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OSHA issues guidance regarding storage of face masks, respirators
OSHA requests comments on proposed guidance on workplace stockpiling of respirators and face masks for pandemic influenza
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Avian flu by the numbers
Two Los Alamos National Laboratory theorists have developed a mathematical tool which could help health experts and crisis managers determine in real time whether an emerging infectious disease such as avian influenza H5N1 is poised to spread globally
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Nanotechnology-based biosensor
NASA develops nanotechnology-based biosensor that can detect trace amounts of specific bacteria, viruses, and parasites; New York-based Early Warning, Inc. will initially market the sensor to water treatment facilities, food and beverage companies, industrial plants, hospitals, and airlines
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Boston biolab: Panel urges review of possible lab threats
As community opposition to the almost-complete Boston University biolab continues, a panel of experts says neighborhood’s concerns — and safety — should not be excluded from consideration of final approval for lab opening
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CDC biolab not ready after 2 1/2 years
A new CDC biosafety lab was supposed to open in the fall of 2005; it is still not open, and legislators begin to wonder why; they note that at the University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston, it took less than seven months for its BSL-4 lab to become operational after construction was finished
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Is the threat of bioterrorism exaggerated?
William Clark, professor and chair emeritus of immunology at UCLA, says it is
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Chicago firm recalls beef products due to E. coli contamination fear
E. coli scare causes large beef recall: Chicago firm distributed the suspect beef product to processing plants in Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Massachusetts, Michigan, Missouri, Nebraska, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin
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GSK gets EU green light for bird flu vaccine
Sanofi Pasteur, the joint venture between Sanofi Aventis and Merck, has produced a vaccine that targets one strand of H5N1; GSK argues that their new vaccine — Prepandrix — is the first to target several strains of the virus; Prepandrix contains an adjuvant, an ingredient that allows a low level of the vaccine’s active ingredient to be used in each shot
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Detailed studies of U.S. disaster preparedness offer recommendations
Critical care panel tackles disaster preparation, surge capacity, and health care rationing; some recommendations require largely greater budgets; other pose profound ethical and moral questions
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Market for molecular diagnostic technologies to grow
The last few years have seen major strides forward in molecular diagnostic technologies; new report asses size of markets and opportunities in it
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Bush administration asks court to block comprehensive testing for mad cow disease
A small meatpacking company wants to conduct testing for mad cow disease on all the animals it processes; the Department of Agriculture requires testing of less than 1 percent of slaughtered animals; the Bush administration, goaded by large meatpacking companies, urged a federal appeals court to stop the small company from doing more comprehensive tests
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Past patients to provide fast flu vaccine to new patients
Currently it takes at least six months to produce a flu vaccine after a new strain appears; researchers find that a faster way would be to treat people with antibodies produced by earlier patients
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Doctors develop a list of those allowed to die in a catastrophe
Physicians, government agencies draft a grimly specific list of recommendations for which patients would be treated - and which would not — during a pandemic
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Canada confirms tuberculosis in Manitoba cow
For the first time since 2004, a Canadian cow is diagnosed with TB; Canadian health authorities says no part of the infected cow entered the human or animal food chain
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Death toll in China disease outbreak hits 34
China issues national alert after rapid spread of hand, foot, and mouth disease brings toll to 34 and nearly 25,000 infected; most of the deaths have involved enterovirus 71, or EV71
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More headlines
The long view
Action Needed to Improve U.S. Smallpox Readiness and Diagnostics, Vaccines, and Therapeutics: Report
A new report says that action is needed to enhance U.S. readiness for smallpox and related diseases, as well as to improve diagnostics, vaccines, and therapeutics that could be used in case of an outbreak. The COVID-19 pandemic revealed weaknesses in the ability of U.S. public health and health care systems to adapt and respond to an unfamiliar pathogen, as did challenges during the recent mpox outbreak to rapidly making diagnostics, vaccines, and therapeutics available at scale.