Recent News

By Region: North America

Report: Response to Outbreaks is Deteriorating

FOOD SAFETY NEWS — Foodborne illness outbreaks in the U.S. are not getting worse, but the government response to food-related outbreaks is deteriorating, according to a paper published by the American Enterprise Institute this week. Conservative think-tank AEI’s “Regulation Outlook” for June looked at federal foodborne illness statistics and concluded that reporting and data disclosure Read More »

June 8, 2011
| Filed under North America, Policy & Initiatives, and Public Health
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San Francisco Area to Test Biodefense Website

GLOBAL SECURITY NEWSWIRE Testing is planned on Wednesday of a website intended to help residents of the San Francisco area access emergency medical countermeasures during a biological attack or naturally occurring disease outbreak, the San Francisco Chronicle reported (see GSN, March 25). Local citizens are being called on by regional public health offices to view Read More »

June 8, 2011
| Filed under North America and Countermeasures
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E. Coli Outbreak: Who’s Responsible?

FOX NEWS — Is the E. coli outbreak that has killed at least 22 people, sickened more than 2,200, and caused widespread fear throughout Europe a case of a bad turn by Mother Nature or the result of a more sinister attack? After all, E. coli has been identified by government officials and scientists as Read More »

June 7, 2011
| Filed under Europe, North America, Agents & Toxins, Bioterrorism, and Public Health
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Bacteria designed for sleuthing

HOMELAND SECURITY NEWSWIRE — Seven Cambridge University undergraduates spent the summer of 2009 genetically engineering bacteria to secrete a variety of colored pigments, visible to the naked eye; they designed standardized sequences of DNA, known as BioBricks, and inserted them into E. coli bacteria — so the bacteria can now change its color to red, Read More »

June 7, 2011
| Filed under North America, Biotechnology, and Research
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House Seeks Ag, FDA Science Cuts

GENOME WEB — NEW YORK – Federal spending for agricultural research, food safety efforts, and medical device testing and regulation would be cut under a budget plan currently being considered in the House of Representatives as part of an effort to reduce the US budget deficit.