Recent News

By Region: North America

Reps. Markey, Slaughter Press FDA on Antibiotic Use in Ethanol Production

(Food Safety News) Congressional query follows IATP report on distillers grains fed to animals. With growing concern over antibiotic resistance, public health advocates have long pushed for more responsible use antibiotics — both in human medicine and animal agriculture — but there is one piece of the puzzle that has not received as much attention: Read More »

May 14, 2012
| Filed under North America, Agriculture, Biotechnology, and Public Health
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Hamilton lab to manufacture Ebola vaccine

(Guelph Mercury) An Ebola vaccine will soon be manufactured in Hamilton as researchers prepare to test it in humans. The vaccine to protect against the severe and often deadly viral hemorrhagic fever was created at Winnipeg’s National Microbiology Laboratory, which has the highest security in Canada.

May 14, 2012
| Filed under North America, Countermeasures, Public Health, and Research
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House bill calls for White House biodefense advisor

(CIDRAP News) A bill headed for the floor of the US House calls for appointing a special White House advisor to lead and coordinate biodefense activities, including developing a national biodefense plan and a biosurveillance strategy. Among other things, the bill (HR 2356) calls for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to assess the risks Read More »

May 11, 2012
| Filed under North America, Biological Weapons, and Policy & Initiatives
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South Korea Announces Biodefense Exercise

(Global Security Newswire) South Korea said on Friday it would collaborate with the United States in an exercise next week aimed at assessing their capacity to respond to intentional or natural disease outbreaks, Kyodo News reported. Roughly 190 individuals representing 50 U.S. and South Korean government organizations are due to participate in the four-day “Able Read More »

May 11, 2012
| Filed under Asia/Pacific, North America, Biological Weapons, Countermeasures, International, Policy & Initiatives, and Public Health
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The WHO must reform for its own health

(Nature Medicine) The World Health Organization (WHO) is facing an unprecedented crisis that threatens its position as the premier international health agency. To ensure its leading role, it must rethink its internal governance and revamp its financing mechanisms. The World Health Organization was born in the bifurcated Cold War world in 1948, and every aspect Read More »