• iBio to license vaccine production facility using green plant technology

    iBio will license the iBioLaunch platform to G-Con, LLC, a private Texas company; the “GreenVax Project” uses Nicotiana plants grown hydroponically; the green plant technology platform holds the promise of shortening vaccine production from months to weeks

  • Europe would be better with a generic, rather than disease-specific, pandemic response plan

    New study argues that the emphasis in Europe on disease-specific emergency plans utilized by most European countries could cost precious time and resources; “Countries and organizations invest enormous resources in developing plans for specific diseases, which may not even present a threat in the future,” the study says

  • U.S. anthrax response undermined by public ignorance, lack of confidence in government

    A Harvard School of Public Health’s survey found that nearly 40 percent of respondents who said they would likely accept antibiotic pills distributed from public health authorities after an anthrax attack also said they would not start taking them immediately; about 35 percent indicated they would hold onto the drugs until they knew for certain they had been exposed to anthrax

  • Montana State team developing new way to fight influenza, bioterrorism threats

    Researchers develop aerosol spray containing tiny protein cages that will activate an immune response in the lungs; the protein cages trigger the rapid production of lymphoid tissue in the lung; the technology could be used to prevent or treat a range of pulmonary diseases including influenza; it might counter bioterrorism threats, such as airborne microbes

  • The digital revolution offers new ways to fight epidemics

    There are more than 100 H1N1 apps for iPhone — and several other apps dedicated to identifying, locating, and reporting the outbreak of epidemics; these digital tools could help people take preventive measures earlier than otherwise would have been the case, but they also open the door to mass panic from unreliable or false reports

  • Killing malaria bugs dead with laser

    Mosquito-killing laser demonstrated; if bed nets are the low-tech solution to combat the deadly malaria — caused by a parasite transmitted when certain mosquitoes bite people — the laser is a high-tech one; the laser detection is so precise, it can specify the species, and even the gender, of the mosquito being targeted

  • Five infectious diseases that might re-emerge

    Dreaded infectious diseases of the past have largely been kept at bay by antibioitcs and other medical advances; these diseases still linger, though, and could pose a threat – either because some parents refuse to vaccinate their kids owing to concerns about possible links between such vaccination and autism (Mumps), or because terrorist might use the pathogens in a bioterror attack (small pox)

  • 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

  • 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

  • U.S. post Office to deliver antidote in case of anthrax attack

    President Obama signed an executive order instructing the Post Office to deliver antidotes to citizens in the event of an anthrax attack; the executive order calls for armed escorts to accompany delivery personnel

  • First case of highly drug-resistant TB found in U.S.

    The first case of extremely drug-resistant (XXDR) TB is found in the united States; one of the U.S. leading experts on tuberculosis says about the patient: “He is really the future….This is the new class that people are not really talking too much about. These are the ones we really fear because I’m not sure how we treat them”

  • Mystery solved: Scientists now know how smallpox kills

    New discovery fills a major gap in the scientific understanding of pox diseases and lays the foundation for the development of antiviral treatments, should smallpox or related viruses re-emerge through accident, viral evolution, or terrorist action

  • Obama administration to review U.S. response to health threats

    Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius said that she ordered the evaluation of the U.S. responses to health threats in part because the H1N1 vaccine shortage had highlighted the nation’s dependence on antiquated technology

  • Potent new biodefense technology shows promise

    Medizone International’s AsepticSure technology continues to break the “6 log” decontamination barriers, this time with two very different spore forming bacteria, Claustridium difficile and Bacillis subtilis