Recent News

By Region: North America

CIA joins the hunt for Bashar al-Assad’s chemical weapons

(The Telegraph) With the days and weeks of the Syrian government appearing numbered, the Central Intelligence Agency is scrambling to get a handle on the locations of the country’s chemical and biological weapons, while assessing the composition, loyalties, and background of the rebel groups poised to take power in the event President Bashar al-Assad falls.

July 23, 2012
| Filed under Europe, Middle East, North America, and Biological Weapons
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Congress Demanding Info on Biowatch Tech Troubles

(Global Security Newswire) A number of senior U.S. lawmakers from both parties are calling on the Homeland Security Department to provide them with internal documents on a program aimed at detecting a biological weapons attack, the Los Angeles Times reported on Thursday. A recent Times investigation highlighted a number of technological failings with the Biowatch Read More »

July 23, 2012
| Filed under North America and Policy & Initiatives
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Lawmakers call for answers on BioWatch security system

(Los Angeles Times) WASHINGTON — Congressional leaders from both parties are pressing Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano to address newly raised questions about BioWatch, the nation’s system for detecting deadly biological attacks. In letters issued Thursday and last week, the leaders said their questions were prompted by a July 8 Los Angeles Times article that Read More »

July 20, 2012
| Filed under North America and Policy & Initiatives
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Promising treatment for bioterror weapon seen in primates

(Mass High Tech) Sarepta Therapeutics Inc. (Nasdaq: SRPT) in Washington and Cambridge has announced that a study of a treatment for a potential biological weapon called the Marburg virus in primates shows significant increases in survival rates when administered up to four days after infection. In a statement Thursday, Sarepta – which develops RNA-based therapeutics Read More »

July 19, 2012
| Filed under North America, Agriculture, and Research
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Molecular foot-and-mouth disease vaccine developed at Plum Island Animal

(DVM 360) In June, the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) granted a conditional license for a foot-and-mouth disease vaccine for use in cattle. The vaccine was developed at Plum Island Animal Disease Center, Orient Point, N.Y., in partnership with the United States Department of Homeland Security’s Chemical and Biological Defense Division. According to the Read More »