Recent News

By Region: North America

Dead Bacteria Terror Tests Begin on MBTA Red Line on Wednesday

(BeaconHillPatch) The MBTA and Homeland Security plan to release dead bacteria into three Red Line stations this summer to test bioterror sensors. The tests begin Wednesday morning at 1 a.m., according to Fox 25. The bacteria, bacillus subtilis, is not infectious even in its live form, according to government documents. The bacteria is used in Read More »

August 28, 2012
| Filed under North America, Bioterrorism, Public Health, and Research
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NBAF: The reviews are done and it’s time to act

(Bovine Veterinarian) U.S. Sen. Pat Roberts (R-Kan.) makes no bones about it. The time is now to continue with funding and the construction of the and National Bio and Agrodefense Facility (NBAF) in Manhattan, Kan. Roberts, who was speaking to Kansas City Animal Health Corridor members this week in Kansas City, Mo., says a previous Read More »

August 27, 2012
| Filed under North America, Agriculture, and Research
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Boston subways to see bioterror test

(UPI) A series of tests in Boston’s subways will measure the performance of new bioterrorism sensors developed to detect biological agents, U.S. officials said. The “Detect-to-Protect” Bio Detection project will assess several sensors developed by U.S. companies and designed to alert authorities to the presence of biological material, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s Science Read More »

August 27, 2012
| Filed under North America, Bioterrorism, Countermeasures, Public Health, and Research
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Antibiotics may cause microbes to tip the balance

(Nature) Bacteria living naturally within the gut provide a gateway to flab, according to a few reports this week. These bacteria may explain how antibiotics fatten farm animals and perhaps people too, and how certain genes predispose organisms to obesity. In a study published 22 August in Nature, researchers mimicked what farmers have been doing Read More »

August 27, 2012
| Filed under North America, Public Health, and Research
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Russia Says One Dead After Anthrax Outbreak in Siberia

(BloombergBusinessWeek) An anthrax outbreak in a Siberian village left one person dead and 10 others hospitalized as the Russian government declared a state of emergency in the area in a bid to prevent an epidemic. There were at least two other confirmed cases of anthrax infection in the village of Druzhba in the Altai region, Read More »