• CDC says influenza B strain does not match vaccine

    The U.S. flu season started out slowly, but activity has increased sharply, which is typically the case; the bad news is that most circulating influenza B viruses tested so far this season do not match this year’s vaccine, signaling that two of the three vaccine components are off-target

  • Materials used in plastic for baby bottles leach toxins

    Bisphenol A (BPA), a synthetic sex hormone that mimics estrogen, is used to make hard polycarbonate plastic; 95 percent of all baby bottles on the market are made with BPA; studies find that BPA, even in small doses, can be harmful by disrupting development

  • China dumpling factory cleared

    Inspectors clear Chinese dumpling facility of deliberately poisoning food exported to Japan; Chinese now blame nationalist activists opposed to improving Chinese-Japanese relations

  • Chinese dumplings sold in Japan poisoned on purpose

    Japan claims that made-in-China frozen dumplings which caused ten Japanese to fall ill, were contaminated on purpose with a highly toxic organophoshate pesticide methamidophos; Japan, China investigate

  • UDT signs China distribution agreement

    Universal Detection Technology, developer of bioterror and infectious diseases detection technologies, signs up a Chinese distributor with good connection with the central and provincial governments

  • New method for anthrax decontamination developed

    Yellow Jackets, SMD researchers develop an X-rays and UV-C light-based method for anthrax decontamination; it is rapid and nondisruptive, and also less expensive than currently available decontamination methods; it kills anthrax spores — even those hidden in crevices and cracks — within two to three hours without any lingering effects

  • New vaccine against deadliest strain of avian flu tested by scientists

    University of Pittsburgh researchers test new H5N1 vaccine; unlike other avian flu vaccines, which are partially developed from live viruses, the new vaccine uses a virus-like particle which is recognized by the immune system as a real virus but lacks genetic information to reproduce, making it a potentially safer alternative for a human vaccine

  • E.coli to serve as a future source of energy

    Aggies researchers shows that a strain of E. coli produces 140 times more hydrogen than is created in a naturally occurring process; finding may prove to be a significant stepping stone on the path to a hydrogen-based economy

  • Protein found in mouse urine offers powerful biosensor

    Proteins found in mouse urine could help create powerful biosensors for environmental monitoring and security applications; major mouse urinary proteins coated on a standard piezoelectric crystal enabled a one thousand-fold increase in sensor sensitivity compared with existing electronic sensing methods

  • Indonesia records 100 H5N1 fatality

    Avian flu continues to reap its grim toll in Indonesia, with the country recording its 100 death from the disease; as more and more manufacturing jobs move to low-labor-costs countries such as Indonesia, the spread of H5N1 is cause of economic concern in the developed economies, not only human concern

  • MSU lab develops early-warning for biological invaders

    Montana State University lab creates a nationwide team of plant pest experts who work together to identify pests, teach each other from their personal fields of expertise, and track the development of threats to agriculture or, potentially, human health

  • Breakthrough: Researchers identify weakness in anthrax bacteria

    MIT researchers find that nitric oxide (NO) is a critical part of Bacillus anthracis’s defense against the human immune response launched by cells infected with the bacterium; anthrax bacteria that cannot produce NO succumb to the immune system’s attack

  • GAO cites barriers to antiviral, vaccine roles in pandemic

    U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) says that a pandemic vaccine might play little role in the early phases of a pandemic because it will take 20 to 23 weeks to develop and produce a targeted vaccine

  • Plague: The new Black Death

    Threat to humanity ignored, researchers warn

  • New York City wants feds to install more bioterror sensors

    New York City wants more bioterror sensors installed on city streets; DHS, which funds 90 percent of the program, says it is willing to install a few of the units now, at a cost of $100,000 each, but that it would rather wait for new, improved sensors before paying for a city-wide roll out