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By Category: Policy & Initiatives

S. Korea to map out plan to counter bioterrorism

(Yonhap) South Korea plans to set up a five-year plan to better protect itself from possible biological terrorist attacks, the country’s public health and safety agency said Monday. The 2013-2017 plan calls for extensive research and development (R&D) to create vaccines and antidotes, quick detection and precise diagnosis of harmful agents, and the collection of Read More »

May 21, 2012
| Filed under Asia/Pacific, Bioterrorism, Countermeasures, and Policy & Initiatives
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Designer Flu: How scientists made a killer virus airborne — and who should know

(Science News) Last summer, scientists performed an experiment that could have been ripped from the script of a Hollywood thriller. Sealed off in high-tech laboratories in the Netherlands and Wisconsin, researchers transformed one of the world’s most deadly viruses, transmissible by direct contact, into versions capable of spreading through the air.

May 21, 2012
| Filed under Europe, North America, International, Policy & Initiatives, Public Health, and Research
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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
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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
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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 »