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Briefly noted
Debating whether DHS should have cybersecurity responsibilities… FDA revisits refused foods issue… DoD tests contractors’ ID cards
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Chinese dairies add organic base found in plastics and resins to products
Lab tests in Hong Kong find that Chinese company’s dairy offerings, including milk, ice cream, and yogurt, were contaminated with melamine — an organic base usually found in plastics and resins, and banned in food
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Senators skeptical about FBI's anthrax attacks conclusions
Senators of both voice doubt about the FBI’s conclusion that Bruce Ivins was the sole culprit in the 2001 anthrax attacks; criticize the FBI for its handling of the case
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Two more avian flu deaths in Indonesia
Of the 137 confirmed cases of avian flu to date in Indonesia, 112 have been fatal; two deaths in July have been added to the list
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FDA hires 1,300 new doctors and scientists
Staffing drive, launched just five months ago, will result in an estimated 10 percent increase in the FDA’s work force
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Drug-resistant plague may be a bioterrorism concern
Researchers at Weill Cornell Medical College have located a gene that could mutate to make Yersinia pestis resistant to many common drugs; the bacteria might be used as a potential bioterrorism agent
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DNA firms step up security over bioterrorism threat
Until recently, designer DNA companies were rather relaxed about who was buying their products, and many refused to check their orders for potentially dangerous DNA sequences; this is changing, and the industry association in which many of these companies are members is leading a drive to increase security
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Xoma in $65 million anti-botulism drug development contract
First human monoclonal antibody drug program to target multiple botulinum toxins
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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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The long view
We Ran the C.D.C.: Kennedy Is Endangering Every American’s Health
Nine former leaders of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), who served as directors or acting directors under Republican and Democratic administrations, serving under presidents from Jimmy Carter to Donald Trrump, argue that HHS Secretary Roert F. Kennedy Jr. poses a clear and present danger to the health of Americans. He has placed anti-vaxxers and conspiracy theorists at top HHS positions, and he appears to be guided by a hostility to science and a belief in bizarre, unscientific approaches to public health.