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Pentagon low-balled number of soldiers with anthrax vaccine side effects
Pentagon official told Congress that only about 100 soldiers suffered ill side effects from anthrax vaccine given to them between 1998 and 2000; the real number is 20,000
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Vermont to require farmers to register cattle
In what may be only the first of many such moves Vermont will begin to register cattle in order better to monitor the spread of disease
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Researchers show method to detect single viruses, nanoparticles in real time
Two innovative researchers develop a new method to detect the properties of the smallest of things — single viruses and nanoparticles
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AppliedBiosystems release avian flu detection kit
Medical giant releases initial version of avian flu detection kit; will be available to the public early next year
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Florida selects multi-threat detection system from MSA Detection Systems
Thirty Florida counties will have greater protection from hazardous materials using MSA’s Safesite Multi-Threat Detection System
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CDC selects ChoiceMakers AI-based solution for NEDSS
Developer of artificial intelligence-based database management tool selected for CDC project to track bioterror attacks and infectious diseases
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Trust for Americas Health receives Pew grant to study pandemic preparedness
Pew gives money to nonprofit monitoring states’ readiness to cope with natural and man-made biological disasters
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New, portable device capable of detecting pictogram-level traces of agents, explosives
The emphasis TSA has placed on airport explosives detection spurs scientific and technological innovation which promises better security
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Do not rely on government in case of pandemic
Nevada health and emergency officials have a blunt message to state citizens: Fend for yourselves
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Ten years after Oklahoma City, Congress moves to regulate sale of ammonium nitrate
During the ten years since Oklahoma City, the NRA and the agricultural lobby have succeeded in keeping America utterly exposed to the next Timothy McVeigh, or another crackpot or terrorist, choosing to use fertilizer as a weapon; finally Congress is saying “Enough!”
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The U.S. National Disaster Medical System in decline
FEMA is not the only agency the decline of which was accelerated by being folded into DHS: NDMS is another sad example
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HHS budget cuts $120 million from pandemic preparation, shifts money to rural health delivery
To overcome House objections to initial HHS budget proposal, money aimed to prepare for avian flu was shifted to other purposes, one hopes this is only temporary
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Surprising state health preparedness ranking
Believe or not: South Carolina ranks first among states on preparedness for medical disaster; Iowa and New Hampshire rank last
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Three years ago, Butler claimed that dangerous bioterror pathogens were stolen from his lab; the hoax put the nation on edge, and he went to jail
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The long view
Bashar al-Assad’s Updated, Sinister Version of Biological Warfare
Biological warfare is generally understood as the deliberate wartime introduction of a lethal pathogen with the intent to kill or maim. Syria under President Bashar al-Assad is pursuing a sinister variation—one with long and dangerous historical precedents. Assad’s government has allowed pathogens normally controlled by public health measures—such as clean water, sanitation, waste disposal, vaccination, and infection control—to emerge as biological weapons through the deliberate destruction and withholding of those measures. The conflict has in effect reversed public health advances to achieve levels of disease not seen since the Napoleonic era.
Lawmakers Seek Probe of Controversial Bioweapons Defense System
The Trump administration’s attempt to deploy a scientifically disputed system for detecting airborne anthrax or other infectious agents in terrorist attacks is facing increased scrutiny from a bipartisan group of House members. in a three-page letter, four Democrats and Republicans on the House Energy and Commerce Committee asked the Government Accountability Office to conduct an in-depth scientific evaluation of the new system, called BioDetection 21. Officials from the GAO, the investigative arm of Congress, signaled that they plan to open the inquiry.
How Does USAMRIID Shut Down Impact Nation’s Bioterrorism Laboratory Response Network?
The Laboratory Response Network (LRN) is a collaborative federal effort run by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in cooperation with other federal agency and public health partners. The U.S. Army Research Institute of Infectious Diseases (USAMRIID) Special Pathogens Laboratory at Fort Detrick is one of only three National Laboratories at the top of the protective umbrella of the LRN structure, along with those operated by the CDC and the Naval Medical Research Center (NMRC), responsible for specialized characterization of organisms, bioforensics, select agent activity, and handling highly infectious biological agents. It begs the question then, what happens when an important component of the nation’s biopreparedness infrastructure fails to meet CDC biosafety requirements and has its Federal Select Agent certification pulled?
Hackers Could Have Breached U.S. Bioterrorism Defenses for Years, Records Show. We’ll Never Know Whether They Did
The Department of Homeland Security stored sensitive data from the nation’s bioterrorism defense program on an insecure website where it was vulnerable to attacks by hackers for over a decade, according to government documents reviewed by the Los Angeles Times. The data included the locations of at least some BioWatch air samplers, which are installed at subway stations and other public locations in more than 30 U.S. cities and are designed to detect anthrax or other airborne biological weapons, Homeland Security officials confirmed. It also included the results of tests for possible pathogens, a list of biological agents that could be detected and response plans that would be put in place in the event of an attack.
The Message of Measles
If we have to pick a Patient Zero, Andrew Wakefield will do. Wakefield is the British gastroenterologist who produced the notorious article, published in The Lancet in 1998, linking the M.M.R. vaccine to autism. The study, which featured just twelve subjects, was debunked, the article was pulled, and Wakefield lost his license to practice medicine—as well as his reputation, in scientific circles anyway. But, owing to his persistence in the years since, his discredited allegations have spread like mold. In the anti-vaxxer pantheon, he is martyr and saint.
Is There a Role for the Biological Weapons Convention in Oversight of Lab-Created Potential Pandemic Pathogens?
Fourteen labs in the United States are working on creating mammalian-airborne-transmissible, highly-pathogenic, avian-influenza live viruses. These viruses are examples of lab-created potentially pandemic pathogens that bring up questions reflecting real concerns: Should details of this dual-use research be published? Could lab-created potentially pandemic pathogens be accidentally released from a laboratory into the community and seed a human pandemic? Could they be employed as biological weapons? The probability of accidental release into the community from one of the laboratories in this research enterprise is uncomfortably high. For these and other lab-created potentially pandemic pathogens, just one laboratory-infected researcher could seed a pandemic. Furthermore, a laboratory worker with hostile intent could introduce a potentially pandemic pathogen into the community.