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Reports of PED in the U.S. Prompt Calls for Steped Up Biosecurity

(Farmscape) The Canadian Swine Health Board is advising Canadian pork producers to step up their focus on biosecurity in the wake of reports of possible outbreaks of Porcine Epidemic Diarrhea in the U.S. Possible outbreaks of Porcine Epidemic Diarrhea, a viral disease that causes severe watery diarrhea in pigs resulting in high morbidity in sows Read More »

May 24, 2013
| Filed under North America, Agents & Toxins, Agriculture, and Policy & Initiatives
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Sen. Roberts: NBAF Construction Set To Begin

(KCUR) Senator Pat Roberts’ office says the official groundbreaking for the National Bio and Agro Defense Facility will take place next Tuesday, May 28, on the site in Manhattan. The first phase of the project is to construct a utility plant and emergency power capacity dedicated to the top security labs.The $1.2 billion dollar facility Read More »

May 24, 2013
| Filed under Biological Weapons, Biosafety, Countermeasures, Policy & Initiatives, Public Health, and Research
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Anthrax drug brings $334 million to Pentagon advisor’s biotech firm

(TimesRecordNews) Over the last decade, former Navy Secretary Richard J. Danzig, a prominent lawyer, presidential advisor and biowarfare consultant to the Pentagon and the Department of Homeland Security, has urged the government to counter what he called a major threat to national security. Terrorists, he warned, could easily engineer a devastating killer germ: a form Read More »

May 24, 2013
| Filed under North America, Policy & Initiatives, and Research
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BARDA Partners with GSK for Hospital and Biothreat Antibacterials

(GlobalBiodefense) The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA) has entered into a collaborative agreement with Glaxo Smith Kline (GSK) to evaluate the efficacy and safety of the company’s portfolio of clinical stage antibacterial assets for treating hospital and biothreat infections. The contract is unique in that it Read More »

May 24, 2013
| Filed under North America, Bioterrorism, Policy & Initiatives, Public Health, and Research
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Agroterrorism: Attacking with food

(MedillReports) In April food was used as a weapon when an unidentified person sent ricin-laced letters to President Obama and U.S. Sen. Roger Wicker (R-Ala.). Ricin, a derivative of castor beans, was the poison in this case of agroterrorism. “This is the terrorism of the past and a potential arena for the future,” said Dr. Read More »

May 22, 2013
| Filed under North America, Agriculture, Biological Weapons, Policy & Initiatives, Public Health, and Research
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Upcoming Events More »
- 6th Ecological Impact of Genetically Modified Organisms (EIGMO) Meeting
  
  June 3, 2013
  
  6th EIGMO meeting by the IOBC/WPRS Working Group “GMOs in Integrated Plant Production”. Read More »
- Point of Care Systems for Biosurveillance
  
  June 17, 2013
  
  The National Strategy for Biosurveillance, July 2012, is formulated around four core functions: Read More »
- Next Generation Biodefense & Security Exhibition
  
  June 17, 2013
  
  Next Generation Biodefense & Security 2013 will bring together senior level delegates from Read More »
- Biodetection Technologies 2013
  
  June 18, 2013
  
  BIODETECTION TECHNOLOGIES 2013 – the 21st conference in our Detection Technologies conference series Read More »
- George Mason University HSEC 0300: Pandemics, Bioterrorism, and International Security
  
  July 22, 2013
  
  Course Description This three-day, non-credit short-course is designed to introduce participants to the Read More »
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Recent Blog Posts More »
- Op-Ed – Improving Intelligence on Emerging Bioweapons Threats: New Engagements Needed Between Intelligence and Academia
  
  Kathleen M. Vogel, Associate Professor, Department of Science and Technology Studies and the Read More »
- Op-Ed – With the Changing Biological threat…smart international engagement policy would lower cost and increase national security.
  
  David R. Franz, DVM, Ph.D. Former Commander US Army Medical Research Institute of Read More »
- Op-Ed – The Biological Weapons Program of the Soviet Union
  
  Milton Leitenberg Senior Research Scholar Center for International Security Studies, School of Public Read More »
- Op-Ed – Building Capacity for Global Health and Biosecurity – Moving from Siloes to Systems
  
  Julie E. Fischer Senior Associate Stimson Global Health Security Program Human actions continually Read More »
- Op-Ed – The Bangladesh Biosafety & Biosecurity Association: Taking Action to Promote and Foster Local Biosecurity and Biosafety Initiatives and Training
  
  Dr. Asadulghani President, BBBA Head, Biosafety & Biosafety Level 3 Laboratory, icddr,b Mohakhali, Read More »

The Virtual Biosecurity Center (VBC) is a global multi-organizational initiative spearheaded by the Federation of American Scientists (FAS) committed to countering the threat posed by the development or use of biological weapons and the responsible use of science and technology. The VBC is the ‘one stop shop’ for biosecurity information, education, best practices, and collaboration.

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Case Studies in Dual Use Biological Research
Technical advances in modern molecular biology have increased the risk that research ... Read More »

New Directions: The Ethics of Synthetic Biology and Emerging Technologies
The Presidential Commission for the Study of Bioethical Issues released its first report ... Read More »

GAO Report: Biosurveillance Strategy
The U.S. government has a history of employing health surveillance to help limit ... Read More »

Biological and Toxin Weapons Convention
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Defense of United States Agriculture and Food
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