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California's Central Valley shores up counter-agroterror programs
Butte County sets an example for others with tight controls on cropdusters, fertilizer and pesticide storage
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Efforts genetically to engineer pathogens runs into evolutionary trouble
Scientists, rogue or traditional, must overcome “one-kill cycle” of new bacteria and viruses; new strains kill hosts too quickly to cause pandemic
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Worried about crop smuggling, USDA imposes new fees on Canadian fliers, transport
Rise of tropical fruit smuggling worries USDA; $5 fee to be imposed on airline travellers; $5.25 for trucks, $7.50 for every railway car, and $488 on each maritime vessel
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Sheetz food poisoning fiasco inspires software reponse
Alto-Shaam and E-Control Systems offer food preparation monitoring system; data from cookers and freezers useful for employee oversight, defending against lawsuits
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Japanese government survey finds health centers unprepared for bioterror
Many lack trained teams to respond to small pox and anthrax
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Safe America Foundation to test social distancing as flu response
Effort coordinated with French government, American health authorities; employees of Fortune 100 firms to avoid each other at work, will be monitored by hidden cameras
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Escape of genetically modified grass and rice upsets industry
Lax regulatory enforcement cited as major problem; USDA often unware of testing programs and location
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Georgia congressmen press House about agroterrorism
State a leader in biodefense; first state to create a “national curriculum” on agrosecurity
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Fisher Scientific, trying to merge with Thermo Electron, will sell off product line to satisfy anti-trust concerns
A request for information from the FTC prompts company to consider selling Genevac, a $17 million solvent evaporation and concentration equipment manufacturer
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New York and San Francisco use fish to monitor drinking water
In airports German Shepherds are used to protect civilians from contaminants, bomb making materials, narcotics, etc.; In two cities, however, fish are doing the detecting by monitoring drinking water
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Luminex applies medical know-how to war against bioterrorism
Texas company using technology it developed for drug companies and clinical research labs as a basis for developing a trigger sensor which would alert of a bioterror attack
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Viriginia wildelife organization to develop bioterror surveillance system
Animals in the wild are susceptible to some of the very pathogens which terrorists would use in a bioterror attack; one way, therefore, to detect the onset of such an attack would be to keep a close eye on wildlife for any suspicious occurances
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TVI announces selection as decontamination system provider for DoD
The contract under the Defense Guardian Installation Protection Program is worth $490,000; company will deploy proprietary fabric shelter structures
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Sceptor Industries reports excellent results from recent tests of its OMNI 3000 portable air sampler
The Kansas City, Missouri company reports that it achieved collection efficiences as high as 91.8% and managed to process 277 liters of air per minute
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United States is still vulnerable to bioterror, but is moving in the right direction
Experts agree technology has come a long way; some still, however, believe we are not safe from bioterrorism as new threats continue to arise – one being synthetic bioterror agents
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The long view
WHO Updates List of Most Dangerous Viruses and Bacteria
The WHO recently published a report outlining the findings of its global pathogen prioritization process that involved more than 200 scientists who evaluated evidence related to 28 viral families and one core group of bacteria, covering 1,652 pathogens.
U.S. Capable of Achieving Seafood Independence, New Study Shows
From lobster to haddock and seaweed, seafood plays an important role in the U.S. economy, diet and culture. The nation is one of the top producers of marine and aquatic foods worldwide, but also the second largest seafood importer.