• Man sickened in Las Vegas ricin incident arrested

    The man who was hospitalized on 14 February for breathing difficulties — and slipped into a coma until 14 March — is now charged with attempted bioterrorism; police find the following in his room: An “Anarchist’s Cookbook,” a collection of instructions on poisons and other dangerous recipes, including instructions on the preparation of ricin, two semiautomatic pistols, a rifle, and a pistol with a silencer

  • New killer virus found in Bolivia

    New killer virus, related to the West African Lassa virus, discovered in the jungles of Bolivia; researchers say that urbanization and climate change could expand its range

  • South Korean avian flu situation worsens

    In less than two weeks, South Korea has confirmed eleven cases of the deadly H5N1 strain, which had been contained in the southwest of the country, some 200 miles south of Seoul

  • Scientists create first successful avian flu virus antibodies libraries

    Libraries were developed using samples from survivors of the 2005-6 bird flu outbreak in Turkey; antibody libraries hold the promise for developing a therapy to stop a pandemic in its tracks and provide treatment to those infected, as well as pointing the way toward the development of a universal flu vaccine

  • Government admits accidents at Plum Island biolab

    The biolab on Plum Island, off the tip of Long Island, is the only lab allowed to do research on the highly contagious foot-and-mouth disease; DHS officials admit that since 1978 here have been several accidental releases of the virus into cattle in holding pens

  • Palestinian terrorists planned to poison diners at Israel restaurant

    Two Palestinians staying illegally in Israel and working in a restaurant in a Tel Aviv suburb, planned to use poison supplied by Hezbollah to kill restaurant patrons

  • Researchers develop nasal anthrax vaccine

    Current FDA-approved vaccine is given as an injection and must be administered in three doses, scheduled two weeks apart; then, to remain effective, booster shots must be given at six, twelve, and eighteen months, and then again each year after for maximum protection; University of Rochester researchers “detoxify” the one of the three toxic proteins of anthrax in an effort to simplify vaccination process

  • UDTT's anthrax detection featured on Chinese TV

    The Chinese Government has warned that terrorists pose the biggest risk to this summer’s Olympic Games; officials say they foiled two plots, one to bring down an airliner, and another to disrupt the summer games; they are also worried about bioterrorism

  • Making the world's food supplies safer

    Researchers study how silver nanoparticles exert their antimicrobial activities by testing QSI-Nano Silver for its ability to interact with microbial cells; goal of project is to develop food-related applications such as microbe-resistant fabrics or non-biofouling surfaces

  • Anxiety: Human-to-human bird flu infection in China

    A 24-year old man in China probably infected his father with the H5N1 strain of bird flu before dying, renewing concerns that the disease may soon spread easily among humans

  • Russian official warns of bird flu risk

    Russia needs to take steps to prevent a human pandemic from bird flu, a government health official said

  • Water monitoring system to be demonstrated in Congress technology fair

    The House Committee on Homeland Security is holding a homeland security technology fair at the Rayburn building on Wednesday; a water bioterror monitoring system will be on display, and caught our eye

  • Anti-NAIS arguments smack of neo-Luddism

    Yes, perhaps NAIS does go too far in requiring people to tag their four of five egg hens in the backyard — but quibbles aside, NAIS is essential: In an industrialized, centralized food production system disease in one place can easily and rapidly spread; we should, therefore, avail ourselves of modern technology to keep track of animals

  • Meaningful farm bill reform effort fails yet again

    Current law allows subsidies to farmers with annual adjusted gross income of as much as $2.5 million; the administration and many legislators wanted to to end payments to producers with adjusted gross incomes greater than $200,000; agribusiness industry plowed more than $80 million into lobbying last year — and defeated the measure

  • Understanding – and minimizing – today’s prevalent CBRNE threats // by Matthew Sweatt

    Today’s response structures are too narrow in focus; while being prepared for a small pox attack is great, what would happen if another bio-toxin were used? Most billion-dollar detection equipment today only looks for anthrax, allowing today’s emerging threats easily to penetrate most systems