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By Region: Middle East

Syria’s WMD Threat

(The National Interest Online) Reports differ as to Syria’s biological-warfare capability. German and Israeli sources believe it possesses bacillus anthracis (which causes anthrax), botulinum toxin and ricin. American sources believe the capability is “probable.” In 1972, Syria signed the Biological and Toxin Weapons Convention, but it has never ratified it. The international community seems prepared  Read More »

Dying cattle costly for Egyptian farmers

(The National) Al Shawaye Al Malaq, Egypt – Freshly covered graves mask the carcasses of cattle felled by the foot-and-mouth disease outbreak spreading across Egypt, but farmers’ frustration in the Nile Delta over the financial devastation is out in the open.

Flu surveillance lacking

(Nature.com) When researchers created strains of the H5N1 avian influenza virus that could spread easily between mammals, they argued that their work would aid in surveillance, by identifying mutations to watch for in the wild. But an analysis by Nature paints a dire picture of how animal flu viruses are being monitored. In 2010, the  Read More »

UN: Egypt’s foot-and-mouth outbreak could spread

(VIDEO) (AP) A U.N. agency is warning that an outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease in Egypt could spread and threaten livestock in North Africa and the Middle East, leading to possible food shortages. The disease is not a direct threat to humans but meat and milk from sick animals are unsafe for consumption.

H5N1: How to track a flu virus

(Nature.com) Four experts pinpoint ways to improve monitoring of H5N1 avian influenza in the field. The H5N1 influenza outbreak in Asia is unprecedented: never before has a highly pathogenic avian influenza virus prevailed for so long, spread to so many countries or generated so many genetic variants. Why? Partly because of its persistence in …

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