• 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

  • U.K. government issues a 20-year food-and-farming vision report

    U.K. government recognizes the fragility of U.K. food production, and calls, for the first time since the Second World War, for an integrated food and farming policy; the government says that the U.K. food system, which depends heavily on imports, last-minute ordering, and long distribution chains, which are vulnerable to sudden shocks from global price spikes, disruption to fuel supplies, and the impact of climate change on critical infrastructure, leaves the United Kingdom too vulnerable

  • 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

  • First U.S. national health security plan released

    HHS releases the U.S. first-ever National Health Security Strategy; Tte new strategy outlines areas for federal, state, and local government agencies and nongovernment groups to focus on over the next four years

  • Ebola, Marburg vaccines undergoing tests in South Africa

    Because Ebola and Marburg have been confined to Africa and outbreaks limited, drug companies have not had a financial incentive to come up with a vaccine; only the threat of bioterrorism has prompted the U.S. government to spend millions on vaccine research

  • 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

  • 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

  • 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

  • Food facilities failing to register with FDA

    The Bioterrorism Act of 2002 requires food facilities — exempting farms, retail facilities, and restaurants — to register with the FDA; the FDA had expected about 420,000 domestic and foreign food facilities to register because of the 2002 law; according to an FDA spokesman, as of 14 December, 392,217 facilities had registered — 157,395 in the United States and 234,822 foreign facilities that export to the United States

  • 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.