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Blumenthal: Impact statement regarding Plum Island seriously flawed
Connecticut’s attorney general: “[DHS’s] draft environmental impact statement is profoundly flawed — factually deficient, and legally insufficient — mis-assessing the monstrous risks of siting a proposed national bio- and agro-defense facility on Plum Island”
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New York officials want Plum Island to remain a Level-3 BioLab
DHS is considering upgrading the Plum Island BioLab from Level-3 to Level-4 so it could conduct research into the deadliest diseases; the department argues that Plum Island’s relative isolation would make an accidental pathogen release less costly relatively to such release from a mainland-based lab; New York officials strongly disagree
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Scientists: Canada's disease-detection system performed well
Canadian officials say that the detection of and response to the listeriosis outbreak show that the country disease detection system works
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Lawrenceville, PA bioterror lab opening on hold indefinitely
A state-of-the-art, $5.6 million BioLevel 3 lab was supposed to open in Lawrenceville, Pennsylvania, in 2002;
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Detecting disease in less than 60 seconds
Traditional testing for disease outbreak or bioterror attack can take days — even weeks — to confirm a diagnosis and isolate those infected; we may not have that much time, and University of Georgia researchers develop a quicker virus identification method
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Scientists use bacteria to pinpoint chloride toxins
Chloride toxins are carcinogens and dangerous to the environment; they may contaminate food, or used to poison people intentionally (as was the case with Ukrainian president Viktor Yuschenko in 2004; the Russian secret service is suspected of trying to kill him); scientists are using the sensor with which bacteria detect chloride compounds to devise an early detection system
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Resident of Belgian city to be monitored after nuclear leak
Residents of the Hainaut village of Lambusart will undergo medical checkups and be tested for radiation over the next few days
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Medical identity thefts on the rise
The move from paper to digital patient records opens new opportunities for identity thieves
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Canadian PM: Food inspection system needs revamping
Listeriosis outbreak in Canada claims 29 lives and dozens rushed to hospitals; Toronto area meat processors recalls $2 million worth of contaminated meat; PM says food inspection should be tightened
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New detection method for food toxins found
Japanese researchers develop new technique to detect toxins in food; the method involves artificially produced human enzymes that act as sensors for toxins in food samples
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The science behind the anthrax investigation
For seven years researchers at Sandia National Laboratories worked in secrecy on developing method to identify atnthrax spores; sensitive transmission electron microscopy (TEM) allowed researchers to connect the anthrax attacks to the same source
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Rapid test for pathogens developed by K-State researchers
Could be used to detect diseases used by bioterrorists
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Science and the anthrax case: Case closed?
The authoritative scientific journal Nature says that the FBI’s evidence against Bruce Ivins is impressive, but that the case is not closed as many important questions remain unanswered
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Salmonella-suspect Mexican peppers still being sold in U.S.
The CDC and FDA now suspect the Mexican jalapeño peppers are the cause of the outbreak of salmonella poisoning which has sickened 1,434 people in the United States so far, but these peppers are still being sold in the to U.S., if for a lower price
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Maple Leaf Foods in $2 million meat recall
Canadian food processing giant struggles to maintain health and safety standards while coping with financial difficulties
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The long view
What We’ve Learned from Survivors of the Atomic Bombs
Q&A with Dr. Preetha Rajaraman, New Vice Chair for the Radiation Effects Research Foundation in Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan.
Combatting the Measles Threat Means Examining the Reasons for Declining Vaccination Rates
Measles was supposedly eradicated in Canada more than a quarter century ago. But today, measles is surging. The cause of this resurgence is declining vaccination rates.
Social Networks Are Not Effective at Mobilizing Vaccination Uptake
The persuasive power of social networks is immense, but not limitless. Vaccine preferences, based on the COVID experience in the United States, proved quite insensitive to persuasion, even through friendship networks.
Vaccine Integrity Project Says New FDA Rules on COVID-19 Vaccines Show Lack of Consensus, Clarity
Sidestepping both the FDA’s own Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee and the CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP), two Trump-appointed FDA leaders penned an opinion piece in the New England Journal of Medicine to announce new, more restrictive, COVID-19 vaccine recommendations. Critics say that not seeking broad input into the new policy, which would help FDA to understand its implications, feasibility, and the potential for unintended consequences, amounts to policy by proclamation.
Are We Ready for a ‘DeepSeek for Bioweapons’?
Anthropic’s Claude 4 is a warning sign: AI that can help build bioweapons is coming, and could be widely available soon. Steven Adler writes that we need to be prepared for the consequences: “like a freely downloadable ‘DeepSeek for bioweapons,’ available across the internet, loadable to the computer of any amateur scientist who wishes to cause mass harm. With Anthropic’s Claude Opus 4 having finally triggered this level of safety risk, the clock is now ticking.”
“Tulsi Gabbard as US Intelligence Chief Would Undermine Efforts Against the Spread of Chemical and Biological Weapons”: Expert
The Senate, along party lines, last week confirmed Tulsi Gabbard as Director of National intelligence. One expert on biological and chemical weapons says that Gabbard’s “longstanding history of parroting Russian propaganda talking points, unfounded claims about Syria’s use of chemical weapons, and conspiracy theories all in efforts to undermine the quality of the community she now leads” make her confirmation a “national security malpractice.”