Recent News

By Region: North America

Farming breakthrough: Cattle plague bites the dust – AsiaOne

PARIS, FRANCE – In a moment that is being compared to the eradication of smallpox among humans, farming monitors on Wednesday will declare an ancient, devastating cattle disease has been stamped out after a nearly nine-decade effort. Rinderpest, a highly contagious and usually fatal viral disease also known as cattle plague, has been a curse Read More »

May 24, 2011
| Filed under Africa, Asia/Pacific, Europe, Middle East, North America, South America, South Asia, Agriculture, and International
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FDA clears first ever diagnostic test for Q fever

The FDA has cleared the first nucleic acid amplification test to diagnose the early stages of Q fever infections in military personnel serving overseas, according to an FDA press release. “It’s important that the FDA protect our troops from biothreats using innovative diagnostics,” Jeffrey Shuren, MD, director of the FDA’s Center for Devices and Radiological Read More »

May 24, 2011
| Filed under North America and Countermeasures
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US government Launches S3: Science, Safety, and Security Program

The S3: Science, Safety, and Security program addresses “biosafety, biosecurity, biocontainment, and biorisk management. [It] promotes transparency and broader awareness about the evolving nature of biological agents that can be hazardous, and how to handle and use these agents safely and securely. The resources provided here include information for laboratory personnel who work with potentially Read More »

May 24, 2011
| Filed under North America, Policy & Initiatives, and Public Health
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Iran at odds with US, Russia on smallpox stocks

GENEVA, May 23 (Reuters) – Iran spearheaded opposition on Monday to a U.S. and Russian-backed plan to postpone fixing a date to destroy the world’s last known stocks of live smallpox virus. A debate over when to destroy stocks held in the United States and Russia has rumbled on for 25 years and resurfaced late Read More »

May 24, 2011
| Filed under Africa, Asia/Pacific, Europe, Middle East, North America, South America, South Asia, International, and Policy & Initiatives
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Smallpox virus destruction talks falter at WHA – CIDRAP

A World Health Assembly (WHA) committee that took up a resolution to destroy the remaining stocks of smallpox virus failed to reach an agreement today, despite a working group's attempts to find an acceptable solution. …