Recent News

By Region: North America

Lab Security Standards Raise Chances of Mutant-Bird-Flu Catastrophe

(Wired News) Fears that bioterrorists could learn from controversial experiments that make H5N1 avian influenza more virulent have overshadowed a more pressing danger: accidental releases, laboratory infections and disgruntled workers. Dozens of all-too-human mistakes have occurred in just the last decade inside high-security laboratories, and many experts say new H5N1 flu strains engineered to infect Read More »

May 4, 2012
| Filed under Europe, North America, Biosafety, Bioterrorism, International, Policy & Initiatives, and Research
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New FMD vaccine approval expected soon

(CattleNetwork.com) With recent foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) outbreaks reported in Taiwan and China, many livestock producers are growing increasingly nervous about the possibility of the disease occurring in the United States. FMD is one of the world’s most contagious animal viruses and an outbreak in the United States could cost more than $50 billion, experts estimate. Read More »

May 4, 2012
| Filed under North America, Agriculture, and Countermeasures
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Al-Qaeda Magazine Urges Chemical, Biological Strikes Against Foes

(Global Security Newswire) A recent edition of magazine published by the Yemen branch of al-Qaeda urges adherents to launch biological and chemical attacks against its the terrorist organization’s enemies, CNN reported on Wednesday. The Inspire article is the posthumously published product of al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula propagandist Anwar al-Awlaki, who died alongside magazine editor Samir Khan Read More »

May 4, 2012
| Filed under Africa, Middle East, North America, Biological Weapons, and Bioterrorism
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One H5N1 Paper Finally Goes to Press; Second Greenlighted

(Science Now) They have been called the most famous papers that were never published. But now, one of two controversial studies that shows how to make H5N1 avian influenza more transmissible in mammals is up on Nature’s Web site for all the world to scrutinize—including, some worry, would-be bioterrorists who might use the information to Read More »

May 4, 2012
| Filed under Europe, North America, Bioterrorism, International, Policy & Initiatives, and Research
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“Operation Medicine Delivery” will test nation’s first comprehensive plan

(News Release) The scenario might be a widespread, life-threatening infectious disease outbreak. Or it might be a deliberate bioterror attack, targeting the entire metro area, using a deadly agent like anthrax. It could be any large scale health emergency that requires getting medicine to a very large number of people, very quickly. Public health officials Read More »