Recent News

By Category: Countermeasures

‘Universal’ vaccines could finally allow for wide-scale flu prevention

(ScienceDaily) Scientists have found that an emerging class of long-lasting flu vaccines called “universal” vaccines could for the first time allow for the effective, wide-scale prevention of flu by limiting the virus’ ability to spread and mutate. A computational model showed that the vaccines could achieve unprecedented control of the flu virus both seasonally and Read More »

February 29, 2012
| Filed under North America, Countermeasures, Public Health, and Research
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Funding Cuts Imperil Biothreat Response Capability, Officials Say

(Global Security Newswire) Spending reductions threaten to seriously undermine the readiness of U.S. public health agencies to limit the potentially devastating impact of disease agents spread either intentionally or by natural means, federal health officials warned on Thursday. The 2011 film “Contagion” offered a glimpse into the potential deadly consequences of recent and anticipated cuts Read More »

February 27, 2012
| Filed under North America, Countermeasures, and Policy & Initiatives
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Group of Eight Nonproliferation Program to Deliver Aid to Kazakhstan

(Global Security Newswire) An international operation aimed at countering the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction and related materials has agreed to deliver assistance to Kazakhstan, the country’s Foreign Ministry announced on Thursday. The Group of Eight nations’ Global Partnership Against the Spread of Weapons and Materials of Mass Destruction focuses on securing nuclear and Read More »

February 27, 2012
| Filed under North America, Countermeasures, International, and Policy & Initiatives
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Disarming the botulinum neurotoxin

(Sanford-Burnham Medical Research Institute) Researchers at Sanford-Burnham Medical Research Institute discovered how botulinum neurotoxin, a potential bioterrorism agent, survives the hostile environment in the stomach on its journey through the human body. Their study, published Feb. 24 in Science, reveals the first 3D structure of a neurotoxin together with its bodyguard, a protein made simultaneously Read More »

February 24, 2012
| Filed under North America, Countermeasures, and Research
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Bioterror is not the biggest threat from bird flu

(New Scientist) How should we react? Not by delaying the publication of the research, for fear that it will aid supposed bioterrorists. There is surprisingly little evidence that such a threat exists. But there has long been a great deal of evidence that the threat of pandemic flu exists.