival. Every passing day counts, as the earlier the
treatment is started the better the prognosis. Thank you in advance for
supporting us during such a difficult time. Your donation goes beyond
supporting this cause, it will help our family see the light at the end
of the tunnel and have hope for the future.”
A short article I wrote about how I got into the canine distemper cause has been published in Mountain Home magazine, which serves central Pennsylvania and the Finger Lakes of Upstate New York, where I live: https://www.mountainhomemag.com/2021/12/01/375325/saving-dogs-from-distemper?
Mamas, survived distemper after treatment with NDV serum
From Liam McEvoy, Nov. 23, 2021
“Firstly, thank you so much for all of the information on your website. We truly believe that the NDV serum saved our dog. My name is Liam, I live in LA and our adopted dog Mamas (border collie mix) was diagnosed with distemper on 10/08/21. We had a PCR and blood test done to confirm this (i’ve attached them below). She had a fever, goopy eye, cracked nose, and cough etc. She was given the NDV serum before she developed neurological symptoms and over the course of a month she seems to have made a full recovery … “
Liam had questions about Mamas’s recovery, and in our correspondence, he explained that after adoption from a rescue, Mamas’ condition had gone downhill. That’s when the rescue stepped it and took over her care and got her treated with NDV serum, he said.
He still had worries about Mamas’ long-term prognosis, that perhaps Mamas could develop neurological symptoms later on. Some of the points I made:
1) Distemper is a nasty disease that does not play fair and it does not always progress as we would normally predict. We should be grateful that your dog has gotten through it and appears healthy and problem free. 2) vaccines sometimes fail. If a dog’s immune system is not working as strong as it needs to, it may not create the immunity needed. This may because the dog is too young or has a condition like mange that might block immunity. Also, I think in very, very rare cases it may be that there could be a bad batch of vaccine somehow. But that chance is very low. 3) a dog may already have been exposed to distemper before vaccination. That happened to us 3 times back in the 90s. We rescued 3 dogs from the streets (separate occasions) in each case, the first thing we did was take the dog to the vet for shots. But we were too late. 2 puppies died in neuro stage distemper, but we saved the 3rd dog with NDV serum from Dr. sears. Btw, that dog lived for nine years with no more problems from distemper. 4) yes, there is still an ongoing confusion for vets in identifying the difference between antibody tests from vaccine induced and hot “street” forms of distemper. Bottom line, I am grateful that your dog was treated before neuro stage hit, and there is a very good chance that your dog will have a good life with few or even no problems. I can’t give a 100 percent guarantee because that is not possible in medicine, but the outlook is good.
I also encouraged him to read through all the stories we have shared on the website. It’s useful to know what others have gone through and comforting when you know you are not alone in this battle.
So, thanks for sharing your story Liam. May it help someone else have hope!
A doctor who had researched canine distemper sent me this video about the origins of the disease. I had heard of some of this, but this was an interesting point of view with perspectives I had not seen.
Received this email from Turkey this morning, along with the accompanying video:
Hello,
My name is Hatice Degirmenci and I am writing to you from Izmir, Turkey.
I am a shelter volunteer and a rescue worker in a small town outside of Izmir. Last summer, a young couple brought in a puppy that they found after it had just been crashed by a car. Hind back leg was broken, and the first vet they took him to, did an operation but unfortunately not the puppy vaccines.
The dog, named “Darky”, stayed at a dog boarding facility for a while and then I took him into my garden where I look after near 17 rescue dogs of all breeds and sizes, and ages.
After a couple of days, I noticed the twitches. He would be standing up and have the small jumpy twitch. I couldn’t believe a dog in my garden could start showing distemper virus symptoms at this stage.
I was in shock and denial for a couple of weeks.
Then the symptoms got more and more severe. At some point, Darky, lost control and feeling in both of his front legs. He was basically just dragging himself on his head/neck on the floow and back legs.
2,5 months into sleepless nights, muscle spasms getting worse and worse, Darky falling into his own pee and poop every day… one of our rescue friends mentioned Dr. Sears’ NDV Serum/Spinal Tap treatment. And in no time, we went to our vet and got the Spinal Tap done. She had tried it on a few patients before and got results.
It was a miracle. The harsh distemper symptoms started to decline. We did a lot of exercise for the front legs. And one day he started taking like 10-15 steps without falling.
He still has the spasms but he lives a fully normal life.
I CANT THANK YOU ENOUGH!!
Kind Regards
In a follow-up email, she added:
Your blog helped me thru the hardest days… I read and read and read and read and it gave me hopes. You’ve helped a dog and a family across thousands of kilometers.
THANK YOU, Hatice! You are a hero. Saving the life of one dog may not change the world, but it will change the world for that dog. Your email really made my day! — Ed
A year ago today, I announced the publication of the book “Save Dogs From Distemper: The ‘Impossible’ Cure of Dr. Alson Sears.” There is one tidbit in the book about the potential for Newcastle Disease Vaccine that goes beyond its use against canine distemper. It might be a tool to fight cancer. As I understand it from my research, NDV may be helpful against cancer, but the studies were not conducted rigorously enough. Perhaps this is something someone should take a closer look at.
Here’s the excerpt from my book:
Treating cancers with NDV
Dr. Sears leans back in his chair, holds up one hand. “Let’s go back a minute…,” he said. “A young physician in Hungary who is an intern gets a chicken farmer in who has stomach cancer.” Dr. Sears slaps his stomach. “…He says to the guy you need surgery now if we’re going to save your life. The guy says, ‘I have 10,000 chickens that need to be processed and sent to market. I’m not about to be taken into surgery.’ He says, ‘You’re really ill and you’re going to die.’ The guy says, ‘Can’t do it.’ So he goes out to his chickens, and low and behold the chickens get Newcastle’s Disease Virus and he loses half his flock. And he’s in there working with the birds and they’re blowing stuff, sneezing and he’s sucking it up.” He makes a fake sneeze, sucks it back up, gestures with hands. “He gets a little bit of conjunctivitis. Gets his chickens to market. He empties his place out and goes back to the doctor says, ‘OK, I’m ready for surgery. The doctor examines him. The cancer’s gone.” (Csatary 1971) Dr. Sears leans his head back. His eyes go wide with wonder. “It’s gone,” he said. “The doctor says ‘not possible.’ Can’t happen. The doctor, Laszlo Csatary, develops a variation on the Newcastle Disease Virus – MTH-68. This variation went on to be used in research to treat other disease and cancers, such as in brain and breast cancer. “It’s being done in Europe. It’s being done in Israel. I don’t know of any cases being treated in the United States. “The corollary to this is I treated one case,” he said. “Stomach cancer, successfully. The dog died last year, nine years after we diagnosed it. We diagnosed it with an ultrasound and a biopsy. So, we knew what we were dealing with.” The dog had thickened stomach lining and was vomiting blood. “So I said to the guy, look I just read this article. Are you willing to try? One of my breeders. He said, ‘if you think it will work. Let’s do it.’ So, the trick was to give a shot of the NDV virus vaccine every day for seven days. The dog stopped vomiting. We did an ultrasound; the stomach went back to normal. The dog lived nine more years.”
“One case,” he said, holding up a finger. “Does that make a reason to start the world afire? … No…. But if I had stomach cancer, I would sure as hell pull my NDV virus vaccine bottle out, and I would give myself a shot tomorrow.”
He went on to discuss other cases he’d read papers on.
“A child with brain cancer,” he said. “And I can’t remember which one he had. Had half his brain removed, and it had spread into the other half. The kid was still functional. They said he’s going to die, let’s give it a try. They injected him with NDV. Stopped it and the kid lived.” (Csatary 1999)
“… And so when [Ted] Kennedy got sick, I thought, you know he needs a shot of NDV,” he said, shaking a finger. “It would probably save his life. But are they going to listen to a vet from Lancaster, who’s retired, who has these crazy ideas about using a chicken virus to do what?” (U.S. Sen. Edward Kennedy D-MA had died a couple months earlier of a malignant glioma brain tumor.)
He makes air quotes at “crazy idea” and forms a puzzled look on his face.
The possibilities of NDV as a cancer fighter have also been reported in several papers for decades. According to the National Cancer Institute, NDV may be more likely to attack and destroy tumor cells rather than healthy cells. “NDV-based anticancer therapy has been reported to be of benefit in more than a dozen clinical studies, but the results of these studies must be considered inconclusive because the study designs were weak and the study reports were generally incomplete.” In Israel, researchers still see the potential in using NDV against cancer after some issues can be resolved. (Tayeb et al 2015) A study in Mexico tested NDV against human and canine lymphoma cells and found it may be a promising treatment. (Sanchez et al. 2016) Other researchers have had success reprogramming viruses such as the common cold to attack cancers. (Alonso et al. 2012) This appears to be a possible method of fighting cancer that could be more thoroughly explored.
