Recent News

By Region: North America

Anthrax Mishandled by U.S. CDC Labs Before Exposure, Report Says

(Bloomberg) Scientists at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention stored deadly anthrax in unlocked refrigerators in an unrestricted hallway and moved the bacteria in Ziploc bags, according to the latest report to criticize government workers’ handling of microorganisms. The audit, by a team from the Department of Agriculture, was delivered to the CDC  Read More »

U.S. officials purge biosafety board in midst of anthrax crisis

(Reuters) Federal officials, amid the worst U.S. biosafety crisis in years, have dismissed 11 eminent scientists from a 23-member panel that advises the government on how and whether research on dangerous pathogens should be conducted. The purged members were informed that their service was no longer needed via an email on Sunday night from Mary  Read More »

TGen-led study finds likely origin of lung fungus invading Pacific Northwest

(AAAS EurekAlert!) Cryptococcus gattii, a virulent fungus that has invaded the Pacific Northwest is highly adaptive and warrants global “public health vigilance,” according to a study by an international team led by the Translational Genomics Research Institute (TGen). C. gattii, which likely originated in Brazil, is responsible for dozens of deaths in recent years since  Read More »

New vaccine against five livestock diseases in progress

(Sci Dev Net) Scientists in South Africa are developing a combination vaccine with the potential to offer protection against five major livestock diseases. The first stage of the vaccine project was funded by the Canadian International Food Security Research Fund (CIFSRF) through the Canadian International Development Research Centre (IDRC) with 3.1 million Canadian dollars (almost  Read More »

CDC Closes Labs After Anthrax, Bird Flu and Small Pox Scares

(The Wire) Days after the discovery of small pox vials in a NIH medical laboratory in Bethesda, the Center For Disease Control announced Friday that labs connected to anthrax and bird flu scares would be temporarily closed. “These events should never have happened,” CDC Director Tom Frieden said in a call with reporters Friday. The  Read More »

« First...10...1718192021...304050...Last »

Also filed under "North America":