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By Category: Policy & Initiatives

Gov’t to Combat FMD and High Poultry Prices

(ThePigSite.com) The Agriculture Ministry approved 11 measures to protect livestock in Egypt’s governorates from the spread of foot and mouth disease (FMD). FMD is an infectious and sometimes fatal viral disease affecting cloven-hoofed animals.

March 9, 2012
| Filed under Africa, Middle East, Agriculture, Countermeasures, and Policy & Initiatives
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Army Defers Plan for Maryland Biodefense Site

(Global Security Newswire) The U.S. Army has deferred the building of a 492,000-square-foot, $600 million biodefense facility at Fort Detrick in Maryland prior to the completion of an assessment of research facilities already available around the nation, the Gazette reported last week. The planned Medical Countermeasures Test and Evaluation Facility was intended to be a Read More »

March 8, 2012
| Filed under North America, Biosafety, Countermeasures, Policy & Initiatives, and Research
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Secret Army volunteer’s widow blames VA for spouse’s death

(CNN) “I promised Wray I would never give up the fight.” It was a wife’s final pledge to her dying husband, who was once identified as Medical Volunteer No. 6692 at Edgewood Arsenal, Maryland. In 1973, Army Pvt. Wray Forrest spent two months at Edgewood as a volunteer human test subject in a top secret Read More »

March 8, 2012
| Filed under North America, Agents & Toxins, Biological Weapons, Policy & Initiatives, and Research
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New H5N1 viruses: How to balance risk of escape with benefits of research?

(ScienceDaily) In the controversy surrounding the newly developed strains of avian H5N1 flu viruses, scientists and policy makers are struggling with one question in particular: what level of biosafety is best for studying these potentially lethal strains of influenza? Experts now argue their different views of how to safely handle H5N1 flu viruses.

March 7, 2012
| Filed under Europe, North America, International, Policy & Initiatives, Public Health, and Research
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Details of H5N1 study spark queries from congressman, experts

(CIDRAP) He said the government appears to be sending a mixed message about bioterror threats, with Secretary of State Hillary Clinton warning about the risks in December 2011, while federal officials from another department have funded research that has raised …