Recent News

By Region: North America

UT Southwestern To Collaborate On Soligenix’s RiVax Ricin Vaccine For Biodefense

(BioNewsTexas) Soligenix, Inc., a clinical stage biopharmaceutical company focused on developing biodefense medical countermeasures (MCMs), announced that they have submitted a full contract proposal to the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), Division of Microbiology and Infectious Diseases, for the advanced development of RiVax™, a vaccine MCM candidate against ricin. A multi-year, multi-million Read More »

November 5, 2013
| Filed under North America, Biosafety, and Research
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Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) – update

(WorldHealthOrganization) WHO has been informed of an additional laboratory-confirmed case of infection with Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) from Saudi Arabia. The patient is a 56-year-old woman with underlying medical conditions from the Eastern Region. She became ill on 26 October 2013 and died on 30 October 2013. She had no contact with animals, Read More »

November 4, 2013
| Filed under Middle East, North America, International, and Public Health
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Death toll in Nicaragua’s dengue epidemic reaches 16

(InsideCostaRica) A dengue epidemic sweeping Nicaragua has claimed the life of a 13-year-old boy, raising the disease’s death toll there to 16 people, according to officials. The death is the second in less than 24 hours due to dengue, health authorities reported. The disease has infected some 5,795 people in Nicaragua this year.

November 4, 2013
| Filed under North America, South America, International, and Public Health
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Deadly bioterror threats: 6 real risks

(FoxNews) Bioterrorism is back in the news with word of a dangerous new strain of botulism, for which there is no antidote. The strain is so powerful, the researchers who discovered it won’t release its genetic code until an antidote is found because they fear it will fall into the wrong hands. U.S. agencies like Read More »

November 4, 2013
| Filed under North America, Bioterrorism, and International
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FAZD Center’s Enhanced Passive Surveillance System

(GlobalBiodefense) The National Center for Foreign Animal and Zoonotic Disease Defense (FAZD) last month received $2 million in federal funds from the Department of Homeland Security’s Science and Technology Directorate to develop a disease-surveillance technology designed to protect U.S. animal agriculture from potentially catastrophic outbreaks of infectious pathogens. The project has the potential for a Read More »