Recent News

By Category: Countermeasures

First-responders prepare for the worst

(Quad City Times) Hundreds of thousands of letters pass through the U.S. Postal Service’s processing facility in Milan each day. As part of the process, a biodetection system samples each piece of mail for anthrax. Should anthrax be detected, a plan is in place to handle the emergency and protect the lives of employees.

May 21, 2012
| Filed under North America, Biotechnology, Bioterrorism, Countermeasures, and Policy & Initiatives
Share

Emergent BioSolutions Receives FDA Approval for BioThrax Administered Intramuscularly in a Three-Dose Primary Series Followed by Booster Doses

(Press Release) Emergent BioSolutions Inc. announced today that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved its supplemental Biologics License Application (sBLA) to change the administration schedule of BioThrax(R) (Anthrax Vaccine Adsorbed) to a three-dose primary series of intramuscular injections at 0, 1, and 6 months. The booster series consists of intramuscular injections at Read More »

May 18, 2012
| Filed under North America, Countermeasures, and Public Health
Share

Pentagon-Funded Research Could Bolster Bioweapon Scanner Tech

(Global Security Newswire) Findings published earlier this week could lay the groundwork for advancements in portable biological-weapon scanner technology, the Journal of Visualized Experiments announced. The U.S. Defense Threat Reduction Agency financed the studies; they include an examination of steps for setting apart organic molecules without reliance on analytical facilities or electric power.

May 18, 2012
| Filed under North America, Countermeasures, Policy & Initiatives, and Research
Share

Panel debates bioterrorism protection for children

(Huffington Post) WASHINGTON — The Obama administration is asking a presidential commission to help decide an ethical quandary: Should the anthrax vaccine and other treatments being stockpiled in case of a bioterror attack be tested in children? “We can’t just assume that what we have for adults works for children,” Health and Human Services Secretary Read More »

May 18, 2012
| Filed under North America, Countermeasures, Policy & Initiatives, Public Health, and Research
Share

Anthrax vaccine trial meets bioethicists

(Nature News Blog) An anthrax vaccine would protect civilians from the long-term effects of a bioterrorist attack. But there’s no telling how children would react to the shots. To assess the ethics of a trial, in which kids would get an anthrax vaccine unlikely to ever be necessary, a federal committee met today in Washington Read More »