Recent News

By Category: Policy & Initiatives

Taking the Pulse of CDC’s PulseNet

(Food Safety News) This week at the annual meeting of the Association of Public Health Laboratories in Seattle, officials from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention – which operates PulseNet – explained the crucial role this pathogen database plays in outbreak detection and the challenges that must be met in order for it to Read More »

May 24, 2012
| Filed under North America, Agents & Toxins, Countermeasures, Policy & Initiatives, Public Health, and Research
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Bio terror vaccine stockpile procurement questioned

(Government Security News) A House intelligence committee member and former Bush White House bio-terror official are questioning whether smallpox and anthrax vaccine stockpile efforts are being slowed by the Obama administration because of the costs. A May 10 letter from House Intelligence Committee member Rep. Sue Myrick (R-NC) to Nicole Lurie, assistant secretary for preparedness Read More »

May 24, 2012
| Filed under North America, Bioterrorism, Countermeasures, International, Policy & Initiatives, and Public Health
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Bird-flu research: The biosecurity oversight

(Nature.com) The packages that started arriving by FedEx on 12 October last year came with strict instructions: protect the information within and destroy it after review. Inside were two manuscripts showing how the deadly H5N1 avian influenza virus could be made to transmit between mammals. The recipients of these packages — eight members of the Read More »

May 24, 2012
| Filed under Europe, North America, International, Policy & Initiatives, Public Health, and Research
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South Korea to Ramp up Biodefense Efforts

(Global Security Newswire) South Korea is preparing to ramp up efforts to defend against a possible disease-agent terror attack over the next half-decade, the Korea Times reported on Monday. Personnel from the South’s National Institute of Health held discussions with biodefense specialists on the project, according to a source. The agency aims to heighten development Read More »

May 23, 2012
| Filed under Asia/Pacific, Countermeasures, Policy & Initiatives, and Research
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Anthrax, anthrax, everywhere…

(Scientific American) This past week brought news about another successful bioterrorism response drill, effectively delivering hypothetical medicines to protect the citizens of Baltimore from a hypothetical anthrax attack. Frankly, I always shake my head in dismay when I read of such preparedness exercises.