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Before anthrax mishap, CDC made similar lab safety pledges: lawmaker
(Reuters) U.S. lawmakers investigating repeated safety lapses at government laboratories questioned Thursday whether the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention was up to the task of fixing the problem, given similar promises to remedy such breaches in 2012. The CDC is under scrutiny for a June incident, in which more than 80 lab workers Read More »
- July 21, 2014
- | Filed under North America, Biosafety, Policy & Initiatives, Public Health, and Research
FDA found more than smallpox vials in storage room
(Washington Post) Federal officials found more than just long-forgotten smallpox samples recently in a storage room on the National Institutes for Health campus in Bethesda, Md. The discovery included 12 boxes and 327 vials holding an array of pathogens, including the virus behind the tropical disease dengue and the bacteria that can cause spotted fever, Read More »
- July 17, 2014
- | Filed under North America, Agents & Toxins, Biosafety, Policy & Initiatives, and Research
Anthrax Mishandled by U.S. CDC Labs Before Exposure, Report Says
(Bloomberg) Scientists at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention stored deadly anthrax in unlocked refrigerators in an unrestricted hallway and moved the bacteria in Ziploc bags, according to the latest report to criticize government workers’ handling of microorganisms. The audit, by a team from the Department of Agriculture, was delivered to the CDC Read More »
- July 16, 2014
- | Filed under North America, Agents & Toxins, Biosafety, Policy & Initiatives, and Research
New Assay to Spot Fake Malaria Drugs
(Global Biodefense)The World Health Organization has estimated that about 200,000 lives a year may be lost due to the use of counterfeit anti-malarial drugs. A new Oregon State University technology may be able to help address that problem by testing drugs for efficacy at a cost of a few cents.
- July 16, 2014
- | Filed under Biotechnology, Public Health, and Research
U.S. officials purge biosafety board in midst of anthrax crisis
(Reuters) Federal officials, amid the worst U.S. biosafety crisis in years, have dismissed 11 eminent scientists from a 23-member panel that advises the government on how and whether research on dangerous pathogens should be conducted. The purged members were informed that their service was no longer needed via an email on Sunday night from Mary Read More »
- July 16, 2014
- | Filed under North America, Biosafety, Policy & Initiatives, and Research