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Sixty U.S. poison centers answer questions about H1N1
There are sixty poison centers in the United States, open 24 hours a day, seven days a week, staffed with medical professionals; lately they have been answering questions about H1N1
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New tool detects -- and neutralizes -- pathogens in mail
Using the mail as a tool for bioterror attacks may or may not kill many people, but it will paralyze a company or an organization; the psychological damage is incalculable; new tool offers mail-room protection
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Kent State to train lab workers for biocontainment
The increasing number of high-containment laboratories and the constant threat from emerging diseases and bioterrorism require more extensive biosafety training of the highest caliber, and more facilities in which to offer this training
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Tracking swine flu spread by monitoring electronic prescription records
Rhode Island is using information supplied by pharmacies to document how much Tamiflu and other antivirals are being dispensed to patients; the information — categorized by zip codes of the pharmacies where the medicine is dispensed and the age group of the patient receiving it — is given to epidemiologists at the state health department
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DARPA seeking to improve bio-threat detectors
The agency is requesting proposals for a device that would enable faster, more accurate detection of a broad range of biological agents; DARPA hopes to create a biosensor that would identify viral and bacterial threats, and do so using a natural first-line of defense: human antibodies
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Boeing eyes energy sector amid defense cuts
Boeing, the U.S. second largest military contractor, cites its expertise as it bids on slices of the $20 billion U.S. power-grid market; to compensate for cuts in funds for defense programs in which it was traditionally involved, the company is also moving into the helicopters, UAV, cyber-security, and intelligence businesses
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Kansas officials confident that BioLab project will not be derailed
Congress has allocated $32 million for the design of the Manhattan, Kansas biolab which will replace the aging Plum Island facility; Congress conditioned the release of the rest of the money on the result of studies examining the risks involved in building a biolab in “Tornado alley”; other states that wanted the lab have been slow to give up the fight
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Bipartisan WMD commission: U.S. failing to address urgent biothreat
Interim report assesses progress in preventing WMD proliferation and terrorism
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How prepared is the U.S. for a bioterror attack?
The current U.S. bioterror detection program: A federally funded, locally run program with an $80 million annual budget, deploying a network of vacuum pumps that draw surrounding air through filters, sniffing for signs of biological agents
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U.S. bioterrorism efforts criticized
The task force criticized President Obama for requesting $305 million in 2010 for the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority, which it called “insufficient by a factor of 10”
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Should health insurance policies cover faith healing?
Clauses that could force health insurers to pay for religious and spiritual healing have slipped into at least two of the healthcare reform bills currently making their way through Congress
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Victims of foodborne illness press White House for food safety reform
Visit to White House comes after victims and their families press Senate to pass legislation to protect the public from foodborne illness
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Food safety programs alter farming
Anticipating greater attention by the Obama administration to food safety, farmers are already changing their practices; the majority have began to keep better records; other changes farmers have undertaken include researching information about better food safety practices by subscribing to topical publications, networking and meeting with other farmers, and changes to facilities and to processes
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Some in the livestock industry worry about disease lab's Kansas location
Two national cattlemen’s organizations say moving the study of dangerous pathogens to the mainland would be unwise because a tornado or other mishap could allow diseases to escape into the surrounding animal population; supporters say facility presents no risk to agriculture
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The long view
Huge Areas May Face Possibly Fatal Heat Waves if Warming Continues
A new assessment warns that if Earth’s average temperature reaches 2 degrees C over the preindustrial average, widespread areas may become too hot during extreme heat events for many people to survive without artificial cooling.