Recent News

By Region: North America

Workshop Announced on Next-Generation Smallpox Vaccines

(Occupational Health & Safety) The U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research and the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases will host a public workshop Sept. 16 about the development and evaluation of next-generation smallpox vaccines. It will take place at the Hilton Washington DC North/Gaithersburg in Gaithersburg, Md., and Read More »

August 15, 2011
| Filed under North America, Countermeasures, Policy & Initiatives, and Public Health
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Illinois Man Admits to Stockpiling Neurotoxin

(Chicago Tribune) A north suburban man pleaded guilty Tuesday to posing as a doctor to buy a deadly neurotoxin that comes from sources including puffer fish, which he intended “to use as a weapon,” according to the U.S. attorney’s office. Edward T. Bachner, 38, was arrested in 2008 following an investigation spearheaded by the FBI-led Read More »

August 11, 2011
| Filed under North America and Bioterrorism
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Research watched closely at Army’s newly upgraded biodefense lab at Fort Detrick in Md.

(Greenfield Daily Reporter) FREDERICK, Md. — Cutting-edge technology is matched by high-tech security at a newly renovated Army biodefense laboratory, officials said Wednesday during a tour of the research suite at Fort Detrick. Scientists working with the world’s deadliest pathogens are monitored by video cameras, watched through windows and tracked by sensors that know when Read More »

August 11, 2011
| Filed under North America, Biosafety, and Research
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Food Defense: The Other Side of Safety

(Food Safety News) In the aftermath of any foodborne illness outbreak, from those that go unreported to those the size of Germany’s recent E. coli disaster, one thought is often likely to cross the minds of experts in food defense and bioterrorism: At least this outbreak wasn’t intentional.

August 10, 2011
| Filed under North America, Bioterrorism, and Public Health
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Breivik’s Interest in Anthrax and Religious Extremism

(Institute for Defence Studies & Analysis) — Known as a lone wolf, Anders Behring Breivik planned and killed 77 Norwegians on July 22, 2011. Such a cruel expression of ‘belief’ by an individual shocked the entire world, particularly since it occurred in peaceful Norway. Breivik’s terrorism was an act of intolerance that stemmed from the Read More »