Recent News

By Region: North America

Looking to the Bio-Defense Sector as Nuclear Fears Mount

As Japan’s nuclear crisis deepens, Wall Street may begin to focus on a small group of almost-ignored young biotechs. Known as the bio-defense group, these firms develop products that help protect the population from radiation leaks resulting from nuclear accidents or attacks.

March 21, 2011
| Filed under Asia/Pacific, North America, Biotechnology, and International
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NYPD purchases $5 million anti-terror boat

The New York Police Department recently announced the purchase of a $5 million patrol boat designed to withstand chemical and biological attacks.The craft will contain steel doors and windows and a positive-pressure-protected cabin that can be activated in the case of a chemical, biological or radiological incident. An onboard decontamination unit will be capable of Read More »

March 18, 2011
| Filed under North America, Bioterrorism, and Countermeasures
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It’s time to destroy the U.S. smallpox reserves

The eradication of smallpox was possibly the greatest victory of science over disease in the history of mankind. Thanks to a determined, worldwide vaccination effort, led by the World Health Organization, the last known human smallpox case occurred over 30 years ago, in Somalia in 1977. The WHO declared smallpox eradicated in 1980.

March 17, 2011
| Filed under North America, Agents & Toxins, and Research
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New Standards for Reducing Pathogens in Poultry

Trying to cut the risk of foodborne illnesses caused by contaminated raw poultry, the U.S. Department of Agriculture on Wednesday announced stricter standards to reduce Salmonella and Campylobacter in young chickens and turkey.The new baseline standards take effect in July.USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FS!S) estimates that two years of enforcing the tougher standards Read More »

March 17, 2011
| Filed under North America, Agriculture, and Public Health
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Stemming the Spread of Disease at Airports

With roughly two million people flying each day and spending hours in confined areas where they will come into close contact with potentially infected people, air travel poses a serious challenge to public health officials seeking to contain major disease outbreaks; last month public health officials scrambled to contain a potential mass outbreak of measles Read More »