Recent News

By Category: Agents & Toxins

University of Maryland School of Medicine finds gut bacteria play key role in vaccination

(EurekAlert) The bacteria that live in the human gut may play an important role in immune response to vaccines and infection by wild-type enteric organisms, according to two recent studies resulting from a collaborative effort between the University of Maryland School of Medicine Institute for Genome Sciences and the Center for Vaccine Development. The first Read More »

June 6, 2013
| Filed under North America, Agents & Toxins, Countermeasures, Public Health, and Research
Share

Of Mosquitoes And Men: Scientists Discover How Disease-carrying Vectors Are Attracted To Humans

(Science2.0) Female mosquitoes are predators of mammalian blood, relying on blood proteins to lay their eggs. While certain mosquito species are attracted to mammals by their emission of body heat and carbon dioxide, other species, such as Anopheles gambiae and Aedes aegypti, have evolved a strong lust for the smell of humans. Such mosquitoes are Read More »

June 5, 2013
| Filed under Africa, Asia/Pacific, Europe, North America, Agents & Toxins, International, Public Health, and Research
Share

Not too early to vaccinate for anthrax

(BovineVeterinarian) Now is the time for livestock producers to get their animals vaccinated against anthrax. “Conditions this year are conducive to the development of anthrax,” warns Charlie Stoltenow, North Dakota State University Extension Service veterinarian. Those conditions include the heavy rainfall most of North Dakota is experiencing this spring. Anthrax spores can survive in the Read More »

June 5, 2013
| Filed under North America, Agents & Toxins, Agriculture, and Policy & Initiatives
Share

Duke to co-lead NIH research network on antibacterial resistance

(EurekAlert) Investigators at Duke Medicine and the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) have been selected to oversee a nationwide research program on antibacterial resistance, which includes a focus on the growing unmet challenges associated with methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) and E. coli. The research team will direct the allocation of a federal grant from Read More »

June 4, 2013
| Filed under North America, Agents & Toxins, Countermeasures, Policy & Initiatives, Public Health, and Research
Share

Iranian general warns of bio-warfare

(WND) Viruses can be turned into easily concealed weapons with high epidemic powers that could contaminate food, water and animals, Iran has warned. Gen. Gholamreza Jalali, head of Iran’s Passive Defense Organization, in a recent event discussing defensive and offensive measures for cyber-attacks and viruses, talked about the strategic importance of using viruses as weapons Read More »