Recent News

By Region: Europe

NSABB and H5N1 redactions: Biosecurity runs up against scientific endeavor

(American Society for Microbiology) In response to recent actions of the US National Science Advisory Board for Biosecurity, which recommended that two scientific journals withhold crucial details in upcoming reports about experiments with a novel strain of the bird flu virus, H5N1, the American Society for Microbiology will publish a special series of commentaries by Read More »

February 1, 2012
| Filed under Europe, North America, Biosafety, Public Health, and Research
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Preparing for the next global pandemic – we are not doing enough

(PublicServiceEurope.com) The debate over studying avian influenza – or H5N1 virus – transmissibility returns pandemic risk to the fore of public anxiety. Regardless of the specific agent, influenza or otherwise, a robust plan for …

February 1, 2012
| Filed under Europe, Countermeasures, and Public Health
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Experts Weigh in on Bird Flu Research

(PBS NewsHour) Earlier this month, the scientists who altered the H5N1 virus to create a more contagious strain that’s transmissible between ferrets, agreed to a temporary moratorium, due to safety concerns. That decision has, if anything, intensified the debate. What began as a question on whether scientific journals should publish the complete research has grown Read More »

January 31, 2012
| Filed under Europe, North America, Agents & Toxins, International, Policy & Initiatives, Public Health, and Research
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U.K. Man Sentenced to Prison For Possession of Ricin, Explosives Info

(Global Security Newswire) A British man has been sentenced to 27 months behind bars after being found guilty of possessing instructions for producing the toxin ricin and directions for building crude bombs, the Press Association reported on Friday. Asim Kausar, who is of Pakistani origin, had pleaded guilty at Manchester criminal court to four charges of between Read More »

January 31, 2012
| Filed under Europe and Bioterrorism
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A hinge moment for the BWC?

(Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists) Although it was an eleventh-hour decision, the Seventh Biological and Toxin Weapons Convention (BWC) Review Conference in Geneva did manage to produce a consensus final document this past December. As the saying goes, “a win is a win,” and in the end the final document — adopted with less than Read More »