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By Category: Agents & Toxins

FDA Lifts Clinical Hold On PharmAthene’s SparVax(R) Anthrax Vaccine Program

(TheWallStreetJournal) PharmAthene, Inc. (NYSE MKT: PIP), a biodefense company developing medical countermeasures against biological and chemical threats, announced today that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has lifted the clinical hold previously placed on a proposed Phase II study of SparVax(R) , a next generation recombinant anthrax vaccine. “We are very pleased by the Read More »

May 31, 2013
| Filed under North America, Agents & Toxins, Biological Weapons, Bioterrorism, Countermeasures, Public Health, and Research
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China confirms foot-and-mouth disease cases

(ThePeninsula) Chinese Ministry of Agriculture (MOA) announced Thursday that foot-and-mouth disease infections have been confirmed in cattle in west China’s Tibet Autonomous Region. The ministry said eight cattle started showing signs of the disease on May 24 in a village near the regional capital of Lhasa, according to Xinhua news agency. The National Foot-and-Mouth Disease Read More »

May 31, 2013
| Filed under Asia/Pacific, North America, Agents & Toxins, Agriculture, and International
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Possible Pandemic: Is MERS the New SARS?

(NationalGeographic) A 65-year-old man infected with a new SARS-like virus died of multiple organ failure on Monday in France. He was the first French patient to die from the condition, which is known as Middle East Respiratory Symptom Coronavirus, or MERS-CoV. As of Wednesday, 49 people have been infected with the virus since September; of Read More »

May 31, 2013
| Filed under Asia/Pacific, Middle East, North America, Agents & Toxins, International, and Public Health
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Experts Call For Increased Monitoring Of Drug Resistant Bird Flu

(MedicalNewsToday) Drug resistance was detected in more than half of human H5N1 viruses in a new study published in the journal Antiviral Research, causing experts to call for increased monitoring of the bird flu. Highly pathogenic influenza viruses (H5N1) mostly impact birds but can sometimes cross the species barrier and infect people. H5N1 flu outbreaks Read More »

May 30, 2013
| Filed under Asia/Pacific, North America, Agents & Toxins, International, Policy & Initiatives, Public Health, and Research
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Ebola’s secret weapon revealed

(VirtualMedicalCentre) Researchers have discovered the mechanism behind one of the Ebola virus’ most dangerous attributes: its ability to disarm the adaptive immune system. University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston scientists determined that Ebola short-circuits the immune system using proteins that work together to shut down cellular signaling related to interferon. Disruption of this activity, Read More »