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By Category: International

U.S. Army tested biological weapons in Okinawa

(The Japan Times) The U.S. Army tested biological weapons in Okinawa in the early 1960s, when the prefecture was still under U.S. rule, according to U.S. documents obtained by Kyodo News. In the tests, conducted at least a dozen times between 1961 and 1962, rice blast fungus was released over paddies to see how it Read More »

January 15, 2014
| Filed under Asia/Pacific, Agriculture, Biological Weapons, and International
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First Study of Promising Ebola Vaccine Undertaken In West Africa

The University of Maryland School of Medicine (UM SOM) this week announced they have begun a clinical trial in health care workers in West Africa to evaluate a promising experimental Ebola vaccine. The vaccine was developed by investigators at the Vaccine Research Center (VRC) of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) in Read More »

January 7, 2014
| Filed under Africa, North America, Agents & Toxins, Biotechnology, International, Public Health, and Research
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Scientists: Mosquito virus spreads to Americas

(BostonHerald) A nasty virus first detected in Africa that is spread to people by the bite of infected mosquitoes is being locally transmitted in the Americas for the first time on the tiny French Caribbean dependency of St. Martin, health officials said Tuesday.

December 18, 2013
| Filed under Africa, North America, South America, International, and Public Health
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Radio New Zealand : News : Rural : Govt and primary sectors to form formal biosecurity partnerships

Govt and primary sectors to form formal biosecurity partnerships

December 12, 2013
| Filed under International
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Using air transportation data to predict pandemics

(Eurekalert) Computational work conducted at Northwestern University has led to a new mathematical theory for understanding the global spread of epidemics. The resulting insights could not only help identify an outbreak’s origin but could also significantly improve the ability to forecast the global pathways through which a disease might spread.