Recent News

By Region: North America

Researchers take virus-tracking software worldwide

(R & D Magazine) A biomedical informatics researcher who tracks dangerous viruses as they spread around the globe has restructured his innovative tracking software to promote even wider use of the program around the world.

May 24, 2012
| Filed under Asia/Pacific, Europe, North America, Countermeasures, International, Public Health, and Research
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Army study: DNA vaccine and duck eggs protect against hantavirus disease

(US Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases) Army scientists and industry collaborators have successfully protected laboratory animals from lethal hantavirus disease using a novel approach that combines DNA vaccines and duck eggs. The work appears in a recent edition of the online scientific journal PLoS ONE, published by the Public Library of Science.

May 24, 2012
| Filed under North America, Countermeasures, Public Health, and Research
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Anthrax, anthrax, everywhere…

(Scientific American) This past week brought news about another successful bioterrorism response drill, effectively delivering hypothetical medicines to protect the citizens of Baltimore from a hypothetical anthrax attack. Frankly, I always shake my head in dismay when I read of such preparedness exercises.

May 23, 2012
| Filed under North America, Countermeasures, Policy & Initiatives, and Public Health
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Infocast’s 10th Annual Biodefense Vaccines & Therapeutics Conference

(Marketwire) Congress Moves on Important Measures for Biodefense and Public Health Emergencies. he Pandemic and All-Hazards Preparedness Act (PAHPA) Reauthorization moves to conference committee following unanimous approval by the U.S. Senate. According to Senator Richard Burr, R-N.C., the lead sponsor of the Senate bill, “We have come a long way in improving our nation’s ability Read More »

May 23, 2012
| Filed under North America, Countermeasures, and Policy & Initiatives
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Indifferent reporting of notifiable diseases

(Canadian Medical Association Journal) As a signatory to the International Health Regulations, Canada has an obligation to report cases if yellow fever, plague, cholera and all other diseases that might be considered to potentially cause a “public health emergency of international concern.” It is a truism that Canadian physicians and other health workers are legally Read More »