• Ricin antidote ready for production

    U.K. scientists develop the first antidote to ricin poisoning; security experts say ricin — roughly 1,000 times more toxic than cyanide — could be used in a bio-terror attack; what worries experts about ricin is not only its toxicity, but its ready availability: Ricin is extracted from castor beans, which are processed throughout the world to make castor oil; the toxin is part of the waste “mash” produced when castor oil is made

  • NIAID allocated $208 million to fight emerging infectious diseases from bioterrorism

    Using its own research funds, augmented by stimulus package money, NIH awarded $208 million to two programs that support research better to understand the human immune response to emerging and re-emerging infectious diseases, including those that may be introduced into a community through acts of bioterrorism

  • SRI opens Virginia facility

    SRI International opened a new facility for its Center for Advanced Drug Research (CADRE); scientists at the new facility will work on developing vaccines, more quickly diagnosing infections, and developing new treatments

  • FDA to host traceability meeting

    FDA, USDA to hold a day-long conference to discuss the core elements of product tracing systems, gaps in current product tracing systems, and mechanisms to enhance product tracing systems for food in an effort to increase the speed and accuracy of traceback investigations and trace forward operations

  • Soldier in Afghanistan dies of Ebola-like virus infection

    Rare virus poses new threat to troops; on 16 September an American soldier died from what turned out to be Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever after he was bitten by a tick

  • DHS supports research into Aussie horse and bat disease

    Hendra virus infects horses and bats — but the fatality rate among human beings coming into contact with the animals is high because there is no cure for it; the virus and its relative, the Nipah virus, are so lethal that the United States consider them a homeland security threat; there is fear that terrorists may infect bats and then release them near population centers

  • New technology to boost food security

    A scientist in the Philippines develops a new method for keeping food fresh; brine-immersion freezing, or BIF, allows fish and meat can be stored for two to three days in styrofoam boxes without using ice, and up to six months when stored in freezers or chillers

  • Scientists track H1N1 virus for small changes which may mean big problems

    A team at the University of California-San Francisco is using cutting-edge technology to track tiny genetic changes in H1N1 virus samples from around the word; what the scientists are worried about is a big change called genetic “shift,” when there is a dramatic re-assortment and exchange of strands of genetic material that trigger hard-to-predict epidemic trajectories

  • H1N1-induced work-from-home may clog Internet

    Telecommuting is a good idea — up to a point; if, as a result of a pandemic, too many people decide to work from home, this could threaten to overwhelm the Internet, rendering it useless as a way for communicating and conducting transactions vital to public safety and the economy

  • Canadian farm exports snagged in world safety net

    Canadian farm products have recently been banned in several countries, driving down prices at the farm gate; Canadians believe these restrictions have less to do with worries about food safety, and more to do with governments trying to placate the domestic farming sector in a recessionary period

  • Clinics increase security owing to anger over H1N1 vaccine shortage

    Clinics around the country report anger among people who come to be vaccinated, only to find H1N1 vaccine shortages; some clinics bolster security

  • 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

  • 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

  • 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