• Food facilities failing to comply with Bioterrorism Act of 2002

    There are approximately 420,000 domestic and foreign food facilities – not including farms, retail facilities, and restaurants — doing food-related business in the United States; the Bioterrorism Act of 2002 requires these food facilities to register with the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and provide information which could be used in the event of a bioemergency (farms, retail facilities, and restaurants are exempt from registration), many have done so yet

  • Llamas’ antibodies to aid bioterror fight

    A new system, which utilized antibodies found in llamas, detects seven types of botulinum neurotoxins simultaneously; the system uses antibodies from llamas; the llama antibodies, which are proteins made by the body to fight disease, are “nanobodies,” sometimes called single domain antibodies, and are molecularly flexible, unlike traditional antibodies; the new method could lead to increased protection of food and water supplies against bioterror attacks

  • Israel conducts large bioterrorism drill

    Israel conducts two-day bioterrorism drill — reported to be the largest simulation of a biological attack ever conducted; the Israel Defense Forces Medical Corps, national Health Ministry, hospitals, and health clinics took part in the simulation which dealt with soldiers and others experiencing rashes, fever, and mouth lesions

  • Budget cuts more than $600 million from Bioshield program

    Randall Larsen, executive director of the congressionally chartered Commission on the Prevention of Weapons of Mass Destruction Proliferation and Terrorism: “Using Bioshield funds for flu preparedness and other issues not associated with national security will severely diminish the nation’s efforts to prepare for WMD events and will leave the nation less, not more, prepared”

  • Germ threat: Preparing for bioterrorism

    The Christmas terrorist near-miss serves as a reminder, if one were needed, that there are hundreds of terrorist planners, and thousands of dedicated followers, who plot day and night to inflict harm on the United States and its people; former Senators Bob Graham (D-Florida), and Jim Talent (R-Missouri), co-chairmen of the Commission on the Prevention of Weapons of Mass Destruction Proliferation and Terrorism, argue that the most likely weapon of mass destruction terrorists will use would be biological weapons; the two also argue that the H1N1 flu crisis offered an early test of the U.S. abilities to respond to bioterrorism; they conclude the United States flunked it badly

  • Preventing terrorists from infecting passengers on a plane with deadly disease

    RGF Environmental Group Inc. is in discussion with Sandia Labs over identifying potential airline bioterrorism threats, and in association with Kansas State University presents a study on the solutions

  • Texas foundation wins contract to assist in fight against bioterrorism

    Southwest Foundation for Biomedical Research receives first installment of $456,216 of a $2.2 million contract to do research on Ebola and Marburg viruses, which could be used as potential bioterror weapons

  • NIH grants to aid study of smallpox and other bioterror-related diseases

    NIH gives the La Jolla Institute $18.8 million to do immunological research into diseases which could be used in bioterrorist attacks; the institute will study vaccines and treatments for smallpox, dengue, malaria, and tuberculosis

  • Anthrax false alarm disrupts Alabama

    Envelopes sent to the offices of leading politicians in Alabama found to contain fructose sugar; the nine letters had different postmarks but were all postmarked in the state of Alabama, and investigators now believe the sugar-filled mailings came from the same source

  • DoD bill will fund biological attack sensors

    The $636 billion Defense bill will send money to Michigan for bioterror research; $1.6 million will go to Dexter Research Center in Dexter, Michigan, to continue its development of a security sensor meant to protect military installations from chemical and biological attacks; Kettering University in Flint, Michigan will receive $1.6 million to help DoD with its Chemical Agent Fate Program

  • Maine to receive more than $3 million to aid bioterror research

    Research institutions in Maine will receive more than $3 million for bioterrorism research; a grant of $1.9 million will go to Orono Spectral Solutions to continue its development of an infrared detection system for chemical and biological agents; another $1.3 million will be set aside for Sensor Research & Development in Orono, for real time test monitoring of chemical agents, chemical agent stimulants and toxic industrial chemicals

  • Regional biodefense stockpiles could aid Europe in event of bioattack

    A plan for European preparation for a terrorist bioattacks calls for a regional stockpiling system within Europe; a Baltic stockpile, Nordic stockpile, and so on would be of great import and would aid in covering countries that have not expressed a desire to form their own stockpiles.

  • Senator Cochran’s earmark savvy benefits Mississippi biodefense center

    Republican Senator Thad Cochran of Mississippi is famous for his support of federal earmarks and regularly ranks near the top among senators for the number and size of his annual earmark haul; on Sunday the Senate passed a $1.1 trillion omnibus federal spending bill for the 2010 fiscal year, and Cochran managed to insert $150 million worth of earmarks for Mississippi; among the beneficiaries is Jackson State University’s National Center for Biodefense Communications, which conducts research and compiles data on bioterrorism threats to agriculture, and which is slated to receive $750,000 through the bill

  • Expert: U.S. stance on bioweapons important, does not require inspectors

    The Obama administration has been criticized for, on the one hand, expressing more support than its predecessor for the goals of the Biological Weapons Convention but, on the other hand, for continuing the Bush administration’s objection to a tight inspection regime; an expert says inspections are appropriate for nuclear weapons, but largely irrelevant to biological weapons

  • Combating bioterrorism needs to be a collaborative effort

    ISBI founder: “If you want to damage the United States, from a terrorist perspective, there are ways to do this extremely effectively that do not entail an attack on the U.S. homeland. There are ways that our economy could be catastrophically devastated and our political system substantially set back in terms of our global leadership that have nothing to do with a centralized domestic attack. Our vulnerabilities do not stop at the border’s edge.”