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China embarks on ambitious bioterror protection program
The Chinese government launches a project aiming to develop vaccines and medicines for genes used in bioterrorism and technologies to evaluate genetically modified plants
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UW wins biofuel grant, and is in the running for DHS agro defense lab
University of Wisconsin wins biofuel grant: $125 million will fund center researching ways to convert plant matter into fuel
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Little moth poses a big threat to California's wine-growers
The discovery in the Bay Area of a tiny Australian moth with voracious apetite leads to renewed criticism of DHS’s inspection of cargo for agricultural threats
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GSK donates bird flu vaccine to WHO
The bird flu vacinne market is estimated to be worth more than $1 billion in sales, and leading drug makers actively work on such a vaccine
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New global infectious disease reporting goes into effect today
Member states of the World Health Organization unanimously agree to a new set of epidemic reporting rules — even if such reporting hurts local economies
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China promises safe food for 2008 Olympic Games
China expects 10,000 athletes, 500,000 foreign visitors, and 1 million Chinese to converge on Beijing during the 2008 Olympic Games; stung by criticism of food safety standards, government says food will be safe
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UAV tracks airborne pathogens
Virginia Tech researchers build a UAV that detects and tracks airborne pathogens above agricultural areas; a new field is born: aerogenomics
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Indonesia reports asymptomatic H5N1-infected poultry
Indonesia, China report bird flu traces found in healthy-looking poultry, increasing risk of human infection
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More beef, chicken products recalled as E. coli contamination spreads
California-based meat distributor orders recall of 5.7 million pounds of both fresh and frozen products; Tyson recalls 40,000 pounds of ground beef
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IBM develops technology to track spread of disease
Spatio-Temporal Epidemiological Modeler (STEM) is designed to enable the rapid creation of epidemiological models for how an infectious disease spreads over time
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Pressures grow to ban Chinese food imports
The growing number of instances of tainted food and other products imported from China move members of Congress to urge consideration of importationm ban
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Kent State to establish biodefense center
Kent State transforms existing laboratory on the Kent campus to a Level 3 biosafety training laboratory and opens Center for Public Health Preparedness
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Dramatic increase in use of RFID in food supply chain
RFID technology allows for better tracking and tracing of food stuff and livestock, and new study predicts dramatic increase in use of the technology in the food supply chain
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Congress to tighten border monitoring of disease carriers
A TB-carrying patient was allowed to go out of and come back into the country, risking the infection of hundreds, despite a lookout alert for him; Congress wants tighter control
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Customers for anthrax detector in Persian Gulf states
UDT in distribution agreement for its portable anthrax detector in the Persian Gulf region
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The long view
Huge Areas May Face Possibly Fatal Heat Waves if Warming Continues
A new assessment warns that if Earth’s average temperature reaches 2 degrees C over the preindustrial average, widespread areas may become too hot during extreme heat events for many people to survive without artificial cooling.